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.