Funiculì Funiculà

I named this post after a song about Naples. It was written in 1880 to commemorate the opening of the first funicular cable car on Mount Vesuvius. Fires had been burning on the mountain the week before we came to Naples and people near it were being evacuated. Luckily, the fires were out and the skies were clear by our visit.  So click below to hear Andrea—perfect background music for this post.

Naples…… I had gone with the boys several years ago because Fred had a business trip to Barcelona while we were in Italy. We spent an afternoon there, fearing for our lives (the cars and the motorcycles), searching for the famous pizza, and walking to the museum where all the Pompeii artifacts are housed (having been disappointed not to see them at Pompeii the day before), only to find the museum closed that day. 

It left enough of a positive impression on me, though, to book a few nights with Fred this year. We stayed in the Spanish Quarter—only named so because of an invasion long ago. Nothing Spanish about it now. We took the train from Orte (a half hour from Viterbo) to Rome, and then on to Naples. Walking with our suitcase on cobbled streets is probably one of our least favorite things to do. It’s awkward, both physically and figuratively, and we’re usually hot and tired. 

Our Metro stop, Toledo, is famous for being one of the nicest in Italy. I'll post images from the web since mine isn't that great. Photo credits to www.nssmag.com.

This shot's mine, actually—while you're on the escalator if you look up there's this hole that goes up seemingly forever.

After settling in to our “Junior Suite” with roof terrace (too hot to be out there, sadly!), we set out for the National Archeological Museum. Actually, about one block into our walk we found a pizza place and realized we were starving. 

Here's the owner making our pizzas. On the right are trays of potato croquettes—not yet cooked. Probably for dinner.

My pizza—cheese with arugula. Amazing. Napolitano pizza crust is puffier than Viterbese. Different, but great too. It's all good. I always say I never had a pizza I didn't love. I know I'm not in good company with that sentiment.

I ordered a quarter liter of wine, which is about a glass's worth—this is a half liter. Oops! I hate when that happens (not)!

Roberto Benigni was there!  (Another time, but still.)

And Toni Servillo from The Great Beauty.

After this stop, we were ready to get to the museum and work off some of that pizza, wine and beer. I didn't read the Anita Ferrante books, but apparently they depict Naples perfectly. I did read the first few chapters of one and even that little bit was spot on and prepared me for the flavor of this pulsing vibrant city. The streets teem with people, bikes, cars, laundry, restaurants, fish vendors, fruit vendors...

I had hoped to see the plaster-cast figures of the victims of Pompeii but once again, no such luck. I was told they reside at this museum with all the other thousands of Pompeii artifacts, but we just couldn't find them. Here are some highlights anyway. Mind you, my highlights are a tad different from Fred's. I usually go out people watching and shooting when Fred goes to a museum, but I really wanted to see those damned bodies.

This guy --- he reminds me of Bill Clinton the way his mouth kind of hangs open sometimes.

I know, right???

Then of course, there was il Gabinetto Segreto—the Secret Cabinet—a "hidden" collection of erotica from Pompeii and Herculaneum.

All those extra phalli, and they couldn't have given this guy one?  Come to think of it, the entire museum was filled with statues of penis-less men.

And.... on the walk home:

On to dinner. I did research to find an authentic local eatery and didn't quite succeed, in that we were certainly not the only tourists, and the staff (a family) did put on a show for us. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed it, and the food was great. We first put our name in and then went next door to grab a spritz, which you can drink (from a plastic cup) on the street as you wait. I had asked to sit "a fuori" but apparently wasn't understood, so we were seated in an inner room. I say "inner" because it wasn't even the inside part we could see, it was like an annex. Sounds awful but it was fine. Packed with people. Half natives, half tourists.

Trattoria Da Nennella

The outdoor seating.

This was Fred's dish. Spaghetti (I think! Not a fancy pasta.) with Baccalà (salted cod), tomatoes and green beans. I think we both thought the beans would be cannelloni but these were good, too! The whole dish was great.

I had pasta with potatoes and I forget what else. Will revise if/when I remember. Fred has the menu, which was just a printed 8 1/2 X 11 piece of paper. It was very tasty, but more like a stew than a pasta dish. There were two different shapes of pasta in there, and some of the potatoes were in chunks, while others seemed to be pureéd forming a sort of sauce. It was much like a risotto dish. Tasty, but Fred and I switched halfway and traded meals.

My secondi was roasted zucchini. Amazing! There was a unique flavor to this dish—beyond the salt and oil we expected—which we determined was vinegar. Really tasty. Will try to recreate at home.

Fred's secondi was sausage—go figure, it was like a piece of steak! He loved it.

During dinner, this guy on the right came in (having gone from table to table outside, then inside, then into the annex). Normally this kind of thing irks me but he was AMAZING. Like an opera singer. Then the owner, in the red shirt, came out and accompanied him and he, too, sang like a pro.

Then, as we were paying and really almost out the door, this owner guy started dancing with a customer. Priceless!