Travel Series: Naples, Italy
12:50 am
We slept late on our first night in Italy because we had to still unpack and shower and wash our hair and plan the next day and buy our tickets. You know, the whole I'm doing it last minute procedure. We decided as a group that we were going to see Naples the following day. It would take about 45 minutes for us to get there by train. In order to beat the tourist traffic, we had to leave Scafati early in the morning. We had a quick breakfast at home first, I had a doughnut and an espresso shot. Ahhhh, the perks of having your own coffee machine - you can make your own coffee at home. Fabulous idea; Melitta Bentz!
Tomasso's dad was nice enough to send all of us to the train station on his way to work. When we got to the train station, the platform itself was not crowded with people. But once the train stopped and we stepped in, there weren't any free seats at all. We stood for most of the journey till we actually found three free seats. Myung and I shared one, Mira and Tomma had one seat each. Why is that that Europeans do not have in door air conditioning? I mean I get it that its cold half of the year, but that heat though. Opening the windows in the train did not help at all. I remember sweating so much that I felt my sweat drip down my legs. That is major.
Once we arrived in Naples, I noticed almost instantly that the atmosphere was different than in Scafati. Scafati is more quiet and chill, Naples however was more like London or KL or any other major city. There were people everywhere, so much hustle and bustle. People just crossed whenever they felt like it. They didnt even rush when crossing the roads! Somehow, the cars would just let the pedestrians cross (they are taking their time by the way) without giving them a honk or two.
Coffee is part of the Italian culture. Have you ever met an Italian that didn't drink coffee? No? Italians take their coffee very seriously. They even have an etiquette on coffee drinking. First things first. Cappuccino or anything milk is ordered in the mornings and never ever after meals. Lets put it this way, lets say you wake up in the morning and drink a cold glass of water. Italians would wake up and have a cappuccino first before anything else. Cappuccino is their morning BAE. After "morning" has ended then you are supposed to order an espresso or anything non milk based. Never order an Americano, they hate that.
Coffee deprived, we whined and whined at Tomma to take us somewhere for coffee. Not just anywhere, but somewhere good. Not even considering the fact that he doesn't completely know the way around Naples. Tomma chose a coffee shop that looked pretty hip called Centrale Del Cafe (Central Cafe) and we went in for a drink. Since it was still early in the morning, It was fine for me to order a cappuccino. Mira and I both had one, and Tomma ordered Myung something completely different. He had ordered her a Caffe Latte Freddo. It is an iced coffee that is much thicker than your average latte. The texture of the drink almost resembles melted coffee flavoured gelato in a shot glass. Sweet and thick with chocolate powder on the top of the drink and at the sides of the glass. Perfect for the hot weather in Italy! We had a little chat and cooled of before exploring the rest of Naples. Mind you that this was only 10 to 15 minutes after we arrived Naples train station haha
Naples is a beautiful city in Southern Italy. Well known for its historic castles and culinary know-hows. I've planned it right, I told myself that I must must must try pizza in Naples. No matter how full I was, I had to try it. I have always wanted to try pizza in Naples! And finally, I got to!
People were friendly in Naples. You could easily just approach anyone and they would help you or talk to you which made it easy for us to communicate with the locals. Communicate, I mean tell Tomma what to say in English and have him translate what ever we are saying to them in Italian. Thats what I mean by communicating.
Every alley was picturesque. We found oversell stopping every twelve steps to take pictures of literally every wall, door, window we could lay our eyes on. Each of us brought at least two different cameras along with us. I brought my little G7X and my Kodak on this trip to Naples. I don't know how I managed to fit that in my little Soho Bag.
Our first tourist pitstop after wondering around was the Napoli Sotterranea, Naples's underground. Located approximately 40 meters below the historic streets. Almost 2,400 years old, this underground enables you to experience a blast in the past. We managed to see the Greek Roman Aqueduct, the remains of the Roman Theatre and the Summa Cavea.
Before our tour started, we had to wait for our complimentary English guided tour so we decided to get some grub and fill in our tummies for the long tour. We wanted to refuel by having some calzones. Since it is so big and none of us could've finished it on our own (I'm sure i'd be able to hehe) I shared my tomato and mozzarella calzone with Mira and Myung shared hers with Tomma. To trench our thirst we had a Lemone Granita. It was like shaved lemonade in a cup for three Euros. It wasn't too sour but not my cup of tea. I didn't order one and stuck to my bottle of plain water because I was too paranoid that I was going get a sore throat from the sour lemon granita.
yummmmmm calzoneeeeee.....
Later in the evening, we just had to get our hands on something sweet and our next round of coffee. Suggested by Tommaso's dad (which is uncles favourite cafe in Naples), Gran Cafe Garimbus. There were a number of sweet and savoury pastries to choose from however one caught my eye. The Canolli. Originated from Sicily, this tube shape shell is filled with sweet fillings, typically ricotta. Some are filled with chocolate but the original canolli's are filled with ricotta and dusted with sugar. There are large ones and small ones. I have had both and the large one is simply too sweet for my liking. I definitely prefer the smaller canolli accompanied by a shot of espresso. Delicious! But because I had just discovered the Cafe Latte Freddo, I wanted one for myself too hehe
For dinner, we had booked a table at Umberto (also his fathers recommendation). It was a family restaurant filled with Italians however it was slightly more expensive than the other restaurants. Honestly, I couldn't care less the amount I'm paying as long as the food is delicious! One you see the food on your table, you would mind paying a little more. We had ordered three pizzas and 1 spaghetti Vongolé with two starters.
Our first starter was the mozzarella in carrozza which were deep fried mozzarella sandwiches. I don't know about you, but I loooooooveeeee cheeeeeese. It was simply heavenly. I loved the fact that when I bit into it, the cheese was just so stringy! My oh my, what glorious cheese you have Italy. Our second starter was the deep fried seafood platter; with calamaries, sardines and prawns. Yum! But the pizza, oh the pizza...... The pizza was the best part. We shared the three pizzas, I ordered the 4 cheese pizza, Mira ordered the Margheritta and Tomma ordered a similar pizza to mine but with ricotta cheese (I completely forgot the name of his pizza, sorry!) I really don't understand how in the world Italians can eat so much yet stay so skinny. They have pizza like almost 7 times a week and they still managed to maintain their UK 6 figure. Tell me your secrets!!
Seafood platter
Mozzarella in carozza
Spaghetti Vongole
4 Cheese Pizza // Quattro Formaggi
Margherita Pizza
I forgot what this is called LOL
SJY
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