Before heading off to Napoli, we had received many warnings: don’t wander aimlessly, don’t lose track of your belongings, don’t go down any empty streets, don’t leave the leave the touristy areas and don’t go to the touristy restaurants on the waterfront. By the end of the day we had done most of these things – and had a day to remember.
We decided to just hop on a train to Napoli and figure out what to do once we got there. We immediately felt the consequences of not planning when we got out of the train station, turned the wrong way and found ourselves alongside an unpopulated stretch of highway near the Port Authority.
Eventually, we found our way back to busy streets and hungrily ordered a Neapolitan specialty of fried fish and vegetables from a small shop. The shopkeeper spoke to me in the local dialect, which was impossible for me to understand. Sensing my confusion, he switched to Italian and asked what our plans were for the day. He was aghast when I confessed that we had neither a plan nor a map. He immediately ripped out a piece of paper from an order notepad and created our guidebook for the day - complete with a smear of pizza grease.
Shortly after our ‘appetizer’ – we stopped by a pizzeria for a real Neapolitan pizza. Our strategy (the only decision we had made before arriving in the city) was to go to a lot of pizza places and just try a little at each one. After the train ride and walking four miles down the highway, this plan was quickly abandoned. We ordered several and immediately understood why Napoli is known for its pizza.
We happened upon a beautiful cloister – a quiet refuse in the busy city of Napoli. We spent the rest of our afternoon by the waterfront taking in the beautiful seaside views and people-watching.
On the short train ride home we sat full, happy and with fond memories about a day trip that had a rocky start and ended with a gorgeous sunset on a rocky shore.
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Amanda Sztein
<p>Amanda is a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in Economics and Contemporary European Studies with a Philosophy, Politics and Economics minor. After graduation, she wishes to travel frequently while working with international trade and diplomacy. Her idea of a perfect day is enjoying an Orioles victory at Camden Yards followed by fresh crab cakes in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. She is excited to achieve Italian fluency,visit every Roman museum, find the perfect scoop of gelato and argue about soccer with locals at the neighborhood café.</p>
