I came to Naples specifically for two reasons. One, I had unfinished business. Namely, I needed to complete the remainder of the errand George and I set out on in 2008: make the requisite pilgrimage to Pompei. As you may recall (or not), the venture was cut tragically short by a heavy and consistent downpour. In order to achieve our primary objective of eating at 10 pizzerias in the allotted 30 hours, we thereby had to sacrifice Pompei. So thanks to scoring a really cheap round trip ticket, it was time to cash in that mulligan; and this time, I meant business.
The second reason I returned to Naples should be more or less self evident. But if not, I'll give you a hint. It starts with a P and ends with an IZZA! Duh, pizza you fool!! Just kidding dear reader, I would never call you a fool- please don't stop reading or I'll be writing to myself. Which is nearly as sad as talking to myself, but I digress. As you likely recall from the previous post, my last night in Nice was fun affair but left me a bit rough and ragged for my flight to Naples the following day. Since I had more or less seen everything I wanted to in Nice, I took the opportunity to relax and sun myself in the courtyard before proceeding to the airport. Also, the hostel was nice enough to allow me to leave my pack there so I wouldn't have to pay the crazy expensive checked baggage fees on EasyJet.
Lacking any other formal sort of baggage, I threw some clothes and my computer into the giant backpack duffel I use to check my backpack and headed to the airport. After dragging myself and my absurd looking "overnight-bag" through airport security, I plopped myself in the nearest chair to await boarding. Naturally, in my tattered state, I quickly nodded off. After what must have only been a few moments I came to with a start. I took a look around. "Where the heck am I?" I pondered.
Judging by the gates, the people waiting, and the bag at my feet I quickly gathered that I was at some sort of bus, train, or airport terminal. But where? And where was I going? For the life of me I honestly couldn't remember. Searching for answers I reached into my pocket and, to my momentary astonishment, produced a boarding pass. Ah-HA! "I'm in... Nice... and I'm going to... oh yes, Naples. Now I remember." It was at this moment that I realized the 2+ months of traveling had finally produced a road-weariness based bout of amnesia I could really be proud of.
When I landed in Naples, the most obvious remedy for my troubles of the day presented itself only a short walk away from the hostel: Starita Pizza. Just a little bit of background, Starita is owned by Antonio Starita who was the mentor to Roberto Caporuscio, the owner and operator of one of my favorite Neapolitan style pizza joints in NYC- Kesté. Antonio himself just recently opened a pizzeria in NYC called Don Antonio, which I've yet to try.
Anyway, in the hostel lobby I met a German guy, Dieter, who was in equal need of the restorative powers of pizza and he offered to accompany me to Starita. When we arrived, being a Saturday night around 9pm, the place was PACKED. And there was a wait of what must have been a minimum of 1.5 hours. Fortunately for us, you can order your pizzas and beer to go and enjoy them on a park bench- which is precisely what we elected to do. I ordered (my favorite) margherita con bufala (san marzano tomato sauce, basil, olive oil, and buffalo mozzarella), and only 5 minutes later I was enjoying this:
If you've followed along with my pizza obsession over the years you might realize that Starita was not one of the 10 pizzerias George and I tried during our Naples Pizza Odyssey of 2008. But based on the connections with Kesté, I really wanted to give it a try. Overall it was outstanding but perhaps I was a bit biased because I was so hungry. Upon further reflection it occurred to me that the crust was a but doughy-er/chewier than I prefer but maybe it was just the effects of the box. So I decided to give it another try in the restaurant later. One other thing I thought a bit odd but didn't spend much time pondering over was that Starita only had Paulaner (a German beer made in Bavaria); there were no Italian beers on offer. Beer selection oddities aside, a very full Dieter and I grabbed a beer at one of the bar/cafes near Dante and then called it an early night. I had business to attend to in the morning.
And the next morning it was on. I arose at a reasonable hour and made the long trek out to Pompei. Actually getting to Pompei from the train station is incredibly easy as there are trains running often and you get out not 100 feet from the entrance to the site. Getting to the train station, or around Naples in general, however, is extremely difficult. As most may know, Naples is run by, or at least "highly influenced" by, the Cosa Nostra. And as such, public services and works are often delayed and/or cancelled. You may have heard of the garbage piling up during worker strikes in the mid-2000s. Well this also extends to building public infrastructure. About 65% of the Naples metro system exists only as a grey "under construction" line on the map. Meaning you have to take a host of train, metro, and bus combinations to get where you need to go. A bit convoluted but, that's Naples. The motto is very much "We've got pizza, garbage and graffiti. If you don't like it, f-off."
