Napoli: Food, churches, scooters and my version of Forrest Gump!

Eight years ago I visited Napoli for a half day where we toured a museum, took a train to Sorrento, and hightailed it outta there as soon as possible. It was during the Italian recession and we were heavily warned Napoli was known for pick pocketing and crime. However all the locals I have met that have been to the motherland of pizza raves about how wonderful Napoli is. Clearing my head of past perceptions, but still wearing my incognito fanny pack, I stepped off the train in the late (late to Americans) afternoon to reconsider this city. My Neapolitan host, Raffaele greeted me at the station and my tour through the city began immediately! We took the metro, which was under the sea level to ascend to street level a block from my hotel to drop and dash the luggage and continue forward! Raffaele was a great guide showing all the areas of interest to further adventure to on my own while giving a history lesson in every direction he pointed. It was a quick but thorough tour so I could choose where to explore. Most importantly his tour assured me this city was not the what I remembered! Bustling with tourists and beautiful structures I knew I would enjoy time on my own.

The Piazza

So what shall I do for the remainder of the evening?!?! Oddly I was fascinated most by the busy narrow streets congested by locals, tourists, and sooooooooooooo many scooters. Each street was like its own oxymoron a straight maze that sloped up towards the lofty church above. Yes all the roads are straight as an arrow, but a puzzle just to get around flurry of the city! I weaved in and out, up and down, until I was hungry. Without a thought I selected one of the many restaurants beckoning tourists to have my first meal in Naples: pasta and mussels! It was delicious!

Scooters!!!!

All the tiny roads!

Streets filled with markets! My favorite ones are with the local seafood!!!!

Shout out to Mary Sacco, my work mom! This is an optometrist office like Mary always keeping an eye out on her lunch gals! And of course do not forget her not so better half, Tom! ;) Thank you both for always being there for yours truly. Love Tree

The next day was a holiday which I spent on the island of Capri. In the evening I once again had a mouthwatering meal of stuffed squid and raw shrimp and fish appetizer. The following day, Wednesday, was my first day in the VGL Napoli office where I was warmly welcomed by the staff! It was wonderful to get to meet the staff, put faces to names, and of course to be a member of the Napoli office. For lunch of course I had pizza! It was amazing as expected! I had a pizza called the four season as it was four different traditional Neapolitan style pizzas in on one pie! Afterwards we stopped for a much needed coffee to stay awake for the remainder of the work day. Ahhhhh…..! Neapolitan coffee is the best so far, so smooth and creamy yet bitter. The evening was a continued tour of the historical areas of Napoli with Raffaele. Soooooo many churches!!!!! I know Italy is filled with churches, but here in Napoli make a 360 degrees turn anywhere and you could usually count five churches! Some of them were camouflaged neatly against its neighboring structures. Other churches proudly stood claiming its positions within the streets. Unknowingly it became a game of “I Spy” to test my ability to find all the churches as we walked.

Start and End of my historical & I Spy tour!

Not Churches but on cool buildings on my tour

We made a planned detour on our walk to eat at a restaurant known for cooking Baccala, local cod, in many different ways. We shared several different Baccala dishes so I could experience it all! The appetizer alone was three different ways of frying Baccala! I was in heaven! Every piece of fish melted in my mouth like butter. We ended the dinner with a local pastry called Baba. Baba’s appearance is similar to cornbread shaped like a mushroom. I was expecting a dry pastry with a slightly sweet taste but it was far from it! With the first bite my taste buds were greeted by a sweet liquid nectar. Every additional bite into the spongy cake filled my mouth with syrup with a slight after taste of liquor. This was by far my favorite meal in Italy. I really hope another meal can top this because I want to taste fabulous food often!

The next day we visited two clients, the second being a company that exports tomatoes and other canned food stuff. The owner of this company is passionate about his work, so I received 45 minute tutorial on packaging tomatoes, quality of tomatoes and olive oils, and testing food for quality. I loved his enthusiasm for what he has built. As a guest he wanted me to have the real Napoli experience, so I was wined and dined and of course both were wonderful. After too much food and too much wine we returned to the office to finish the day. My allergies combined with the wine was taking its toll on my head, so I skipped an aperitif (happy hour drink) to lay down a bit before dinner. Of course I laid in my bed wide awake.

Although I have been very active these past few weeks it is not the same as my usual work out regime: Crossfit and Olympic Lifting. I miss having something constant and familiar to my daily life, almost homesick for it. I know sounds crazy because I am in ITALY!!!!!! I absolutely LOVE my time here, but it still is a foreign country, on a business trip, doing a job I have never done can be overwhelming sometimes. I am not a sale person, so getting use to moving around often in a short period of time takes some............a ton of adjusting to this lifestyle. Crossfit is like my baby blanket that I hold onto when I need to find comfort. It is my community, my temple, my family away from family, somewhere I can just be myself without worries. It is just part of who I am and love to be. Going to a regular gym is not the same. They stare……..a lot. I could not shake this feeling that was bursting inside me. Headache and all I stepped outside into the pouring rain and started to run. Sprinting. Like Forrest Gump I just started to go choosing no path but making my way towards the castle that meets the edge of the ocean. I was going to keep running as fast as I could until I did not want to. Listening to my breaths like it was meditation. The rain dripped into my eyes as I made my way along the seaside of Napoli. Not too many pedestrians to weave through. The path was all mine so I just kept going. But atlas my alarm screamed at me to turn around badgering me not to be late for dinner. I looked at the road ahead disappointed we would not meet, turned around, and continued my therapy until my lungs ached. The hotel receptionist looked horrified as I walked in. Red in the face and gasping for air I waved hello and trotted upstairs with a smile on my headache free face. One thing I can do anywhere at anytime of the day or night is run.

The Castle

A quick shower and still damp hair I arrived at dinner with time to spare. I had a lovely evening with two of the VGL Napoli sales representatives where we ordered an assortment of seafood appetizers for me to try. Seriously I love the seafood here! The next day I would be departing Napoli for the VGL’s head office in Reggio Emilia. My tour guide gave me one last tour up to the top of a church I had my eye on the moment I arrived! We took a funicolare up to the top and walked down to the bottom. I got to view the small narrow streets from above watching the people buzz through the streets. This city is wonderful for its people, food, coffee, and above all hospitality! But it was time to move onto a quieter place to seek adventure! Reggio Emilia, Modena, and Bologna here I come!

The hilltop church on Day 1 in Napoli