Pizza, Napoli, and Cannoli

Napoli- a city known for two things: it's pizza and it's strong gang culture. Comforting, eh?

I went for the pizza- but didn't rule out the possibility of some gang affiliations ;)

Although, we were only there for 2 nights, I feel in love with the gastronomy of Napoli. And by 'gastronomy,' I mean pizza. During our short stay, that is all we ate in Napoli- Pizza. Well, Pizza and pastry. But I digress.

We arrived later in the day. The train ride was just perfect. It was through the mountains and countryside. I was in a car without the others but with 5 other women. Most Italian, I think. There was even a nun. Reading the Pope's biography. Yup, That happened.

When we arrived in Naples this is what we saw:

Dodgy buildings and lasagna.

Strong start, Naples.

Then we came across a marketplace- an entire street of shops and fresh fruit and fish! It was exactly how I pictured Italian markets to be- full of fish and loads of people mulling around.

After getting settled in the B&B, Daniel, Diva, and I decided to spend some time exploring the city before our first feed of pizza.

I had my first cannoli. It was SO good.

The Italians know food.

So I thought.

Then I saw this:

A chips and hotdog pizza.

I thought that was bad and then this gem emerged:

A chips and hot dog sandwich. I just can't even.

After we overcame our astonishment of the chips and hotdogs 'masterpieces,' we saw a castle. We weren't able to go in, but we peaked around a little.

If you look across the water in Naples, the first thing you see is Mount Vesuvius. Vesuvius is best known for the eruption that completely obliterated Pompeii and is also one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. There is a large population around the volcano and it is known to have small eruptions.

Dangerous, but man is it beautiful!

Our 'Night time in Naples' walk took us along the water, zipping along the streets and enjoying the beauty.

Our walk concluded at Gino Sorbillos. THE place to get pizza in Naples. We had 2 nights in Naples. And there are 2 Sorbillos- the original and the new one on the water. Logically, we planned to eat at both and compare.

We started at the new one along the water.

I ordered the antica margharita

Now, you may think that a pizza this size should be shared.

Nope.

We each got our own. And finished each one.

You don't go to Naples and leave pizza on the plate.

One of my favourite things about the menu is that they list the origins of the ingredients on the menu. And just about all of it is local!

Look at this beauty.

So thin and scrumptious. It tasted even better than it looked.

After all of that pizza, the boys ordered dessert.

I think Pablo's face says it all:

We ended the meal with a delicious glass of guappa.

A meal of champions!

Fun fact: they charged us to use the cutlery. We should have just gone with it and used our hands. We will know for next time.

Next time being just 24 hours later...

Pizza Pie!

Colosseo, Roma

Our last morning in Rome was busy.

We had intended on visiting our neighbour, the Colosseo, on New Year's Day. Sadly, I read the opening times wrong.

Luckily, we had a bit of time before our train and we were only staying about 20 steps from it.

We not only got to visit the Colosseo, but we visited during the morning golden hour. Perfection.

I'm going to let the photos do the talking for this post. I think that they speak for themselves...

Beautiful, eh?

You can choose to go on tours to explore additional levels, but we were low on time so we opted for the self-guided experience. And it was great.

I know that I say this all the time- but there is nothing more humbling than visiting these beautiful historical monuments and being reminded of how lucky we are to live in today's world.

This was our last adventure in Roma.

Next stop? Napoli!

Andiamo!

Stato della Città del Vaticano

I have never denied nor hidden my deep love for churches. Whenever I go to a new city, I seem to find at least one or two that just leave me breathless. I feel humbled in churches. They make me feel close to my dad. They are just so brilliant. You can just picture the people who come to them searching for something- redemption, forgiveness, salvation, answers, love. They are full of hope.

Now put me in front of the Vatican.

The Vatican City is something that you must see. I don't care if you're not religious or not Catholic- it is just absolutely breathtaking.

Now, you should know that there are 2 main "sights": St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum (where you can see the Sistine Chapel).

We decided to get up early to try to skip some lines. It was a brilliant plan. We walked right in and there weren't very many people in St Peter's Basilica. Our timing was spot on!

As we entered St Peters basilica, I was humbled to be in such a place of religious significance, but I was also struck by the over whelming wealth of the Catholic church. All I could think about were the millions of people living in poverty around the world. These people are dying or living on meager funds and the church- an institution which should be helping them- spends their money on this grandiose building to show off their wealth. But that is a post all on it's own.

The Basilica- it was grand. And ornate. And extremely impressive. As I walked through the door, there was a small crowd of people to my right, but I decided to forge my own path and I went left. The nativity was still up. It was massive. And so well presented.

I didn't take any photos in the basilica. If you have traveled with me, you will know that I just don't feel right taking photos in churches. Instead, I take the time to pray and to reflect. So you'll just have to imagine the beauty (or make your way to your favourite search engine to get a visual :) )

Just picture it, though- gold, high ceilings, the graves of many popes past. It was perfect.

As I worked my way around, I came back to that area where a crowd had formed earlier. It was Michelangelo's "Pieta." For some reason, I didn't realize that the Pieta was in St. Peter's. It was a welcomed sight though.

As we finished in the Basilica, we decided to make the trek to the top of the cupola. Best. Decision. Ever.

Now, I will warn you that there are about 6 billion steps (I'm a bit dramatic ;) ) but it's well worth the climb. I will let the photos speak for themselves:

We headed to the Vatican museum next.

This place was absolute madness. We queued for about an hour or so- the whole time being solicited by tour companies with promises of jumping the queue. I made friends with some of them (my maritime kindness always gets the best of me). We FINALLY made it to the museum (after Lucia and I made a quick gelato trip- a necessity when in Italy!) and the madness was overwhelming.

That wealth which was so obvious in the Basilica? This museum takes it to another level. There are grand works of art everywhere that you look. But the thing is, you can't actually appreciate any of them because of the stifling amount of people. I felt like I was stuck in the middle of a herd of sheep- just shuffling along- not being able to really stop and take any of it in.

I could appreciate that it was beautiful, but I wish I had been able to just stand and stare at some of the art or tapestries or maps!

We shuffled all the way down to the main attraction- the Sistine chapel. Yup. WOW.

This is not the Sistine- just the sign letting us know that we were almost there. We weren't allowed to take photos once inside!

The herd of sheep was shushed and directed to move back. I saw this random empty space in the middle of the room and I was feeling a little cheeky. I knew that I wanted to just lay on my back and take it in- so I did :) it didn't last very long before a security guard was sternly yelling at me in Italian and motioning to get up. I didn't mind, though. I laid under the ceiling of the Sistine- just as Michelangelo had done to paint it. I will never forget how beautiful it looked.

Next, we backtracked to the Basilica and headed down to the Catacombs. Wow. There are so many graves of Popes past and even the remains of Saint Peter (who was famed for his upside down crucifixion) in there. It was strangely fascinating.

The Vatican City was a full day trip. If you want to go, I would suggest checking out the museum first. Skip that queue and hope to beat some of the crowd there. Then pop over to the Basilica. You may have to wait for a bit, but take a friend or a good book and the queue will pass quickly!

With just one day left in Roma, we called it an early night. We ended the day with some pasta and a stroll past the Colosseo. So Italian. Besides, we had to get ready to fight like Gladiators the next day!