It is written that Italy has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country. It is the center of the Roman Empire and birthplace of the Renaissance. It's a country where Michelangelo created David and the Sistine Chapel frescoes. Botticelli and da Vinci are beyond famous. The landscapes include the Northern Alps and glacial lakes, and to the south where active volcanoes still exist. Not to be missed include Venice, Tuscany, Florence, Naples, and Pompeii, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast, the Dolomites, Sardinia, and Sicily to name just a few. By the way, the capital is Rome and the total population of the country is 59.8 million people that speak mostly Italian.
And that will be the country we visit for the next three days. But before arriving, we need to read up on more about the food and drink to be enjoyed in this fabulous country. We'll begin with a stop in Naples, the birthplace of pizza. Oh, we will be in heaven with this visit. On one of our very first tours in Naples, we booked an excursion with many historic places, then ended up in a small pizzeria where we watched how the pizzas were made and cooked in 500 degree wood-fired ovens. A wonderful experience, the best part was to come. Each one of us was served a 16 inch pizza. Granted the crust was thin with thick crunchy edges, but we ate every single bite. Yep…pizza heaven.
The Italians love their coffee. Caffe latte and cappuccino are considered morning drinks. Espresso and macchiato are for post-lunch options. Coffee with dessert is acceptable but never served with a main meal. Of course, wine has to be sacred in Italy with hundreds if not thousands of wineries – especially on the Tuscany area. Although we will not be going to that region, we are certain that the folks will not have a hard time finding the wine they prefer.
A visit to Pompeii is offered from Naples. We have seen the 2000-year-old ruins and heard the story of the tragedy which stayed with us forever. It is not a tour for the feint-hearted and is strenuous at the very least. Something else we recall was an hour stop for shopping at one large souvenir store with some high end merchandise on the way back to the ship. It was not mentioned in the tour description, so some folks were a bit angry about it. Many of the ladies loved it.
The shore excursions offered here are a foodie walk in Naples for $120 and 3 hours. Pompeii and a hike to the summit of Mount Vesuvius was $170 for 6 ½ hours. Pompeii and the museum was $190 for 7 hours with lunch, while the best of the Amalfi coast was $200 with a lunch for 8 ¾ hours. No HAL excursions were offered to the Isle of Capri, although you could do it on your own as long as you watched your time. All aboard at 4:30pm was really cutting the day short. Years ago, we went there on a high-speed catamaran and enjoyed every minute of the visit. Stunning scenery.
We were not the only ship in town. Besides several car ferries, a monster vessel, the MSC World Europa, pulled in the opposite dock from us. This mega ship was completed in 2021 and holds 7000 passengers (all berths) and has a crew of over 2000. It is the 8th largest cruise ship sailing these days. It is LNG powered and built in France. From what we gathered, today was a turn around day for them.
Leaving the ship at 10:30am, we took a very long walk in the area outside of the big cruise terminal that had been under re-construction the last two times we visited. The work has been completed and now we could walk right into town.
We remembered to turn left on the marina street and walk past Castle Nuovo, built in 1279. Directly up the traffic-laden street, is the Ho-Ho bus stop. Further up, we entered Galleria Umberto, a massive dome-covered structure built ages ago. It is a place that is filled with stores, bakeries, boutiques, and restaurants and cafes. There is even a McDonald's, which was full of customers already. We have wonderful memories of seeing good friends enjoying cannoli's with coffee from one of the pastry shops nearby.
We noticed that this iconic gallery was pretty crowded for this time of morning, but what we saw when going outside onto the main pedestrian-mostly street was unbelievable. Never ever have we seen so many people in one place at one time. It was so congested with mostly locals, we could hardly squeeze our way uphill or downhill for that matter. It could be the "perfect storm" for pick-pocketing, and one of the main reasons we do not like to carry our passports with us. We had no choice – we had to.
We think this street was Via Toledo, which continued past scores of cafes, restaurants, boutiques, shoe stores and clothing shops. If we had wanted to stop to even window-shop, we would have been mowed over with the throngs of people big and small. There was one nice moment when a local elderly couple asked why we were taking photos of the manhole covers. I knew the day would arrive when someone asked about that. So we shared the story of a continuing blog where manhole covers are listed worldwide by travelers just like us. Who knew? Satisfied with the answer, the conversation went to where we lived, then we learned they were from Naples, but had lived in southern California for a period of time. We asked if today's crowd was due to the death of the Pope, and they said no…it's like this everyday, and worse on weekends. Of course they were saddened by the Pope's death, as were we, and they assumed that more folks were out and about because of it. After about 10 minutes of chatting, we wished each other well, and went on our way.
We had hoped to make it to the produce section of this street, but we gave up. It was not worth the effort. So we turned around and headed back downhill, checking out the vendors that were arriving with their street souvenirs. The most common things being hawked were sunglasses, hats, cell phone cases, toys for the kids, t-shirts, scarves and cheap costume jewelry. None of which we needed. Food carts were appearing, some with fresh squeezed lemonade. Great colors for photos.
Back to where we exited the Galleria Umberto, the crowd grew thicker. We continued to the Plaza Plebiscito and Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola, a gigantic church we believe. Having picked up an excellent map of the city, we learned that there were a total of 191 plazas, castles, schools, museums, cathedrals, churches, and shopping malls.
Recalling a nice restaurant we happen to discover years ago, we continued down Via Console to another seaside avenue where several high-end hotels were located. On the water side, we passed by Castel dell 'Ovo and Borgo Marinari, or the boat marina. On this stretch we found the indoor/outdoor restaurant with the powder-blue tablecloths one of us remembered. The place looked filled to us and there was a line of a dozen people. However, when we inquired about tables for two, we were seated right away. The people waiting were in groups of four or larger. Not a fancy place, we were shoulder-to-shoulder with many family groups and young ladies out to lunch. We sure did not expect to see such crowds today, so we were happy they had space for two of us.
We ordered two draft beers called Birrificio Artigianalo and a Margherita pizza to share. While waiting for the food, we noticed people around us enjoying appetizers of salads, fries, and deep-fried calamari. The portions were generous, as were the plates of pasta. Then each of these people received a pizza – one for each of them. Wow. And they ate every bite. The funny thing we noticed was that none of these folks were heavy. Yes, some were younger, but many were retirement age. Go figure. Speaking for myself, if I even sniff a decadent dessert, I gain weight. No fair…..
During our meal, a parade went by with people carrying religious banners and a small version of the Pope mobile. We assume it was in honor of the Pope's passing today. They even had a marching band drawing much attention from the row of restaurants. Many diners swung their napkins as the procession passed by.
Time to head back, we walked the waterfront all the way back. All we heard the entire way was impatient drivers beeping horns because it was bumper-to-bumper traffic. Happy to get back onboard, we sipped Cokes with ice and worked online and sat outside. The weather was so nice, it was actually hot in the sun. From our veranda, we could see the constant line of new guests arriving to the MSC monster ship.
Dinnertime had some treats starting with Vietnamese spring rolls with Thai chili sauce. One of us had the small shrimp cocktail, and the other had a tomato/mozzarella cheese salad. Small Caesar salads followed. Mains were one stuffed pork loin with applesauce and one plate of a beef stew. Both were good. Dessert was one scoop of mango sorbet, and a small date pudding which needed ice cream.
This evening there was a specialty dinner in the Pinnacle Grill hosted by Chef Ethan Stowell who prepared a 6 course dinner for $$$.
The entertainment was a performance by the singers and dancers with "Curtain Up".
Ready or not….tomorrow's stop will be in Civitavecchia for the city of Rome.
Bill & Mary Ann
