Naples Tour with Paolo

Our visit to Naples was probably much different than many tourists experience. Most of the people that we spoke with had nothing good to say, we actually met one couple that got off the train in Naples, and got right back on and headed back to Sorrento. True, at first sight, Naples can be intimidating, especially when tourists have been warned and warned about pickpockets. But the truth is, Naples is less intimidating than New York, Miami, Los Angeles, or any other big city in the U.S. And let's put the pickpocket stories in perspective with 2 points: 1. In the U.S., they don't pick your pocket, they pull a gun and ask you nicely. And 2. if you are not smart enough to keep your hand on your wallet after multiple warnings, maybe you should not be traveling in a big city in Europe or the U.S.!

What made our tour of Naples magnificent, was our tour guide and new friend: Paolo Cassese. We met Paolo back in Agrigento, Sicily. He graciously offered to show us the sites in his home town, and we were very excited to have a local show us the hidden gems. He greeted us at the train station, and we hopped in his car - no bus tour for us, we were getting the Rock Star treatment! Little did we know that we would become Rock Stars by the end of the day...

Paolo showed us some incredible sites; Castel Nuovo, the neighborhoods and churches around Spaccanapoli Street, San Francesco di Paolo, Castel dell'Ovo, the magnificent views from Castel Sant'Elmo, priceless works of art and many other just phenomenal things that we may have never seen without his guidance. What would have taken us a few days to cover by bus and subway, fumbling through maps, and wondering where we took a wrong turn, Paolo had us there and educated in one incredible day.

Seeing so many things obviously will make you hungry, so we ate. A lot. Our mid-morning snack consisted of two staples of the Neapolitan diet: espresso and a sfogliatella, which is a sweet pastry filled with fluffy ricotta cheese flavored with almond or even oranges. There is a time consuming technique in creating the many layers of the crunchy, flaky pastry dough, but that is what gives the decadent treat its signature texture.

You can identify someone who has just eaten one of these treats by the powdered-sugar smile and the hand on the belly. One piece of advice: split a sfogliatella with as many people as you can, and under no circumstances try to finish Becky's by explaining "it's the polite thing to do, you don't want to offend Paolo, do you? Now give me the rest of that!".

As you may have heard, Italians are all about family and friends, so Paolo's wife and one of his sons joined us for the afternoon sites. We met for pizza (c'mon, what did you think we would have in Naples?), and somehow fit it in our bellies. Again, it would have been rude not to finish it.

We were then off to some of the highest points in Naples for astounding views.

It was another clear, perfect day, so you could see the entire Bay of Naples. The ferries were busy shuttling people off to the Islands of Ischia and Capri, and the Sorrento peninsula encloses the calm waters of the bay. The views over the city are deceiving, making Naples look small in comparison to the cities that we know. In fact, it is the third largest city in Italy behind Rome and Florence. There are 1.2 million people living here, and Naples is known as the most densely populated city in Europe. But it somehow still is quaint and romantic, with many open space piazzas, parks and gardens with beautiful fountains. And whenever you need a little room to breath, there are endless views out into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The Neapolitans are not afraid to show their affection for one another. You will see many people walking hand in hand, their arms around one another, and especially helping the elderly manage the uneven streets and sidewalks. It's touching, and before you know it you are doing the same thing. The younger crowd, although they may give you a little more PDA (public display of affection) then you are wanting to see, reflects what is special about Naples and Italy. It's all part of living a passionate life, one that is not focused entirely on work, but on enjoying your time with loved ones.

One of the rituals of lovers in Naples is to symbolize their unbreakable union with a Lock of Love. They take a padlock, and lock it to a lamp post usually somewhere romantic in the city.They write their names on it, and throw the key either off a cliff or into the ocean, to never be retrieved. Paolo, knowing that Steve's middle name is the popular name in Italy "Gino", pointed to a lock with the names "Gino & Gabriela". He pointed to the lock, and looked curiously/accusingly at Steve. Steve then explained to Becky "I've never been to Naples before!". Paolo and family got a good laugh from the Travel Clowns, we were entertaining them as much as they were entertaining us.

