Italy's Amalfi Coast Day 8

 Day 8: Naples 

Breakfast at the hotel was amazing, but given our planned activity for the morning, a food tour of Naples, we had to hold back a bit.  We met our guide, Vincenzo, near the Piazza del Plebiscito. The Piazza is huge and only now minimally used.  The Royal Palace is on one side 

and the Basilica Reale Pontificia San Francesco da Paola on the other. 

In the 60's it was converted into a giant parking lot, but since the late 90's it was returned to a public square now used as a cocert venue.

Vincenzo was very enthusiastic about showing us the best of Naples' street food and made sure we tried everything.  We kind of felt like Anthony Tucci!

Our first stop was Gambrinus, the oldest cafe in Naples dating back to 1860, at the time of the unification of Italy. It became a meeting place for artists, musicians, writers and other intellectuals of the 19th century. We learned the correct way to drink espresso in very hot cups, quickly enough not to allow the coffee or cup to cool. 

The tour was more than just food, with Vincenzo showing us some of the city's highlights along with a running commentary  of its history and culture. Not far from the Piazza is the Galleria Umberto, a huge 19th century covered shopping mall. We noted that it reminded us of a similar mall in Milan.  There was good reason for this. It was designed by the same architect. The mall has a huge glass and steel dome and is decorated with sculptures and murals. 

A depiction of the zodiac dominates the central atrium. It is said that if you stand on your sign, close your eyes, spin around 360 degreesand make a wish, your wish will come true.  We are all still waiting. (I wished my kidney stone would stop bothering me).

Our next stop was a small pastry shop for fried dough and a wonderful ricotta-filled pastry, sfogliatine. We were now beginning to feel that we ate too much at the hotel.  We still had lots of eating to go!

Too much pastry!

Sfogliatine

We tried to walk off some of the calories with a bit of walking. 

Spanish Quarter

Church of Santa Maria Francesca

Via Domenico Capitali

Piazza del Gesu Nuovo

Michelangelo Pistoletto's “Venus of the Rags” 

Castel Nuovo

And then, from 10,000 steps to a renewed attempt to hit 10,000 calories, we began with some fried street food, Neopolitan Pizza Frita and Panzarotti (fried potato croquettes).

And the on to real Neapolitan pizza.  Vincente explained to us that pizza was designed as a street food to be eaten by folding it into quarters as a hand-held food to allow for eating on the run. The classic pizza was about 12 inches, so when quartered, it was manageable.  The pizza at this little hole in the wall was delicious, far better than the pizza we had at 40 Koli last night.  We told this to the owner, who was ecstatic when he heard this.  

Our final stop was cheese and sausage shop, Pan e Muzzarell.  I was thrilled to be stuffed, using that as an excuse for not being able to try their wares, but the rest of the group had "amazing" buffalo mozzarella".

We said goodbye to Vincenzo, had about an hour to relax, and then back out to meet our last guide for a tour of "Naples Underground". Before our underground tour, we stopped to take in the Duomo di Napoli, built in the 13th century and situated in the heart of the old part of the city. 

There are many tours of the ancient tunnels on which modern Naples was built. The history of the tunnels dates back to the 4th century BCE when the Greeks dug them for building materials for the construction of the city Neapolis ("the new city"). The tunnels were later expanded by the Romans and used as a system of aqueducts to supply the city with water. The Roman aqueducts brought water from springs near Serino to the city center, feeding fountains and houses in the upper city. The aqueducts also provided fresh water to villas and palaces through cisterns and deep reservoirs, with hundreds of well shafts giving the community access to the reservoirs. During the Bourbon reign, the aqueduct system was expanded, making Naples one of the first European cities to provide drinking water to homes.  This system was used until 1865 when a terrible cholera epidemic broke out that was traced back to the aqueduct system.  During WW II, the tunnels were used as air raid shelters with over 600 separate refuges that had communal sleeping areas and toilets.  Ventilation was not ideal, so you can imagine how it reeked after several days with a few thousand people in a confined space. Afterr the war, the wells were used as garbage cans and were eventually sealed by the city.  It wasn't until recently that the tunnels were cleaned up and now have become a major attraction.

136 steps down into the tunnels

Old military equipment 

Undergound Aqueducts

The last stop on the tour was the Teatro di Neroni.  This ancient Roman theater is a great example of the description of Naples as a lasagna, layer upon layer. The theater

was built in the 1st century BCE by the Romans, on top of a building built by the Greeks in the 4th century BCE, with access now via a small shop from the 18th century on the Vico Cinquesanti.

The Roman Theater, Teatro di Neroni

After spending a couple of hours underground, out of the worst of the heat of the day, we spent the remainder of our time in Naples wandering in the old city.

Via San Gregorio Armeno

Intricate Neapolitan creche scenes

Church of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio,  a reminder of the brevity of life. Rub the skull for good luck

Pulcinella

Church of Santa Maria Maggiore della Pietrasanta

Street art

Street art

Old Roman city walls

We finished the day off with a walk to "the best gelato" in Naples, the Pasticceria Mannela. It was a mile away from our hotel with an elevation drop of about 200 feet (which meant an elevation gain on the way back of 200 ').  This constituted dinner since we were still quite stuffed from the food tour. 

Tomorrow we return home.