My rant on the sad state of Naples public transportation aside, I eventually made my way to Pompei and was rewarded with one of the most breathtaking sites I have had the fortune to witness. The excavated area is absolutely huge. I walked around for over 6 hours and didn't see everything. And they still have another 1/3 or so left to excavate. The first thing you come across upon entering the site is the old foro (or forum).
From here the roads branch out all over the site. I'll post a few of the cooler pictures here and some brief descriptions, but it's really worth checking out the full collection on flickr as this entry would reach record length if I went through each one of the sites (not to mention all the forthcoming pizza eating coverage). To me one of the most interesting things about the site are the centuries old stone ovens that still seem more or less in operable condition. The food at the gift shop area is horrible- why not refurbish one of these bad boys and start slinging some serious Neapolitan pies? Let's make it happen Pompei!
What makes the Pompei site so spectacular is not just that there are so many building structures preserved, but because everything was buried so quickly in ash, great frescoes, statues, and mosaics were also preserved. Here is a really great example from the Villa dei Misteri on the outskirts of the city:
Also worth showing you the main theater. There are two- a smaller one ("teatro piccolo") and the "teatro grande." I'm not sure what each one was used for as I didn't elect to get the audio guide. So if you want that information I recommend forking up the extra fistful of euros when you're there.
One of my favorite characteristics of old Roman architecture was the atrium in the entrance of a house that featured an open-air rectangle and usually a pool in the middle that would collect rainwater. I just love the integration of the elements into the form and style, and unlike today where a hole in your roof is perhaps a reason for condemnation, the most impressive examples of this feature were reserved for the homes of the rich and powerful. If I ever design my own house, you can bet there will be one of these.
Another thing that struck me is how well the streets and neighboring houses were preserved. It really feels like you are walking down the streets of a live city.
Of course no ancient Roman city is complete without a stadium. While not quite as impressive as the massive Colosseum in Rome, the Anfiteatro in Pompei is quite impressive in itself. Also, note the tree to the left. I absolutely love these trees. After walking around for several hours I found myself a secluded area and plopped down under one to just relax and listen to some tunes for an hour or so.
The inside of some of the houses are also quite spectacular exhibiting gardens, courtyards, atriums, baths, and much more. But you'll have to check flickr for those. One last photograph of the site, from a hill above one of the gates:
After a long day touring the impressive Pompei site, I took the train back toward Naples. I had timed it so that I could jump off a few stops before Garibaldi Station and make my triumphant return to Pizzeria Salvo- my favorite pizzeria in the world. So you can imagine my immense horror upon rounding the final corner only to discovered Salvo was shuttered for the day. NOOO!! I had totally forgotten it was Sunday afternoon and pretty much everything outside of the main part of the city shuts down after lunch. I was initially devastated. But then I thought, well, in 2008 we sacrificed Pompei to eat at Salvo and I had the seminal pizza experience of my life. So if I had to sacrifice Salvo to have the seminal archeological site experience of my life, then that's a fair trade.
So I made my way back to Grimaldi Square and, in my very hungry state, decided to walk back to the hostel by the way of Via Tribunali just to see if any of the pizzerias were open. Much to my surprise, I accidentally strolled up to Pizzeria Antica Costa (which is now apparently called Pizzeria Vincenzo Costa... ok, whatever). They were open; I went in. Antica Costa was the one place that George and I felt had so much promise (great cheese, basil, oil, and crust) but the overall pie was ruined by salty sauce that rendered it almost inedible. But I was determined to give them a second chance.
When I attempted to order my margherita con bufala, however, there was a lost in translation moment and what arrived instead was a ripeno con bufala. This is basically a dough cooked and then wrapped around prosciutto (italian ham), cherry tomatoes, arugula, and bufala mozz with parmagiano reggiano sprinkled on top. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but I was hungry and it was REALLY good. They also had my go-to Italian beer Nastro Azzuro but somehow the price had gone up from 2.50 euro in 2008 to 5 euro in 2012!! What is going on Italy? You're supposed to be cheap!
That night I was pretty tired so I had a beer with some of the other hostel guests and sat on the steps of the derelict church next to our hostel shooting the breeze until it was time to sleep. The next morning I decided that since I'd more or less seen Naples in the past, apart from getting my requisite 2 pizzas of the day, I would acquire some Italian wine and set the day aside for writing and relaxing. Before getting going on the writing, I decided to make a return to Starita. I wanted to try a plain margherita (with cow's milk mozz instead of bufalo) as well as some of their fried goods.
