day 6 - Napoli !!!

klakakakakakaka
klakakakakaka
klak!
i haven't lost my mind...every time i go to naples it seems that there's some new fad of sorts going on here. sometimes those fads aren't so new...4 years ago every woman and girl below the age of 20 had on cowboy boots! this year's disernable fashion trend is the color(s) purple & lavender. but what does that have to do with klak klakakakakaka?
that's the sound 2 plastic balls (held together by string) make when you wack them in just the right way! remember those things? i was in elementary school the first time i saw them. they were bigger then, and thankfully WAY more dangerous! the story was some kid took an eye out or something, or did he split his head open? anyhoo, they went away.... but now they've resurfaced and shown their ugly klakity heads in Napoli. you can't go anywhere without hearing the vendors who sell them, or the kids who buy them KLAKAKAKKAKAKA. if you really want to make me laff....bring one to a con, sneak up behind me and start klaking! please video tape my expression ;-)

in other news my camera is kaput! so no more pix until i get back and upload them from my phone. i need the right usb cable. ug.

so, i got an early start and made a bee line for the restaurant where i left my credit card from the night before. yes, i called them that nite! went an alternative route there...but found out that a certain part of the street was private. so i went a bit out of my way. no worries.

then i tried to add money to my vodaphone card...long story short, after everything...it doesn't work. so a bit of wasted time.

luckily right down the street was a Caraggio in a historic building (owned by a bank). they charged me 3 euros to see it. only a sucker for the big C would submit to it.

then as time was running out i rushed desperately off to the cloister San Gregorio in Armenia. which closes at noon. i went an alternate route and found the adjoining church open for once and boy was i rewarded! what a glorious church it was....probably the best one for it's size in Napoli. and then i went to the cloister and chilled a bit.

next i had lunch at pizza Sorbillo ....a great place, quite well known in Napoli. i had a special one with a bitter brocoli like green and sausage and cheese. no sauce. it was yummy. my stomach expanded to acomodate all of it.

finished with gelato (pistachio & strachitella)
while sitting in the sun i decided my next plan.

POMPEII

an awesome time... you can not visit this place too many times. especially since the restoration process continues and you're likely to see something that wasn't open yet. 3 hrs just flew by.

when i left i literally ran to catch the train. got it !

got a little lost for a bit after leaving the train station, and luckily stumbled across a granita stand. it's an italian slushy. and i had the cafe granita. mmmmmm

after walking all day i was quite relieved to rest my sore feet in a wine bar before dinner. then headed back to the restaurant umberto from the nite before. it was just too easy to go back, i was in the neighborhood, tired, etc...
i had a nice salad of asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and calamari. and then for the pasta (so secondo for me tonite) i had potato gnocchi with clams, mussels, calamari with zucchini & pumpkin. yes, it was very very good. each nite i'm drinking Falanghina.

i took pix...i'll show all when i return.
then i nice walk home and yes...more gelato on the way.

ciao

day 5 - Naples - italy

ed

another fine day in Bella Napoli.
woke up really late, and rushed off for the 30 minute walk to the old center. had a great pizza at matteo's. margherita con funghi!

but before i ate, knowing that all the churches close by around 1pm, i squeezed in as many as possible. i made it to the duomo with just a little bit of time to spare....luckily i got to see the San Genaro chapel and then they kicked me out! Pizzeria Mateo was just a couple of blocks away. BIG difference between the place i ate the day before (Da Ettore). first of all...Da Ettore, while they have excellent food & pizza, jacked me by charging a 3 euro cover! considering the pizza was 8 euro...this is highway robbery. usually the cover is for bread, but with pizza? come on...they don't give bread. needless to say...i didn't tip. fast forward to today. 5 euro's for the pizza pie, and 1 euro for the aqua gassata. 6 euro total. yeah... and the pizza is great.

