Pizzas, Passion and Edinson Cavani

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Pizzas, Passion and Edinson Cavani

My Lonely Planet: Italy describes Naples as city in a state of anarchy and stories from friends who have visited the city had an unnerving effect on Melvin and me. A close friend of mine told me that his less-than-pleasant encounters in Naples marred his Italian experience. Hawkers constantly pestering you with their wares, people rushing to collect your change from ticket machines before you could receive your tickets, and thieves attempting to snatch your mobile phone while you were having a conversation – these helped to create a degree of queasiness in me as I prepared for the trip. It’s strange but I have always been eager to visit the place despite its less-than-‘perfect’ reputation from a visitor’s perspective. Being a fan of Neapolitan traditional songs like the famous ‘O Sole Mio’ and the heart-breaking ‘Core N’Grato,’ I’ve always thought that Naples would embody the romanticism in these tunes. In fact, my interest in these songs played a part in my decision to learn Italian some six years ago. I had, by chance, spoken to a few Neapolitans and they had (it was perhaps to be expected) praised the place to the skies and told me about how much cheaper the cost of living was compared to more prominent cities like Milan and Rome. In spite of the aforementioned criticisms of the place, I was determined to visit the place and in all honesty, I was looking forward to seeing a different side of Italy.

After less than five to six hours in the city, I came to conclude that ‘anarchic’ was indeed, an apt description. Our introduction to the city was a curious one. After we alighted at the Central Station in Naples, we had to take a metro station near to our hostel. Determined to ensure that we were on the right platform, I decided to use my limited Italian to ascertain this. The young couple we approached were friendly and told us that we were indeed on the correct platform and that the next approaching train was the one we should take. However, Melvin and I realised that we had not bought our tickets and I enquired as to where we could get them, unable to spot a ticket machine in the near vicinity. The man responded, ‘you can get them from upstairs,’ but then let out a grin before continuing, ‘but calm down, it is only one stop away.’ Still hurting from the hefty fine we incurred a year back on our way to Florence from Pisa (we didn’t validated our ticket), Melvin and I nonetheless followed his advice.

It didn’t help that we arrived on a Saturday and spent our time in popular streets like the Via Dei Tribunali (where a few reputable pizza shops, notably ‘Gino Sorbillo,’ were located) and Via Toledo, a long and busy shopping street. We had to combat the massive crowds while dodging incoming motorcycles which insisted on taking such congested routes. Heaps of rubbish were a common sight and even more common was the dog poo that littered almost every street, even the busier ones! Our hostel receptionist, upon discovering that we were from Singapore, exclaimed ebulliently, ‘Singapore! The cleanest city in the world! Just like Naples.’ Traffic lights were few and crossing the roads brought back memories of Vietnam, although unlike in Vietnam, cars outnumbered motorcycles which arguably made crossing in Naples a little more hazardous. We even saw someone drive into a street which had a clear ‘no entry’ sign. In Naples, it is definitely wise to look both left and right before crossing the street. Dario, a friend we met in Rome through Sindy, told us that if we found Rome disorderly, we would be shocked by what we would see in Naples. He was right.

The moments of chaos aside, I was to find Naples to be tremendously charming in its own right. I generalise, but the people here appeared to be warmer than in the other Italian cities I’ve been to and everyone I stopped for instructions was perfectly cordial and helpful. They would smile at you and respond with sufficiently large gestures which ensured that anyone who didn’t understand a word of Italian would be able to make out what their instructions were. I’m sure that my attempts at speaking Italian helped a little although they sometimes got me into trouble by summoning Italian sentences uttered to me at breakneck speed. Perhaps it was because I was wearing a ‘Forza Napoli’ scarf for most of the second day. It was not uncommon for a passer-by to smile at you and greet you, especially in the less busy areas. People you encountered would tell you that they liked your scarf or ask if you were going for the match. Walking to and from places of interest was always a pleasant experience. The fact that we didn’t see a drop of rain during our first five days certainly helped!

