A Slice of Neapolitan Life! pt. 2

Naples, vivacious yet stressful!  A place people either love or hate!  It is the third largest municipality next to Rome and Milan and has a parallel to my hometown Chicago - the third largest city in the U.S. next to New York and Los Angeles.  Its quite chaotic - pedestrians, scooters, taxis, and buses...people, more people - everywhere you look!  It is noisy and congested and unlike Chicago, the streets are dirty and lined with graffiti and laundry hanging across buildings to dry like Downy Fresh advertising a commercial.  A third of the city is also unemployed, so con artists are as clever as the panhandlers often found on EL platforms!

Napoli is also the birthplace of pizza and pizza is what I live for.  Let the comparisons begin!  Chicago-style pizza - commonly known for its deep-dish, thick crust, high-quality ingredients, lots of cheese, topped with premium tomatoes vs. the Neapolitan-style pizza - typically made with a flat bread, mozzarella (preferably the kind made with the milk from water buffalo), basil, fresh Roma tomatoes, and extra-virgin olive oil, of course.  You know, I’ve decided…I can’t decide!  We’ll call it truths!  I’ll eat as much as I can and just enjoy this moment!  Before we head out to explore the rest of the city, I run to the tiny girl’s room where the toilet tank is above my head and the bowl is on the ground as usual.  Interesting, I can’t say I’ve seen this before. 

While wondering about, we stumbled into a beautiful neighborhood - outside the sprawl - it reminded me of Oak Street with a castle.  Across the way was a small but lavish restaurant offering a picturesque, panoramic view of the city.  Afraid they wouldn’t allow snapshots without a purchase, we ordered a coca-cola and a bottle of water.  For 2euros, we would enjoy a priceless view!  The owner comes over to greet us.  He resembled the Godfather in an Italian Mobster movie, but was quite the opposite - very charming and charismatic!  “Come back tonight and enjoy our jazz club,” he summoned and just like that, all the arrangements were made.  Our car would arrive to pick us up at 8pm.

After a quick tour of another museum, we were exhausted!  We headed back through the maze in search of our hotel and a quick nap before a night out on the town. 

Alarm clock set?  Check!  Oh boy, sleep prevailed!  Our driver was prompt and we were as ready as the Republican Party is to extend benefits to the unemployed for another 9 months. 

We arrived to a scene of well-dressed ladies in designer shoes and gents in custom sport coats floating across an all white room with elegant, purple lighting.  Champagne, appetizers and pastries were being passed as the instruments echoed the vocals of Walter Ricci.  Hold on, did you say dinner is now served?  Ha!  Exactly how does an Italian girl maintain her petite figure after eating so much?  The night was amazing!  Who would have thought?  In a place where local governments could make the Mafia proud, warmth exudes like warm apple pie!  As we headed downstairs for an after party and then out the door for the hotel, our new Italian friends begged us to stay another day.  “The night is still young,” Antonio exclaimed!  “There is SO much more to see,” Walter cried out!  As it turned out, one “slice” of Napoli was like trying to eat “one Jays potato chip,” it is virtually impossible! 

"We must start our next adventure in the morning," I murmured!  Another pair of pre-paid, none refundable train tickets to Sorrento.  

Ciao Bella!  Ciao Bello!  “Until we meet again,” we say as we kiss the cheeks of our new Italian friends - right left right!  Napoli, it is my new favorite South Side of Chicago in southern Italy!

A Slice of Neapolitan Life! pt. 1

Walk fast, with a purpose, like you have a place to be – is what I recited in my head as we headed out into the Napoli rush.  Thank goodness my roots are deep in the South Side of Chicago where the skill of a mean glare, the ability to ignore beggars and disregard the rest comes in handy.  We boarded the overcrowded Italian R2 bus headed for Corso Umberto in search of San Giovanni Maggiore Pignatelli 15.  This bus was more crowded than the night of the fireworks display at the Taste of Chicago on the 3rd of July!  And how do I begin to tell you that searching for this address was the equivalent of running through the world's largest corn maze? 

After an hour of attempting to lug bags through endless turns on cobblestone streets and coming back to the same monument, that old fashion word every big city girl is familiar with came to mind…Taxi!  “The Decumani Hotel De Charme, please!”  Up the hill, around a narrow corner, past a dozen or so scooters and a repeat of the same, at least three times - and we have finally arrived!  Arrived to a pedestrian-only area, delineated by a sort of "border crossing" that allowed entry only to cars with special permits.  This restricted zone with telltale cameras was like the blue box cameras found in high-crime areas or maybe it’s an elitist system or something!

A tiny man opened what seemed like a tiny garage door and our driver pulled into an area that was like a small subdivision.  Here were entrances to other houses, parked cars, and the lift to our hotel.  We loaded into the rusty lift that was probably serviced last century and inched our way to the top!  That’s right; to the “deluxe apartment in the sky” we go!  The hotel lobby resembled that of a palace although the rooms were simple - 2 beds, a television, and an in-room toilet and shower.

We finally arrived to our hotel!  We've been rolling since the rooster’s crow and now its time to enjoy our “Slice of Neapolitan Life” or in other words, a one-day tour of Naples! 

The misadventures of trained-train riders...

Finally, we’ve arrived at the Napoli Centrale railway station in Italy with 5 bags in tow - not to mention two fabulous handbags, but it wasn’t an easy feat!

The day began with a 7:57 a.m. train leaving from Roma Tiburtina that I mistook for Roma Termini.  After all, it IS the central railway station!  Who would have thought that after rising at 5a.m., begging passer-Byers to help haul all 5 bags down what seemed like 300 stairs, as that seems to be the magic number of steps to climb at every major tourist site, and connecting to 3 local trains, we were headed to the wrong railway station?  Fueled with the excitement of our next destination, I was alert - so when we passed the Conca d'Oro stop, I knew we were heading in the wrong direction and that it would be a loooong day! 

Alas, we’d arrived at Roma Tiburtina with 7 minutes to spare.  But which way do we go?  “Che traccia a Napoli?”  I asked with broken Italian…  No one seemed to know!  We only had a minute to decipher the Italian signage.  Here, we’re here!  We made it!  Wait!!!  We screamed as we ran up the never-ending ramp that seemed like it was once a part of the Great Wall of China!  We made it to the top - just in time to see the caboose.  Sugar, Honey, Ice, Tea!  Now what?  Two non-refundable, pre-paid railway tickets, 5 humongous American-size bags and 2 hearts pounding at a rate that is about to explode!  

Here goes nothing….  In THE most innocent, naïve, voice - with a smile of course, I proceeded to explain to the agent that the train left us.  That if they could just accommodate us on the next train, we would forever be in their debt!  Lucky for my Italian-glish and their pity, the agent was able to put us on the next train smoking!