so, after lunch i started off in desparate need for my first coffee of the day. i passed the entrance to the subterranean aqueducts and decided this trip i'd do it. and i have to say it was well worth it. we had a humorous young guide (who shared a coffee with me afterwards) and it was totally fascinating getting the history and the amazing scope of what was going on down there! first we went to a home where they recently rediscovered the ancient greek amphitheater! i've included a pic of us entering via the stairs thru the floor. the whole experience was great.

and then i discovered that my camera died! now what to do. i can take pix with my phone...but i don't have the usb cable to upload the images to the laptop. stay tuned.

after this i went to a few more churches and then headed off to a couple of different wine bars. after that it was time for dinner at Umberto
i had mixed fried veggies, and then pasta con vongole veraci. for desert pastiera.

a nice walk home.

Day 4 - Napoli - italia

well, what a day it's been (and again if you're starting here....go BACK TO DAY 1).
caught the high speed train at Termini station from Rome to Naples at 10:05 am. it was 20 minutes delayed. 1 hour instead of 2. while on the train i got a text from the convention promoter that my hotel had been changed...lucky i got THAT text. the new hotel is actually way nicer...but not as well located. the taxi was 25 eu !!!! dropped my stuff off and as i have a savant's memory i found a great place for lunch that i ate at 2 years ago. Da Ettore... aside from them ripping me off with with a crazy charge of 3 euro's for the cover...it was great.

after lunch i headed off to the old center of town. the streets were teeming with life along via toledo. as i got closer i saw that all the churches were closed for the afternoon (i kinda knew this). i got a wonderful gelato at the classic chocolate shop Gay Odin (caffe with pistachio). then i walked a bit more, sat on the steps of one of my favorite churches "san domenico maggiore" (closed...but we'll get back to it later) finished my gelato...and nearly passed out! ok. severely sleep deprived here. and decided wisely to head back to the hotel for a nap. since everything was closed this was pretty easy decision making.

had my much needed nap, and headed back to the center of town where i made a stop in a church i'd never been in before (chiesa di S'anna dei lombardi...also known as the church of Monteoliveto). i had passed it before, but either never really explored it or ...??? i don't know. it was very quiet, no one in, and a guy started talking to me in italian and kind of ushered me towards the back where i could see signs about Vassari...so i followed him. and low and behold he led me way in back to the Sacristy where Giorgio Vasari did the most amazing frescoed ceilings !!! (this is the same Vasari more famous for being the first italian art historian...and also a great architect as well.)...but he was no joke as a painter! what a special art treat this was!!
after this i headed off to the church of Gesu Nuovo. another stunner! nothing specific, but glorious architecture and design everywhere.

after that i headed off for the church of san Domenico Maggiore (where i nearly passed out on the steps), had a great time... now it was time to head off in the direction of where i would eat dinner. back along the via toledo, where it was swarming with the pre dinner walk. made a right turn on via chiaia. first stop a nice little wine bar where i had a couple of glasses of proseco with olives on the side. perfect way to kill time before dinner, and then i walked over to the restaurant Manfredi. a simple fried mozarella app, then linguini with fruiti di mare (mixed clams), and a bronzino (sea bass grilled). all awesome....took the nice stroll home and enjoyed (oink) a way too big cup of gelato!

bout to head off to sleep!
buono note!
s

italy - day 3 - roma

don't forget to start with day 1 !!

ok...so, i didn't sleep well. it always happens to me on after these red eye flights to europe. i catch some kind of cold. been there, done that, doing it again. thankfully massimo woke me at 11:30am...it wasn't really waking me, i just couldn't get out of bed. Marina made us Rigatoni alla Carbonara. the classic romano dish. mmmmmmmm. you need a special type of bacon for this called guanciale (pork jowls), and eggs & pecorino cheese, and some black pepper. very simple but also very easy to not make it well. and marina made a beautiful version! after this we went for a walk on the antica appia (the appian way...the first great road of ancient Rome)...incredible park along the road with ruins and monuments. just lovely.

