Naples, the blog

Our one day in Naples is summed up by the back of a guy's T-shirt. As we were leaving the city I passed a man, the back of his shirt said something like "Your heart is free, now all you have to do is follow it." I'm not really sure what it means to "follow your heart" or for me to follow MY heart. But leaving Naples, I couldn't think of anything else.

The day started at with the 8:30am train ride from Rome/Roma to Naples/Napoli. By 11:30 Nancy, my dad, and I were seated at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele on Via Cesare Sersale, claimed to be The Best Pizza in the World by Elizabeth Gilbert in "Eat Pray Love." Nancy has read the book a million times and was the force behind our Naples side trip and our ensuing treasure hunt. Nancy's wild heart has the most beautiful ideas and I love that I get to be let in on them...and sometimes make them happen.
From the pizzeria (which we three agreed did indeed have the best pizza we had ever tasted) we found the first gelateria we could find, sat on a stoop and ate our cones of chocolate and fruit-flavored heaven. Napoli is the birthplace of pizza and ice cream--what else are ya gonna do when you visit? From there we took the Funiculare Centrale to a higher part of the city where we eventually found ourselves on the roof of a 6th century Spanish castle- San Elmo's Castle- looking out at the most amazing view of any city I've ever seen. The Bay of Naples spread out before us, Mt. Vesuvius in the distance, and a 360 degree view of magnificent red, orange, peach flats, apartments, domes speckled with green hillside.
On this epic Napoli journey, we met the liveliest Italians we've encountered thus far on our trip. One of them was a jovial sparsely-toothed man named Giovonni with a cameo factory/shop on the very tippy top of Naples next to San Elmos Castle. He is the third generation to work in the shop and he was so kind to notice our lostness and to lead us right to the castle (and his shop). Who knew Naples is known for their cameos? And who knew Giovonni's brother, a little man that looks like Jack Nicholson, carves them out of conch shells from The Sea of Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania?

And if this wasn't adventure enough, the entire day my dad was following his passion, his "heart", taking pictures every other step. His joy is to capture humanity on film and will let no danger, traffic regulation, or faux pas get in the way. Most of the day he was balancing precariously on the skinny traffic medians waiting until the exact moment vespa drivers noticed him taking their picture to click the shutter. This is great even though it makes it a little hard to stay together. Nancy and I walked ahead of him and would glance back at him occasionally- Nancy looking to make sure we didn't lose him and me looking to make sure a native didn't finally run over him or strangle him with his Nikon neck strap.

Like I said, I left Napoli thinking about the art of "following the heart," as the T-shirt said, or how to be in tune with whatever that thing is that whispers "Do this please! Now!" I am glad I do have great examples in the people around me...thanks Nancy, thanks Dad, thanks Napoli!