Naples is not just famous for its pizzerias. They are also famous for their fraggitorias, which are places that serve fried goods. Starita happens to be both. So apart from my pizza I also got a genovese (fried dough with sauteed onions and ham) and an arancini di riso (fried rice ball with ham and cheese). Both were great but the arancini di riso was amazing. The pizza was also exceptional but my initial thoughts on the crust were confirmed.
The rest of the day was spent uploading pictures and working on the blog. For you dear reader, all for you. I also found and enjoyed a very good bottle of Italian wine that cost me a whopping 1.70 euro. That's more like it Naples. That afternoon the gang came back from Capri or Almalfi or wherever they went with pizzas in hand and I jokingly told Kevin that he should fold his up and eat it like a burrito. Like a boss he rolled it right up and did just that.
That night for dinner I made my return to the second place winner from 2008, Gino Sorbillo. Here I opted for the standard margherita as they don't have a bufala option. Oh my. Now THIS is a pizza. Maybe the perfect pizza. Crust was crispy on the outside but soft on the inside and super flavorful. Sauce, cheese, oil, and basil were all incredible. The only drawback was that they didn't put quite enough basil for my taste.
So... the next day I went back! And I requested more basil, and now, seriously, this was one of the best pies I've ever had. Just incredible. Also, unlike in 2008 when they had only Italian beer, Gino Sorbillo was serving only Paulaner. What is going on with the Italian beer industry??
It being a beautiful day and me being pleasantly sated, I decided to take a stroll around the Naples port area where I encountered what is perhaps the perfect symbol of the city of Naples: a statue of Augustus covered in graffiti. I love it.
Finally, I made my way back to the hostel and prepared to head to the airport to fly back to Nice, both of my missions accomplished. On the way out, however, I held myself to my promise to try Antica Costa's margherita pizza. Once again, shockingly, it was marred by sub-par sauce. This time it wasn't too salty but it was very acidic and perhaps a bit sour. Most likely a bad can of tomatoes. Just shocking to me that they could let a pie that could be great and looks this good go so awry.
I got back into Nice pretty late, collected my bag, and attempted to just crash. Upon checking back in I met a new friend from Australia by way of Naples, Tris, upon meeting whom launched into conversation as I had just come from there. After a few minutes we were hushed by a "Moroccan" guy on the bunk above Tris' who was trying to sleep. Fair enough.
We ended up spending most of the night awake talking about him as he was hands down the most bizarre hostel-roommate I've ever come across. First, he snored very loudly in odd intermittent spells. Second, he would flip over with such violence that it shook the entire bunk. He would literally launch himself into the air, spin 180 degrees, and then come crashing back down. I felt so bad for Tris. Finally, around 4 am he got up, and without saying anything or putting on pants he left. We could only assume he was off to pray? A few minutes later he came back in, changed and went back out. This happened 4 or 5 times. It was out of control.
Finally, after he left for good, our other roommate, a Belgian guy, embarked on the same procedure. Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep. After giving it our best effort we gave up on the sleeping idea and went for some coffee. Afterwards I grabbed my stuff and headed to the train station only to step aboard my train with a mere 30 seconds to spare. That's what I call great timing.
I would head to Marseilles probably about 5 lbs heavier than when I left Nice 4 days before- in my mid-section, not in my pack. But man, it was more than worth it! As maybe you can tell, I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart (and gut) for Naples. It's the only city in Europe I've ever visited twice, and very likely to be the first one with a 3rd.
Bonus Photo, concrete filled cast of a body that was buried in the ash. These are really creepy:
Anyway, in the hostel lobby I met a German guy, Dieter, who was in equal need of the restorative powers of pizza and he offered to accompany me to Starita. When we arrived, being a Saturday night around 9pm, the place was PACKED. And there was a wait of what must have been a minimum of 1.5 hours. Fortunately for us, you can order your pizzas and beer to go and enjoy them on a park bench- which is precisely what we elected to do. I ordered (my favorite) margherita con bufala (san marzano tomato sauce, basil, olive oil, and buffalo mozzarella), and only 5 minutes later I was enjoying this:
If you've followed along with my pizza obsession over the years you might realize that Starita was not one of the 10 pizzerias George and I tried during our Naples Pizza Odyssey of 2008. But based on the connections with Kesté, I really wanted to give it a try. Overall it was outstanding but perhaps I was a bit biased because I was so hungry. Upon further reflection it occurred to me that the crust was a but doughy-er/chewier than I prefer but maybe it was just the effects of the box. So I decided to give it another try in the restaurant later. One other thing I thought a bit odd but didn't spend much time pondering over was that Starita only had Paulaner (a German beer made in Bavaria); there were no Italian beers on offer. Beer selection oddities aside, a very full Dieter and I grabbed a beer at one of the bar/cafes near Dante and then called it an early night. I had business to attend to in the morning.