Back to the view - truly amazing. The ocean, city and islands are gorgeous. And overlooking it all, the ominous Mount Vesuvius. It's beautiful, but note the huge section missing from the top, and it reminds you of its tragic past. When we asked Paolo what it's like to live with the ever-present danger of such a powerful threat, he said that it is based on respect. He explained that "it serves as a reminder to what is important, and is the basis of how you live your life". And adds, "we just pray that there is no major eruption for another 2000 years!".

Vesuvius ties it all together. After listening to people who live here talk about living in it's domain, it changes from ominous to majestic. And since we would be hiking up to the crater the next day, we also prayed that it would not erupt for another 2000 years!

After a day filled with sightseeing, education and eating, there was only one thing left to do - eat some more. Paolo and his family invited us back to their home, where Ornella made one of the best spaghetti pomadoro meals you will ever try. No disrespect to her cooking, but when you start with the famous San Marzano tomatoes we think you may have a head start on our grocery-store-steroid-filled-tomato sauce. Ornella got a big kick out of Steve using his bread to mop up the extra sauce in his bowl. And although she spoke limited English, and we limited Italian, the point was clear: Steve was truly Italian! In Italy, it is a compliment to the chef not want to leave a drop.

Here's where it gets interesting, and where we had to live up to the Rock Star treatment we received all day. Paolo and Ornella invited a couple friends and relatives over to join us for dinner. There were different levels of English and Italian being spoken, but that never stopped the animated conversations. It's amazing how some arm and hand movements can bridge a communication gap. You know what else can bridge a communication gap? Karaoke!

We watched curiously as Michele (Michael) was setting up his laptop and plugging in speakers. We were wondering if he had some special music to play for our after dinner entertainment. It was not until we saw him plug in the microphone that we realized that he was our after dinner entertainment! While we were panicking that we did not know any Italian songs outside of The Godfather tune (no words) and the hit song "Volare, oh oh, drink Compari, ohohoho..." (okay, those are not the words, but that's the point, we knew nothing - we later looked up the real words, and "drink Compari" a bitter red liquor, is actually "Cantare", to sing. And since we are learning something new here, Volare is "to fly" in Italian).

No fear about not being able to sing in Italian, everything Michele was doing was in English! It's a good thing, too, since he handed the microphone right to us. A few random tunes you know the words to, but not the title or the band that sings them (we think they were going with the "your American, the song is American, so you know it" theory). We wrapped it up with a group rendition of Sinatra's "New York, New York" followed by a version of "I Did My Way" that brought the house down.

Needless to say, we think both sides made quite an impression on one another. The final train back to Sorrento was leaving in 10 minutes, and Paolo said we would have to go right away to make it. You know what it's like to try to put a 3 year old to bed when they think they may miss something the grownups are doing? That was basically us, but we were strong enough to keep internal the "Can we just do one more song, pllleeeaassseee!!!" crying, begging, hands-in-the-air tantrum.

It was hard to leave our new friends after such a wonderful day and night, and we were bummed out riding back on the train. We were forced to remind ourselves that Paolo turned what many others have experienced as a nightmare, a trip to Naples, to an absolutely incredible day for both of us. One of the Italian customs is that if you are invited by someone, the day is on them. Paolo paid for everything; the food, entrance fees, drinks, etc. - and refused to accept anything in return. We wanted to thank them somehow, and we asked what is customary for someone who is a guest in this country. Paolo explained that just the fact that we enjoyed our time in Naples was thank you enough. We overcame the negative stories and the warnings that we heard, to see what Naples, and the people that live here, were really all about. He asked us, when talking about Naples, to tell people of the good things that most tourists miss.

I think that is what we have done here. We have learned a lot about a few important things today: to keep an open mind, to live life to the fullest every day, to love, and to respect all people.

Naples is one of the greatest places you could ever visit. If you are lucky, you may just get treated like a Rock Star, and if you run into Paolo (front row, blue shirt above) and his friends and family, you may just have to perform like a Rock Star too!