In Napoli where love is king...

Before I moved to Italy, one of my favorite singers, Dean Martin lead me to believe that Naples was a beautiful and romantic city. He sings, "Write to me from Naples / I love you and Naples..." and "A girl went back to Napoli / Because she missed the scenery...". Sorry Deano! Naples is probably the dirtiest city that I have been to in Europe. Luckily, I wasn't expecting much, because my friends who had traveled to Naples warned me about it. But there is one thing about Naples that is beautiful-- the PIZZA! Mmmmmm. The pizza is enough of a reason to go traipsing around this dirty city. You can find good pizza most anywhere in Italy. But the pizza in Naples, the birthplace of pizza as they say, is just magical. There is nothing else like it.

We visited Naples on the same day we went to Pompeii. After spending half of the day in Pompeii, we hopped back on the Circumvesuviana train line (the commuter train that runs between Naples and Sorrento) and in 30 minutes we were in Napoli. We were hungry for lunch so we hurried on over to one of the famous pizzerias in Naples, Pizzeria Trianon. It was such a delicious lunch. I got the classic Margherita pizza, and Dallin got his old standby, Diavola, or as the Americans call it-- pepperoni. Within 5 minutes our pizzas were served to us, piping hot, fresh out of the wood-burning oven.

YUMMO!!!

After lunch, we went on a walking tour of Naples. It started off with a woman warning us to keep our belongings, particularly our camera, close to us because of the thieves. Lovely...

Typical neighborhood in the Spanish Quarter of Naples.

Me standing by Napoli's harbor, with Vesuvius in the background.

This was the only somewhat pretty area of Naples. This is the Church of San Francesco di Paola in Piazza del Plebiscito.

This is the Galleria Umberto I, a 100-year old shopping mall.

This statue of the Nile marks the center of Old Naples in the Spaccanapoli neighborhood. The cornucopia symbolizes the abundance of the city of Naples.

After finishing our walking tour, we headed back to Sorrento. We didn't want to be caught in the dark in Naples and run into the Mafia. Dallin could probably outrun the Mafia, but my pregnant lady waddle would have given me some troubles. 

The next day, which was the last day of our trip, we returned to Naples to visit the Archaeological Museum. This museum houses the original art and artifacts that were excavated from Pompeii.

This is the Toro Farnese. It is the tallest ancient marble group ever found, and the largest intact statue from antiquity. Michelangelo helped restore it.

An athlete.

After exploring the museum we worked up an appetite walking to our main attraction in Naples-- L'antica Pizzeria da Michele. It is here that we consumed what Dallin and I both agree was the best food we have ever tasted. Notice, I said, "food". This was not only the best pizza I have ever had, but the best thing I have ever eaten EVER! Legend has it that pizzeria was actually invented here at Antica Pizzeria da Michele. That's why it is the best.


It was crowded when we got there, so we got in line...

This was the crowd at 3 o'clock on a Sunday, so we knew it had to be good.

After about a 15 minute wait, we sat down...

Notice the picture of Julia Roberts on the glass by the pizza chef behind me. She ate here in the movie, Eat, Pray, Love.

Right next to the oven so we could see all of the action.


We ordered. There are two choices: Margherita (tomato sauce, mozzerella, and basil) or Marinara (just tomato sauce).

And then our lives were changed forever...

It is torture looking at this picture. I want another one of these so bad. The crust is so perfectly tender, the sauce is a perfect balance of tangy and sweet, the cheese is stretchy and salty, and the spiciness of fresh basil tops it all off. Mmmmmm mmmm. So yummy!

After the best meal ever, we headed to the main train station where we caught our bus to the airport. We then flew back to Venice on Easyjet and made our way back home. It was a great trip. The perfect way to celebrate the end of being just a twosome. This was our last hurrah before the arrival of our sweet baby girl, and then our lives really did change forever... :)