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I finally arrive in Naples, after over 24 hours of traveling by train. The sun is shining and the air is warm, unlike the city I started my journey in, Berlin. After fruitless searching for a metro map to see if a metro line passed near the hotel, I settle for walking. The day should be easy. My friends are arriving in several hours, and I have just two goals for the day: buy an Italian sim card (with data plan), and eat pizza. The path to the hotel is straightforward enough along a wide commercial street Corso Umberto 1, lined with many clothing stores and street vendors. I would take advantage of this in the days to come, since I came with only my Converse, and no sandals. Crossing the big street are many narrow alleys, inviting me to explore them in the days to come.
As I learn in my last minute research into Naples, it is the home of the pizza, which lit lightbulbs all over my head. Ah ha, no wonder that pizza I had with my parents in the north of Italy tasted like cardboard. We weren't in the right place, but here, now I
was in the right place! Apparently the tomato-based Italian cuisine known throughout the US also has its roots in Naples. The online tourist information informs me that Da Michele is THE pizzeria to visit, so I pass by hoping for lunch but the mob outside deters me. The sim mission leads me back to the train station conveniently, as I was informed the Wind store near there was the only one I could buy a short term sim from. The operation is very easy (20 EUR minimum purchase gives me 15 EUR credit, 9.50 of which goes to a plan with 2 GB data) and I walk back to the station where I get my first slice of pizza (pretty good) and gelato and wait for my travel companions.
After we have settled a bit (showers for everyone) we head out the door, since my friends are on US + sleep deprivation time and need to stay awake. We start south of Corso Umberto 1, which seems to be quiet streets of jewelry shops with few restaurants. Crossing north the alleys are more lively, with fruit and vegetable markets (I buy two very sweet plums). There I spy my
first San Marzano tomatoes, the local variety of plum tomatoes must be used for true Neapolitan pizza. I buy also my favorite chocolates from a stall at the quarter of the usual price.
My friends' body clock is totally not in sync with European time, which is perfect for eating dinner off peak, and we walk straight into Da Michele. There is just pizza with cheese or without cheese or extra cheese. Confusion on my part leads to messy ordering and we get two pizzas with extra cheese. My friend quips that he heard the pizza is so good that you see God. Did we see God? It was very very good pizza. Very smokey, such that the cheese takes on some of the smokey flavor, which I like. The dough is very salty such that you do not want to eat the crusts, but when it is pulled thin and topped with sauce and cheese, it has the perfect balance. We ordered too much pizza, and we took it home with us. (I would later eat the pizza for lunch. While the thin, topped parts were still good enough to eat, the crust was horribly tough and chewy
and still too salty and contrary to my inclinations to waste not, I wasted the crusts.)
My friends are here partly to see the Giro cycle race which starts on the 4th May, and so we aim to get to the Piazza di Plebiscito where the Giro will kick off, but take a circuitous route from the Castel Nuovo to the shore, then through Gardini Pubblici, along a marina and up to the road above (we took a wrong turn and had to beg our way through a rowing club). Going north got us to the right place and back to a lively crowded commercial area with restaurants. Along the way we see our first view of Vesuvius looming very close, and enjoy slices of fresh coconut and spy an odd large yellow bean being sold as snacks but do not try them.
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