Italy Re-Cap Part II

Picture 1: Us on the water front at Gran Bar Riviera
Picture 2: Eating chocolate fondue and have tons of wine late night at Happy Rock Cafe
Picture 3: Us at the bar super late after a night of drinking. I think Craig was on his last leg. In fact, he passed out at the hotel on the patio in a chair.
Picture 4: The meal at that restaurant, something something Riviera. The best pizza we both ever had. We ate there 2 nights in a row.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and walked a few blocks to this long alley that had old shops and lots of restaurants. We smelled amazing food so we decided to stop into a small place called Trattoria Medina Pizzeria (Via Riviera di Chiala, 165). For lunch we had pizza and pasta. My pasta was great, I don’t Craig was too thrilled about his pizza because there was no sauce, but I though his was good. Trattoria Medina Alla Riviera with is in this back alley next to a frame store. This frame store had unique gold encrusted designs and the store owner was working on a statue of the Virgin Mary that was life size. Now that I think of it, I should have taken a picture.

After lunch we proceeded to jump on the Funiculare which is basically this tram that takes you North and South up the sides of the mountain. We got off at several stops and were just amazed how the could build an entire city with such phenom architecture on the side of a mountain. The best ways to get around were by metro, bus, the Funiculare or walking. And after two days of walking my Pumas were killing me.

We visited the coral factories in Piazzale S. Martino. There was an amazing view here and this huge castle. After hanging out there for a while we decided to go check into hotel and put down our packs. We found in the book the historic Albrego Pinto Storey (Via G. Martucci 72). We totally lucked out on both of these hotels. Together for two nights they only cost 229 Euros. We also considered staying at a hotel that was right underneath Pinto Storey called Hotel Ruggiero. The rooms were only 80 Euros a night, but a bit on the old side. Who knew that just two flights up the stairs at Pinto Storey for 120 Euros a night we had a phenom room and a view of the church. It was truly a page from a story book.

For dinner that night we dinned again at the Riviera restaurant because it was really THAT GOOD! We stopped off at a little bakery and got some treats and gelato and cream. After our relaxing and long dinner we decided to stop off at a wine bar and then went back to Happy Rock Cafe (Via Bausan, 51) in Naples where I met Lorenzo Coppola (our waiter). We dined at this place for chocolate fondue with little biscuits and house wine. The house Rosso wine was only 4 Euro’s a litre. Lorenzo spoke great English and the music mixes they played at this place made me want to get up and dance on the tables, which actually might have been ok. I asked him where was this music from and he said, “Oh I made this CD”. I was like oh my gosh I have to know who these artists are and he said, “I just give it to you when you leave.” That made my day!!!! He gave me the CD and wrote down all of the songs for me. And you’ll be happy to know that Lorenzo has a Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/mynameisgoccia He is a true performer whose songs you can listen to on the web. I had no idea about this of course till I checked out this website. He taught himself English just from listening to American songs and reading American books. I was so impressed with him. I had asked him if he had ever been to the States and he said no. I totally want him to come stay with me when he does finally visit!

It was so wonderful to just get lost in the city off the beaten paths and take the Funicularo up the mountain. We only ate at places where the people spoke no English and we couldn’t find a tourist in site. That was a great idea. Naples is a very old city but people drive around in their cars and on their motor bikes like MAD MEN. Literally you think at any moment a car will take you out. From our talk with Lorenzo he told us that the city was very divided. Either you were very rich or very poor. Very few in between. We were lucky enough to see old Naples and stay in wonderful hotels and meet really nice people. I really fell in love with the gorgeous views, seafront property that I would gladly purchase any architecture and their transportation structure.

Our last day in Naples we walked up the marina to the Gran Bar Riviera which was exactly what a vacation should be. An outdoor bar with glass tiles on the walls and ocean views forever. I had fresh lemonade that made my mouth ZING. So we headed to the train station and were on our way back to Rome……………………..Little did we know it was the beginning of Italy’s version of 4^th of July. And so the Rome horror story begins……… of July.