And the next morning it was on. I arose at a reasonable hour and made the long trek out to Pompei. Actually getting to Pompei from the train station is incredibly easy as there are trains running often and you get out not 100 feet from the entrance to the site. Getting to the train station, or around Naples in general, however, is extremely difficult. As most may know, Naples is run by, or at least "highly influenced" by, the Cosa Nostra. And as such, public services and works are often delayed and/or cancelled. You may have heard of the garbage piling up during worker strikes in the mid-2000s. Well this also extends to building public infrastructure. About 65% of the Naples metro system exists only as a grey "under construction" line on the map. Meaning you have to take a host of train, metro, and bus combinations to get where you need to go. A bit convoluted but, that's Naples. The motto is very much "We've got pizza, garbage and graffiti. If you don't like it, f-off."
My rant on the sad state of Naples public transportation aside, I eventually made my way to Pompei and was rewarded with one of the most breathtaking sites I have had the fortune to witness. The excavated area is absolutely huge. I walked around for over 6 hours and didn't see everything. And they still have another 1/3 or so left to excavate. The first thing you come across upon entering the site is the old foro (or forum).
From here the roads branch out all over the site. I'll post a few of the cooler pictures here and some brief descriptions, but it's really worth checking out the full collection on flickr as this entry would reach record length if I went through each one of the sites (not to mention all the forthcoming pizza eating coverage). To me one of the most interesting things about the site are the centuries old stone ovens that still seem more or less in operable condition. The food at the gift shop area is horrible- why not refurbish one of these bad boys and start slinging some serious Neapolitan pies? Let's make it happen Pompei!
What makes the Pompei site so spectacular is not just that there are so many building structures preserved, but because everything was buried so quickly in ash, great frescoes, statues, and mosaics were also preserved. Here is a really great example from the Villa dei Misteri on the outskirts of the city:
Also worth showing you the main theater. There are two- a smaller one ("teatro piccolo") and the "teatro grande." I'm not sure what each one was used for as I didn't elect to get the audio guide. So if you want that information I recommend forking up the extra fistful of euros when you're there.
One of my favorite characteristics of old Roman architecture was the atrium in the entrance of a house that featured an open-air rectangle and usually a pool in the middle that would collect rainwater. I just love the integration of the elements into the form and style, and unlike today where a hole in your roof is perhaps a reason for condemnation, the most impressive examples of this feature were reserved for the homes of the rich and powerful. If I ever design my own house, you can bet there will be one of these.
Another thing that struck me is how well the streets and neighboring houses were preserved. It really feels like you are walking down the streets of a live city.
Of course no ancient Roman city is complete without a stadium. While not quite as impressive as the massive Colosseum in Rome, the Anfiteatro in Pompei is quite impressive in itself. Also, note the tree to the left. I absolutely love these trees. After walking around for several hours I found myself a secluded area and plopped down under one to just relax and listen to some tunes for an hour or so.
The inside of some of the houses are also quite spectacular exhibiting gardens, courtyards, atriums, baths, and much more. But you'll have to check flickr for those. One last photograph of the site, from a hill above one of the gates:
After a long day touring the impressive Pompei site, I took the train back toward Naples. I had timed it so that I could jump off a few stops before Garibaldi Station and make my triumphant return to Pizzeria Salvo- my favorite pizzeria in the world. So you can imagine my immense horror upon rounding the final corner only to discovered Salvo was shuttered for the day. NOOO!! I had totally forgotten it was Sunday afternoon and pretty much everything outside of the main part of the city shuts down after lunch. I was initially devastated. But then I thought, well, in 2008 we sacrificed Pompei to eat at Salvo and I had the seminal pizza experience of my life. So if I had to sacrifice Salvo to have the seminal archeological site experience of my life, then that's a fair trade.
So I made my way back to Grimaldi Square and, in my very hungry state, decided to walk back to the hostel by the way of Via Tribunali just to see if any of the pizzerias were open. Much to my surprise, I accidentally strolled up to Pizzeria Antica Costa (which is now apparently called Pizzeria Vincenzo Costa... ok, whatever). They were open; I went in. Antica Costa was the one place that George and I felt had so much promise (great cheese, basil, oil, and crust) but the overall pie was ruined by salty sauce that rendered it almost inedible. But I was determined to give them a second chance.
