| Page Views: 145 Last Visit to Naples: August, 2002 | Naples / Napoli by edwis - last update: Jun 26, 2007 |
We found Naples to be an old, rusty, dirty working port city. As we drove in off the highway, all we saw were large tenement housing projects with laundry hanging everywhere. We even thought about turning back to the highway and continuing on. But soon we came upon the giant old 13th Century along the seaside ‘Castel Nuovo’ which began the downtown area. However, we kept going and eventually found a gem in the ‘Centro Storico’ – the old town section. Here in the old district we found what someone called “a city of perfect chaos”. There seemed to be no rules, no traffic signs, signals, no traffic lights but it all seem to work just fine. Pedestrians, motor bikes, cars all share the narrow roadways in some perfect chaotic manner. We had to park in the downtown section and then hike a few blocks up a steep hill to get there.
There were blocks of one lane alleys, full of flying Vespas, pull carts, little kids, and old grandmas walking about. It was cobblestone and hilly there, we saw fish stands, fruits markets, junk stores; it was like living as they did hundreds of years ago. We strolled and strolled, came upon a little corner place called an ‘Antica Cucina’ (old fashioned kitchen). |
|  | We were probably the only Americans ever to be in this place! It had only about 6 tables total, one was being used by a family with kids, and another had some business guys in suits having lunch and then us, the Americanos. After we ordered based upon the recommendation of the daughter waitress, the order slip was sent upstairs via a dumb-waiter in the wall. Then when the food is fully prepared, a buzzer rings like a doorbell, and the food comes out of the dumb-waiter to be served. It was a great place that we remembered for years. |
| | The waitress was super and really enjoyed trying to speak English with us. We found the house wine here to be some of the best. This is where we learned of a local specialty called “perchetti di mare” – some giant tubular pasta (unstuffed) served with clams, mussels and various seafood in a red sauce. As we were roaming around later, we found some of this perchetti pasta in a market and ended up bringing a bag home. |
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