In the Land of 'Za-Naples
Every parent of a food fussy child is forever grateful that Naples gave birth to Pizza. Few can resist the appeal of the doughy, cheesy goodness that can be topped with almost anything you want - and you can eat it with your hands! But this is just a slice of what Naples has to offer.
Having invented it, it’s no great surprise that Naples perfected pizza to Michelin Star status (line up for a bite at Sorbillo). Beyond pizza though, Naples’ restaurants boast the most Michelin Star collections of any city in Italy. This diversification is evident in all the other things you’ll experience in this - one of the world’s oldest - urban centre.
The first thing that struck me about Napoli is its authenticity. While there are tourist trap shops peddling wares from lucky chilis to mechanized nativity scenes, they were interspersed among local businesses and restaurants. It’s a place where people live and work, where travellers and locals intimately intertwine and cross paths.
It also helps that we stayed in an apartment nestled among “real people’s” homes. Our beautiful flat, St. Mary’s Tribunali, was in a residential building along Naples’ historic Via dei Tribunali, the city’s main east-west artery. It was easy to observe the comings and goings of the locals as they worked, ate, and played. It was actually rather quite hard to miss as scooters and motorcycles - the main mode of transport in the area - made navigating the grid-like streets like a live version of Crossyroad.
We kept a white-knuckled grip on the children at most times as we explored the city’s historic offerings. There are a variety of beautiful buildings that house varying faithful purposes. The Gesu Nuovo is visited by worshippers with special intentions for healing. The Complesso Museale Santa Maria is a church dedicated to the souls in Purgatory. And many more.
Having only a couple of days to wander about, there is much to return for: the Underground city, Pompeii, Sorrento to name just a few. And while it is a gritty city of high stony edifices and little greenery, I would definitely order a few more slices of Naples to more fully appreciate all that this historic centre holds. ‘Za anyone?