When I attempted to order my margherita con bufala, however, there was a lost in translation moment and what arrived instead was a ripeno con bufala. This is basically a dough cooked and then wrapped around prosciutto (italian ham), cherry tomatoes, arugula, and bufala mozz with parmagiano reggiano sprinkled on top. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but I was hungry and it was REALLY good. They also had my go-to Italian beer Nastro Azzuro but somehow the price had gone up from 2.50 euro in 2008 to 5 euro in 2012!! What is going on Italy? You're supposed to be cheap!
That night I was pretty tired so I had a beer with some of the other hostel guests and sat on the steps of the derelict church next to our hostel shooting the breeze until it was time to sleep. The next morning I decided that since I'd more or less seen Naples in the past, apart from getting my requisite 2 pizzas of the day, I would acquire some Italian wine and set the day aside for writing and relaxing. Before getting going on the writing, I decided to make a return to Starita. I wanted to try a plain margherita (with cow's milk mozz instead of bufalo) as well as some of their fried goods.
Naples is not just famous for its pizzerias. They are also famous for their fraggitorias, which are places that serve fried goods. Starita happens to be both. So apart from my pizza I also got a genovese (fried dough with sauteed onions and ham) and an arancini di riso (fried rice ball with ham and cheese). Both were great but the arancini di riso was amazing. The pizza was also exceptional but my initial thoughts on the crust were confirmed.
The rest of the day was spent uploading pictures and working on the blog. For you dear reader, all for you. I also found and enjoyed a very good bottle of Italian wine that cost me a whopping 1.70 euro. That's more like it Naples. That afternoon the gang came back from Capri or Almalfi or wherever they went with pizzas in hand and I jokingly told Kevin that he should fold his up and eat it like a burrito. Like a boss he rolled it right up and did just that.
That night for dinner I made my return to the second place winner from 2008, Gino Sorbillo. Here I opted for the standard margherita as they don't have a bufala option. Oh my. Now THIS is a pizza. Maybe the perfect pizza. Crust was crispy on the outside but soft on the inside and super flavorful. Sauce, cheese, oil, and basil were all incredible. The only drawback was that they didn't put quite enough basil for my taste.
So... the next day I went back! And I requested more basil, and now, seriously, this was one of the best pies I've ever had. Just incredible. Also, unlike in 2008 when they had only Italian beer, Gino Sorbillo was serving only Paulaner. What is going on with the Italian beer industry??
It being a beautiful day and me being pleasantly sated, I decided to take a stroll around the Naples port area where I encountered what is perhaps the perfect symbol of the city of Naples: a statue of Augustus covered in graffiti. I love it.
Finally, I made my way back to the hostel and prepared to head to the airport to fly back to Nice, both of my missions accomplished. On the way out, however, I held myself to my promise to try Antica Costa's margherita pizza. Once again, shockingly, it was marred by sub-par sauce. This time it wasn't too salty but it was very acidic and perhaps a bit sour. Most likely a bad can of tomatoes. Just shocking to me that they could let a pie that could be great and looks this good go so awry.
I got back into Nice pretty late, collected my bag, and attempted to just crash. Upon checking back in I met a new friend from Australia by way of Naples, Tris, upon meeting whom launched into conversation as I had just come from there. After a few minutes we were hushed by a "Moroccan" guy on the bunk above Tris' who was trying to sleep. Fair enough.
We ended up spending most of the night awake talking about him as he was hands down the most bizarre hostel-roommate I've ever come across. First, he snored very loudly in odd intermittent spells. Second, he would flip over with such violence that it shook the entire bunk. He would literally launch himself into the air, spin 180 degrees, and then come crashing back down. I felt so bad for Tris. Finally, around 4 am he got up, and without saying anything or putting on pants he left. We could only assume he was off to pray? A few minutes later he came back in, changed and went back out. This happened 4 or 5 times. It was out of control.
Finally, after he left for good, our other roommate, a Belgian guy, embarked on the same procedure. Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep. After giving it our best effort we gave up on the sleeping idea and went for some coffee. Afterwards I grabbed my stuff and headed to the train station only to step aboard my train with a mere 30 seconds to spare. That's what I call great timing.
I would head to Marseilles probably about 5 lbs heavier than when I left Nice 4 days before- in my mid-section, not in my pack. But man, it was more than worth it! As maybe you can tell, I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart (and gut) for Naples. It's the only city in Europe I've ever visited twice, and very likely to be the first one with a 3rd.
Bonus Photo, concrete filled cast of a body that was buried in the ash. These are really creepy:
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