Football

Diego Maradona once donned the light blue of S.S.C. Napoli, a very well-supported football club embodying the great footballing tradition in this part of Italy. We decided to get tickets to watch a home game against A.S. Roma. I have to admit that I possess a soft spot for the team in red-and-gold (‘giallorosso’ to the Italians), having watched them a year ago at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, but of course, there was no way I could let this be known to others in the stadium. We arrived almost on the dot and from afar, we could hear the chants from the home fans. I shouldn’t have been taken aback but we were to realise upon entering the stadium – again informed by the smiling Neapolitan – that there was no fixed seating in our section despite clear assignments on the ticket. The usual light blue flags were flown and one particular flag contained the image of the club’s Argentinian hero. I can’t say that I’ve been to too many football stadiums around Europe but I found a cauldron of an atmosphere in the Stadio San Paolo. The Roma players were greeted with the expected chorus of boos and whistles as they entered the pitch as the home crowd followed this by enthusiastically shouting the last names of Napoli’s first eleven.

Both teams didn’t start off well although Napoli, on a quick counter-attacking move, scored through their Uruguayan talisman, Edinson Cavani. Roma maintained a good share of the possession for most of the game but were unable to execute the ideal final ball. Napoli always looked dangerous on the counter-attack and Cavani (who else?) was to score two more goals to complete a hat-trick. After his second, he leaped over the barricades which surrounded the pitch and raced towards the fans seated in our curva, many of whom responded by hopping out of their seats and running towards his direction, in a display of loyalty as he kissed the shirt badge. Melvin and I were slightly concerned by the explosive devices thrown from the upper stand, two of which felt like the grenades we got to throw during our national service. You could feel the ground tremble and seated a good fifty metres away, we could feel the impact of the explosion. Roma scored a consolation after Cavani’s treble but Napoli replied close to the end with a fourth, which we missed (but heard the celebrations) as we attempted to avoid the pandemonium which normally ensues after the blow of a final whistle.

I can’t quite ascertain if I enjoyed the game as much as I did when Roma played Chievo but it was certainly a joy to have seen Cavani bag a hat-trick (we saw Totti grab a brace a year back). I certainly hope that, amid recent reports of interest from Manchester City, he doesn’t join the light blue of Manchester!

Pizzas

Naples has long been known to be the place where pizzas originated and I’ve often been told by Italian friends that it is where one can still get the best pizzas in the world. In all honesty, I’ve had some wonderful pizzas in my life and have been quite sceptical about this claim as in terms of crust quality and taste, I wondered how much better pizzas could possibly get.

The receptionist at our first hostel recommended that we visit Via Tribunali which he claimed was the most prominent street for pizzerias in Naples. He recommended three particular pizzerias but made special mention to ‘Gino Sorbillo’ and said that it was the best of the three. My Lonely Planet guide also makes mention of this particular pizzeria. The long queue outside ‘Gino Sorbillo’ stretched into the already busy Via Tribunali (it was a Saturday when we arrived) and we decided to check the other two out instead, our stomachs yearning for some decent Neapolitan pizzas. To our horror, they too had lengthy queues of customers. It was only a few days later when we arrived early enough (too early, in fact, as ‘Sorbillo’ only opens for dinner around seven in the evening) to get a seat without needing to queue outside. Melvin and I had less than a minute to look at the menu before we were rushed to place our orders and the waiters were unpleasantly cold toward us, in stark contrast to most we’d encountered in the city. Fortunately, the pizzas, which were served less than five minutes after we placed our orders, were well-made and delicious. The prices were also very reasonable, in fact, cheaper than most other pizzerias we had visited and one could get pizzas from as little as over €3 (there is a service charge which should be accounted for).

Other notable pizzerias we visited were:

Brandi - an old pizzeria dating from the 1800s and located off Via Chiaia.

Trianon - established in 1923 and serves up a lovely specialty pizza containing eight different flavours (think ‘otto stagioni’), located off Corso Umberto I.

We left Naples without witnessing or being directly involved in any of the aforementioned dangers often associated with the bustling southern Italian city. I’m not sure if some will claim that because of this, we missed out on the ‘full’ Neapolitan experience but looking back, I’m truly grateful that we got to enjoy the most pleasurable aspects of the place. I’m sure that I will be back in the south of Italy again one day.

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