There is an old Italian proverb: “Vedi Napoli e poi muori” (See Naples and die). I suppose this refers to the great love Neapolitans have for their crazy unpredictable city – it’s a vibrant, bustling Italian city full of inhabitants who are passionate in every aspect of their lives. Naples is not on the usual tourist itinerary; it does not have iconic sights – nothing even closely resembling the Eiffel Tower, Coliseum, Empire State Building, Great Wall or Big Ben. There are no world class art museums or natural wonders in the city proper. It is chaotic, a bit dirty and run down and graffiti is the prevailing form of street art. But it is the experience of observing and nay even participating in the throngs of humanity crowding the narrow cobblestone street of the old city, 
sitting down in a restaurant to enjoy the traditional specialty of the simple Margherita pizza (an exquisite concert of San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di buffala, and fresh basil on a crust baked for a little over a minute in a 485 degree Celsius/ 900 degree Fahrenheit wood fired oven, first created in Naples in 1889 by Raffaele Esposito to honor the queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy), 
dodging the hustlers shoving cheap mass produced cornetto good luck charms in your face or hawking what I call “splat balls” 
savoring the crunch and subtle sweetness of a sfogliatella (a typical pastry, a specialty of the Campania/Naples region, with a multilayered dough usually filled with sweetened ricotta and perhaps some orange peel) 
that should not be missed!
I was fortunate today to have such an opportunity to “Vede Napoli” . We boarded a public bus at around 9:30 am and within an hour we emerged onto the hectic Neapolitan scene. After a quick espresso stop (requisite at that time of the morning,
we were off to see the sights: the Galleria Umberto I, a shopping place constructed in the late 1880s (a UNESCO world Heritage Site) 
the Royal Palace and Piazza Plebescito
and of course the famous Gran Caffe Gambrinus, built in 1860, with its amazing array of delicious pastries.
We explored the pedestrian-only streets bustling with predominantly Neapolitans, who were strolling and window shopping, and wandered down a street contains a multitude of shops specializing in figures for presepios (nativity displays).
The “Uber” baroque Chiesa di Gesù Nuovo was the first church visit. It was completed in 1597, and although the exterior is unimpressive, it is replete with the highest concentration of Baroque painting and sculpture of the Neapolitan school. And being Saturday, there happened to be a wedding ceremony!
The next stop was the Basilica of Santa Chiara, badly damaged in World War 2 bombing and now a 20th century reconstruction of the 14th century Gothic Church. And wouldn’t you know it, another wedding (with a wedding planner in a rather Goth-like dress)!
Of course, one cannot be in Naples with sampling pizza.
We each had our own entire pizza and 11 of the 12 people had a significant amount left over on the plate – but no doggy bags in Italy.
Our next stop was a guided tour of Underground Naples. The city sits on a base of volcanic tuffa rock. In the 4th century BC, the ancient Greeks excavated the area to supply the building blocks of the “Neopolis” or “new city”. The Romans later used these underground tunnels and caves as aqueducts, and more recently they were used as shelters for the citizens during the bombing of World War 2. Descending a narrow staircase for 40 meters and then squeezing through narrow dark tunnels, the remnants of the underground cisterns, caverns and catacombs, still contains flowing rivers and reservoirs.
And yes, the photo above is a toilet! Look for the footprints and hole!
The remains of a Greco-Roman theater are also located nearby, under the floor of a house, where Emperor Nero (the famous fiddler while Rome was burning😉) had his dressing room.
After the tour, which lasted about 90 minutes, we headed back to the bus stop for the bus back to Salerno.
So what is my impression of Naples? A fascinating city, with a rich and vibrant history and passionate citizens, truly everyone should “Vede Napoli”. 
“I exist only because inside of me and above all else I am only a Neapolitan. Naples exists inside of me and always will. Fortunately for me there is this treasure that I have inside of me and when I need it, then I pull it out.” -Sophia Loren
A 15 minute walk, with a brief stop at Feltrinelli bookstore to pick up Italian language versions of Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons” and Elena Ferrante’s “A Brilliant Friend”, brought me to my new apartment (I changed the location this morning) that I am sharing with an 85 -year-old retired attorney from Columbus, Ohio and a policeman from Holland. I dare say that I feel pretty safe! I picked up a few food items at the grocery and settled in before we went out for dinner. No pizza (or carbs) tonight – insalata caprese, branzino with fennel and a contorno of escarole. 
Tomorrow is Sunday and I am “chilling out”, doing laundry, and completing my Italian homework.
Camino Musings 