after this we headed for another part of Roma unfamiliar to me... Villa Torlonia & the beautiful surrounding parks...in Nomentana district. 3 different museums ...we went to the Casina Delle Civette (hut of the small owl). built in the 1840's it had a great display of art nouveau stained glass and mechanical drawings of the artists work.

we were dropped off at the piazza del popolo...where i made a pit stop to see a couple of caravaggio's...but it was too dark and there was a mass going on so i didn't want to disturb with the bright lights. then we walked down the via margutta...a great quiet street lined with art gallery's. after this every restaurant we wanted to go to was closed! we were dead tired and near the jewish quarter so we went to the classic roman jewish place Giggetto...where we had the Carciofi alla Giudia (artichokes jewish style)...i had bacacala, and then we had spaghetti con pepe Y cacio. (black pepper and creme sauce) and lastly the Ossobuco! it was all good...and it hit the spot. on the drive home we stopped in the outskirts of town for gelatto.

time to crash!
ciao

day 2 pix

top right day 1 with the roman forum in the back ground, polenta gnocchi (more like polenta cakes if you ask me!), 3-in the orange garden atop Aventino hill, 4-marina & i in the cloister of San Giovanni, 5-yummy apps from that delicious dinner, and lastly the desert.

italy - rome- day 2

i had a great nite's sleep, and after a nice breakfast, some good cafe was ready to head out to lunch with Massimo & Marina with our friends Giovanni Tarquini (owner of Forbidden Planet in Roma) his wife Luisa and 11 month old daughter Vittoria (a little sweetheart!). we had the classic pasta (massimo's fave place for it) bucatini all'amatriciana! it was awesome, and it was HUGE! oy...i was stuffed. but it was great. then we headed off to to Gio & Lui's beautiful home which is decked out to the T with beautiful architecture and design, we had some nice pastry and cafe.

then we headed off to see the church of San Giovanni (the duomo of Roma...that's main cathedral for those of you not in the know). the highlight was the great cloister. I hadn't been to this church before...so i was psyched. on the way back to the car we stopped off for another quick espresso (cafe). also we hit up to nice smaller churches on this little walk (San Clemente, and San quatro sainti sp?). then a quick pit stop to the newly finished renovation of the Trajan's column area.

after this i had the special treat of going to yet another spot i've never been to: the Aventino hill district! Amazing views of Trestevere and the rest of Roma from the drop dead gorgeous San Sabina "orange garden". Also quick visit to the Church itself (San Alessio). then a walk thru the stunning neighborhood over to the lovely San Anselmo church and mini gardens.

next it was time for dinner...we headed off to the Testaccio district and ate in this funky cool restaurant funkiest place Ristorante della Citta dell'altraeconomia ("City for Another Economy")

we started off with 3 apps: 1- Antipasto (fiordilatte, tostine di pane con pate di verdure, formaggi & salumi di maiale nero reatino)...mozarella, little flat breads with veggie pate, more cheese, 2 tops of cured ham from the specific breed. 2- Vellutata di cannellini con verza stufata al profumo di balsamico (cannillini bean puree, with a little fried cabbage with a touch of vinegar).
3-Sformatino di finocchi e pecorino (sort of a fennel quiche). all were yummy and we shared.
then because i'm a sucker for polenta i had a primi of Gnocchi di polenta con salsa di gunghi & pomodori ( polenta gnocchi with mushroom gravy and cherry tomatoes.) and yes...it was off the hook. and YES i shared!

also served with the meal...a nice Primativo red wine from the south of italy.

for our 3 mains (secondo) we had 1- Lombata di maiale nero dei monti reatini (a nice piece of grilled pork), 2- Pollo ruspante con salsa masala (chicken with a delicate indian masala sause), and 3- TAgliata di manzo (beautifully grilled strips of beef).

our deserts were apple crumb tart, and baked pears with cream.

a great day...!
back at you tomorrow.

day 1- pix

clockwise from upper left- dinner at il san lorenzo- 1-this strips of squid with artichokes mint & lemon/olive oil 2- primi- home made pasta with sea urchin 3- appetizers.....it was all awesome!