Sunday, February 2, 2014

Napoli: Home of the Best Margherita Pizza

Yesterday we ventured to the town of Napoli, or Naples, with Bus2Alps. It was an awesome way to spend the day - we got out and about, explored somewhere new, ate delicious food, and met lots of new people who live in Rome! What a great day and the sights were beautiful.

We rolled out of bed bright and early so that we could hop in our cab at 6:45am. We were a little nervous to take the bus since we didn't know which one was best, if it would actually show up, or how long it would take. The cab got us there in about 20 minutes so it was worth it! That did mean we had to sit in the Termini train station for a while before we met up with our group at 7:40. We explored a little and discovered a McDonald's. It was hilarious - they sell a few "American" items like burgers and pancakes, but they also have cappuccinos, orange juice [which is super common here], and brioche pastries! 

Our leaders and group showed up and we headed out of the station to our bus. We were the only people from AUR as most of them were from John Cabot. It didn't really matter since we slept for most of the three hour long bus ride. 

Arriving in Napoli, we stepped out onto Piazza del Plebiscito, the largest piazza there. The architecture was incredible. 


Walking a bit farther, we hit the bay. The view of the Mediterranean was stunning! The bright blue water crashed against the rocky shore of graffiti-ed rocks while the wind blew in our hair. With a pickup game of soccer and sailboats in the distance, it was definitely time for pictures :) 



Continuing on, we went to Castel dell'Ovo, or the Egg Castle. The story is that a Virgil, a Roman poet known to be a sorcerer, put an egg in the foundations of the castle for support. If the egg broke, Napoli's castle and town would be destroyed. Now it's still referred to as that because it looks like an egg sticking out of the water. Either way, it was fun to climb and so worth it for the breathtaking views. 







After the castle, we strolled through town to a chocolate shop. I got a piece of "foresta"... Not sure what it was exactly, but it was tasty! That's how I feel about a lot of the food, especially sweets, that I eat here. We also stopped in this incredible mall. The architecture was all gorgeous! The top two levels are offices of attorneys while the first floor has tourist souvenir shops and cafes. 


Next came the best part of the day: LUNCH. Since Napoli is the home of margherita pizza, we naturally had to eat it. A lot of it! The restuarant Medina, started us off with some tomato bruschetta. They then kindly served every one of us [about 50] our own pizza fresh out of the oven. Our seat was the best as we could see into the kitchen where they were working nonstop. A pitcher of vino della casa bianco for us girls to share completed the delicious meal! "Margherita pizza" at home to me always meant some crust with olive oil, tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil. Here it's similar but they use fresh tomato sauce and chunks of fresh mozzarella. I'm usually not a fan of pizza sauce and can be a bit picky, but I could find nothing wrong with this! My first bite and I was in heaven. I felt like it was a true Italian experience as all of us, roommates and new friends, sat for some time and shared a great meal together. Now I can see why "Italy is Eataly" :)

After lunch we headed to this pastry place known for these orange and ricotta in them. I didn't get one because I'm not a huge fan of orange flavor, but I tried Gianna's and it was interesting - sweet with a little tang to it. I wouldn't have eaten a whole one, but I'm glad I tried it! As we were all waiting out on the street this man with a microphone and a New York beanie showed up. Not sure what he was saying in English, but he was shaking his briefcase full of coins and singing into his microphone for us. It was pretty entertaining. We continued on to the gelato place for other people. I was stuffed, however, so I went across the street and bought a postcard from this old man's cute little stand. I came back and the man with the microphone had followed us! He was singing in the gelato place and of the guys on our trip was dancing to it. 

Our last stop of the day was at the "Best Metro" of 2013. Though it used to not be used by many train lines, they spent lots of money to cover the entire inside with blue tiles. We paid 1,30 euro for a ticket to go in even though we didn't actually use the metro! It was worth it for a cool escalator ride and picture of this awesome skylight. 




My last treat was this hazelnut coffee! It was pretty strong as I'm learning that all Italian coffee means espresso, but I definitely enjoyed the creamy hint of a Nutella flavor. I'm glad our tour guide used to live in Naples and had some fun places to let us discover :)


This castle was in our view as we headed back to the bus, but we didn't actually go inside it. 


A long bus ride home on the highway brought us to Termini. We successfully caught another bus back home and chatted with our new friends from John Cabot. Exhausted, we all hung out choosing our pictures for the Instagram contest before heading to bed! I wasn't sure how I'd like Bus2Alps trips, but it ended up being a great day! They planned us a relaxed but still adventurous day and the people were great. 

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