Onward to Napoli

For some reason I woke up this morning around 4:30am. I didn't want to get up but I wasn't able to fall back asleep so I ended up reading until about 5:20am. Since I wasn't able to sleep I decided to get up and get ready for the day. After I was dressed I packed all my things to get ready to put our bags in the hall to be picked up by the porters. Thomas got up at 6:00am and got dressed and then we put both of our bags out in the hall at 6:30am. I then checked emails and did some photo editing while Thomas read until it was time for breakfast. At 7:15am we headed to the restaurant for coffee and food and relaxed for a while. At 8:30am we went to the lobby and met the group to board the bus for Naples. Two of the group had been taken to the airport at 3:30am to catch their flights and we still needed to drop off three others when we got to Naples. It was about an hour to the airport and once we saw Mel, Teresa and Toni off we made the short drive to our last hotel for this trip. When we arrived at Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo we found that our rooms were not quite ready. So we ended up just hanging in the lobby for about 15 minutes and then we were able to get to our rooms and get settled. We only had a short time before we had to meet back in the lobby for a walking tour of Naples. At 10:30am we met Antonio (our local tour guide) and headed out to see Naples. We spent our time in the more historic area of Naples. Here is a summary of our walk . . .

We walked out of the hotel and turned right and walked along Via Ponte di Tappia to Via Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra. We made a right turn here and walked to the corner with Via S. Giacomo. We stopped here for a short time while Antonio gave us some history of the city and a little about the lay out of the city. From this corner we could see Castel Nuovo and the Fontana del Nettuno. After his talk we retraced our steps along Via Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra and continued on this road to where it changed names to Via Guantai Nuovi and crossed over Via Armando Diaz to Piazza Giacomo Matteotti. We then walked along the Post Office and then down some steps (where there was a small flea market) to Via Monteoliveto and turned left.

The Fountain of Monteoliveto

We stopped in front of The Fountain of Monteoliveto, also called the Fountain of Charles II or of the Small King where Antonio gave us some more history. From the fountain we continued our walk along Calata Trinità Maggiore and stopped for espresso at Opera teatro del gusto. After the espresso we walked into Piazza del Gesù Nuovo where we saw Obelisco dell'Immacolata and then went into Chiesa di Gesù Nuovo. This is a baroque church built in 1317 by Franciscan friars. Then we continued to Via Benedetto Croce and went into the Basilica di Santa Chiara which is a gothic style church built from 1310 to 1328.

Cloisters - Majolica Columns

We had a short visit here and thenwent around the side of the church to the Chiostro maiolicato di Santa Chiara. This is an incredible place - beautiful courtyard with majolica tiles used on benches and columns with frescos along the arched covered walkways. We walked through the courtyard and Antonio gave us the history of the place. On the other side of the courtyard we went into the Complesso Museale di Santa Chiara. We had a little time here to see some of the exhibits and get some more history.

Spaccanapoli

After a short bathroom break and a look at the gift shop we headed out again. We strolled along Via Benedetto Croce (aka Spaccanapoli or "Naples Splitter") to Piazza San Domenico Maggiore. Here we cut across and walked down Vico San Domenico Maggiore to Via Francesco De Sanctis to the Museo Cappella Sansevero to see The Veiled Christ. Unfortunately it was closed. So we retraced our steps to the Spaccanapoli and got something to eat at Passione di Sofì - we had a cone with fried veggies and other things. One cone was enough for two people. Then we went across the street to Leopoldo Infante for Sfogliatelle. When we were all done we started back to the hotel. We retrace our steps to The Fountain of Monteoliveto. Here we went through Piazza Monteoliveto and along Via Mario Morgantini then through Piazza Carita to Via Toledo. Here we cut across a piazza to Via Roberto Bracco and followed this street to our hotel on Via Ponte di Tappia. 

When we arrived at the hotel Thomas and I asked Linda where we might go to buy a small carry on bag to help with packing for the flight home. She directed us to Via Toledo which is a major shopping street. We walked Via Toledo from Via Ponte di Tappia to Via Nardones at Piazza Trieste e Trento.

Galleria Umberto I

We didn't see anything so we turned around and headed back. We stopped at Galleria Umberto I because we saw the glass dome and the carved walls. So we walked around inside the continued our walk back toward the hotel. When we got back to Via Ponte di Tappia Thomas remembered seeing a luggage store during our walk. He thought it was around The Fountain of Monteoliveto. So we walked there and sure enough there was a luggage store. We went in and found a lightweight duffle bag that folds up small. It was just what we needed. So with our purchase we returned to the hotel and proeeded to pack up some things so that we could be ready for our flight home on Thursday. Then we both got in a one hour nap. We woke up at 5:00pm and got ready for dinner. We met the group in the lobby at 5:45pm to head out on our pizza making excursion. 

We walked just a short distance from the hotel to Ristorante Pizzaria Mattozzi and met Paolo - he manages the place and was our instructor for the night. They set up a table outside and had pans and some cups with water and yeast.

Pizza Making Team

Then one of the staff had flour. We poured the water into the pan and they added some flour - we started mixing. After the first addition of flour we added the yeast and then they kept adding flour until we got a dough ball that was firm and pliable. When we finished making the dough we went and washed our hands. When we returned to our table they had added place settings, so we each grabbed a spot. They brought out our drinks and then started with some fried veggies, dough, rice and potatoes. Then they brought out mozzarella and olives. Next we had lasagna and fried mozzarella. Finally we got pizza - they brought out a variety and we all shared. But they brought out way too much and we ended up with almost three full pizzas not eaten. It was about 9:30pm when we returned to the hotel. Now that I got this taken care of it is time to get some sleep. Tomorrow we visit Herculaneum.