Naples is curiously chaotic. It’s alive, vibrant, a little dirty and busy, and I loved it. I felt like this was how Rome would probably have been 2,000 years ago.
– Paul Hollywood
When we weren’t seeking out Caravaggios in Southern Italy, Robie and I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather to sit at outdoor cafés and discuss the infamous painter. But hunting paintings wasn’t all we did during our ten-day tour. After visiting lots of museums, churches and palazzos, we got to know Naples and Rome.
The birthplace of pizza
Pizza may be the world’s most customizable food.
With the crust as a blank slate awaiting whatever flavor combinations someone dares put on top, it’s the perfect vessel for creative cultural twists like pineapple and ham, curried chicken and smoked salmon with caviar and crème fraiche. While the global possibilities are endless, in the birthplace of pizza only the simplest pies are celebrated.
L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele is a place that’s been serving thin crust flatbreads since 1870, so it wasn’t surprising when Robie and I arrived at this “sacred temple of pizza” and found prospective diners queueing up. They weren’t waiting for a table. They were in line to get a paper ticket, and after getting one ourselves, we waited at a nearby café for our number to be called.
It didn’t take long to realize that the lighted number display above the door of da Michele’s wasn’t moving. Reading No. 43 when we arrived, it was still stuck there half an hour later, a full thirteen spaces ahead of the red, stamped No. 56 in Robie’s hand. Having skipped lunch in anticipation of da Michele’s pies, Robie worried it might be a long wait and contemplated getting in the line to order take away.
Every few minutes we watched someone new emerge from the snaking line with a smile and steaming to-go box rejoining their comrades sitting patiently on the curb. No one waited until they got home to eat a pizza from da Michele. Instead, they sat there nodding silently to each other with mouths full, devouring floppy slices in full view of the rest of us. It was difficult to watch, and the pile of discarded pizza boxes overflowed the restaurant’s trash bins.
Suddenly the number light scrolled through a series of 25 or 30 numbers. Rather than turn tables individually, da Michele operates on timed seatings, and soon Robie and I were ushered to a table with a great view of the massive pizza oven.
A server quickly came over to take our order, but with only four pies, the menu didn’t take long to read. Alongside the classic Margherita (tomato, mozzarella, oil and basil) there was a Marinara (tomato, oregano, garlic and oil), a Cosacca (tomato, pecorino, oil, basil) or a Marita (half Margherita, half Marinara).
Other things we ate in Southern Italy
Of course, we also ate a lot of pasta, salads and thick slices of bruschetta topped with cheese, veggies or anchovies. After a long day of sightseeing, we visited a local tavern called Birrerie degeli artisti and discovered the place doubled as the headquarters for the Napoli FC fan club where Diego Maradonna is still revered. For breakfast we enjoyed babĂ , a muffin-like Neapolitan treat dripping in honey and ate maritozzo con la panna in Rome, a whipped cream-filled sweet bun that tasted as scrumptious as it looked
The carb-heavy diet was just the fuel we needed to hike around Rome and visit the Castel Sant’Elmo for views of Naples with Mount Vesuvius in the background. Or it would have been if we hadn’t hopped on the Metro to the hill just west of the city center. Though the underground stopped a quarter mile short of the castle, the last thirty meters were aided by escalators strategically installed in all the right places.
Eternal Rome
It’s impossible to visit Rome without a trip to St. Peter’s.
On our first evening in town, Robie and I strolled to the massive piazza expecting to take a few pictures and leave. When we realized we could wait out the late-afternoon crowds and slip into the basilica before closing time, we popped into a nearby café for a tomato-mozzarella panini before quickly passing through security for a visit to the massive cathedral.
Basing ourselves in Trastevere, we took advantage of our quiet neighborhood to visit the Botanical Gardens, the Villa Farnesina and climb Janiculum Hill for a view of Rome.
Across the Tiber, we marveled at the Fountain of the Four Rivers designed by Bernini in the Piazza Navona and discovered a Bernini exhibition at the National Gallery of Ancient Art in the Palazzo Barberini for a fascinating look at a few of his stunning works.
After a trek to see Michelangelo’s Moses, Robie and I walked to the Capitoline Museum snatching glimpses of the Colosseum in the distance and making our way around the Forum. But most of our time was spent popping into the many churches we passed because it’s difficult to go more than a few steps in Rome without encountering another basilica, chapel, cathedral or abbey.
Packed with so much history, art and amazing food, Robie and I could explore Naples and Rome for months and never find time to get bored.
The statuary is beautiful. What marvelous sights. Thanks for labeling the shots. Helpful.
So glad you liked the tour! 🙂