Naples for Pizza

Yesterday I went out into Naples with Vanessa from Spain who is one of the female acrobats that works in the Cirque show. We went out searching for the oldest pizza restaurant in Naples, called Pizzeria Da Michele. We found out later that this restaurant was part of the movie, “Eat, Sleep, Pray” with Julia Roberts. The day was overcast and we kept expecting it would rain. Along the way we stopped for Coffee, and we both ordered Lattes and sat outside and watched the bustling world of Naples pass by. When we finally arrived at the pizzeria, there was a line of people out the door. We went in and took a number (21) and waited about 30 minutes until they called us. The noisy restaurant was lit by unforgiving florescent lights hanging from high ceilings, and we were sat at a plain cafeteria style table with a bunch of other people we didn’t know. They served only two kinds of pizza, Marinara which was basically just tomato sauce, seasoned with garlic cloves and oregano, and then the second kind was Margahritta, which had tomato sauce, slabs of melted mozzarella, and basil leaves. Each pizza was only 5 Euro (about $6.90). We got one of each as well as a bottle of Coke, served in the old-fashioned glass bottles. The Margahritta pizza was outstanding and the mozzarella so fresh and flavorful. The Marinara was good too, but I didn’t like that it was missing cheese.


When we left, we walked through the narrow back streets, paved with stones smoothed by the traffic of centuries, and occasionally had to move aside for a moped or a small car. We passed a lot of stores that had small replicas of ancient town scenes, where you could buy tiny handmade brooms, pots, water wells, trees, spinning wheels to scale. I picked up a couple trinkets for some people back home. We stopped for another coffee in a piazza (square). I walked into the coffee shop and the menu at the counter said that it was 1.30 Euro for a Cappuccino, so I ordered two of them directly from the counter man. The waiter came up to me and told me to sit outside and he would bring them. When he did, he dropped a check for 5 Euro. Apparently in Italy the price doubles if you opt for waiter service.

After the Cappuccino, we continued walking back to the port, where I remembered that I had a postcard in my cabin that needed to be mailed in Italy, as I had already affixed the proper Italian postage on it. So I went back to my cabin and retrieved the postcard, went back through customs and security, and found a mailbox. This was our last day in Italy. Tomorrow we go to Mallorca, Spain and on Sunday back to our final Barcelona whereupon we will set sail for Miami and the Caribbean. Europe was fun but I’ll be glad to be home soon.

Florence, Rome and the Vatican

Aside from the Dueling Piano shows I'm contracted for, I signed up and was chosen to be an escort for a couple of the ship’s official guest tours. The first was an all day tour to Florence. My job as an escort is laughable really. All I have to do is wear my nametag and just be present. The local guides do all the work. So, it’s basically a free tour for me, and these all-day tours cost the guests $230 - $300. 

Florence was like a picture postcard. There are statues and mosaics everywhere, and the streets are lined with old stones that have been polished by centuries of pedestrians, horses and cars. All the buildings are adorned with ornaments and beautiful shutters on colored Italian stucco.  The City of Florence was more or less the center of the Renaissance, so it’s history of Art is deep and broad. They have a plaza that functions as their outdoor museum, and is full of marble sculptures by some of the greatest sculptors to ever live including perhaps the most well-known sculpture ever, called The David by Michelangelo, which is of the beautiful youth, David right before he fights Goliath. So beautiful in fact, that I bought a cheap plaster reproduction. 

The following day I was chosen to escort a full day tour to Rome and the Vatican. The Vatican museum is quite a grand affair, and is absurdly crowded. You are surrounded by a streaming mass of humanity just flowing through the large passageways that house perhaps the most extensive religious art collection in the world. There was so much to look at and so little time to see it. I would love to go back again when I had more time, but I doubt I will. Part of the museum is the famous Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo painted the ceiling fresco. As you exit the museum you are allowed to go into St. Peter’s Basilica, which is the most important church in Roman Catholicism as it is built upon the remains of the first very pope, the apostle Peter. 

As I type this, I’m sitting at the coffee bar on Deck 5. A couple of the Blue Men actors just came by and we’re talking. One of the things I love about this ship is how much of a community the entertainers have. It’s like we’re all in the same boat…umm…yeah. Anyway, I’ve made a lot of friends.

Ok, was interrupted again by a passenger from Scotland asks me if I play “The Eyes of Texas” (The University of Texas fight song) [yes] and “We Didn’t Light the Fire” [yes] at our piano show tonight.