Naples Day 1

Today I arrived in Naples, Italy. The first thing I noticed is that it was significantly less dirty of a city then Rome. The first place on the itinerary for today was called Bar Mexico. The guide book said it had the best coffee in Naples and it was absolutely right. This coffee was exquisite! One of the locals that I talked to while at the bar said he goes there every morning before work and that it is possibly the best coffee in the world.

After the coffee stop, we trudged on to Naples’ National Archeological Museum. This museum was awesome because it had so many of the artifacts from Pompeii. I am going to Pompeii tomorrow and so it was very exciting to see many of the artifacts that had been removed from the excavation sights at Pompeii. My favorite room in the museum was this gigantic ballroom covered in pictures. The room itself was awesome to look at because it was so large that its enormity was just breath taking. I could just imagine how in days of old what wonderful balls were held. (Margaret- think Pride and Prejudice J )

After the museum I went to L’Antiqua Pizzaria (supposedly the best pizza place in Naples.) When we got there there was a line of at least 30 people outside. So, we went inside and got take away instead of waiting the hour and a half for a table! The pizza was awesome! It is not like American pizza- there are no toppings, but the marinara sauce tastes like fresh tomatoes and the crust is perfectly thin. As we were leaving one of the cooks gave me his card with his number on the back. (FYI Dad- I did not call him J

The rest of the day involved wandering around Naples and looking at the shops. There was this one street close to the middle of town that was packed with shops selling all different sorts of musical instruments. I really wish I knew more Italian because it would have been really exciting to figure out if the instruments were locally made. In addition to seeing musical instruments, I got some very comfy walking shoes (mom- more practical then fashionable, but kind of cute J ) It is definitely apparent that Italy is the country of shoes.

I ended the evening with pizza and a beer with some friends at a local pub. As I was approaching the ship at the end of the night, I came across a traditional drum circle. All of the members had different drums and were beating together in complicated but succinct rhythms. It was pretty fascinating to watch so I amused myself for awhile and then headed back to the ship and to bed. It was a very fun day and I can’t wait for Pompeii and Sorrento tomorrow!!