Piazza dei Martiri (Via Domenico Morelli)

Playing catch-up. On Wednesday we had an amazing last day in Napoli. We had a slow morning then walked to the Via Pignasecca, an historic market street full of fish stalls, fruit stands, and tchotchke stores, about 20 min from our apartment. We dodged motorbikes and continued to soak in the wonderful sensory overload of Naples’ narrow, ancient streets. Lunch at Da Attilio, in the Top 3 meals of the trip (pizza recommended by our host). Oliver got the house pizza with 8 different topping combinations featured, I got sausage and ricotta star pizza. Next - MANN (archaeological museum), which helped to contextualize Pompeii and Herculeanum with mosaics and Roman statues; I loved the everyday objects (incl surgical instruments) found in Pompei. We ambled down to Piazza Carita, stopping at a cool used bookstore and drinking Aperol Spritz along the way. Next our tour guide Paolo took us on an amazing food tour. We bonded over American music - Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. So fun. We finished the night by riding the funicular up to the Castel Sant’Elmo. The vista of Napoli at dusk with its millennia of history and so many lives, so much humanity was awesome. When Goethe traveled to Napoli he famously said, “see Naples and then you can die.” A sentiment I understand!Read more