We knew we were docked in Naples this morning before the cruise diretor’s announcement by the sounds of the port and the smell of desiel. Today was an early start for many people: lots of tours were heading out very early to go far away from the city to Pompeii, Sorrento, or the Amalfi coast. We thought we’d do something crazy and actually stay in the city instead of climbing aboard a bus for a 1-2 hour drive to somewhere else. We breakfasted on deck for a change and then wandered off the ship to see what Napoli had to offer.
Let’s be clear about something: I am interested in seeing Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi coast but not if it means spending 4 hours on a bus to spend 2 hours in the place that we are visiting. We spoke to several people who loved their tours. We’ll just wait and visit those places anther time.
So we walked the city. From end to end. Starting with the quest to get an FC Napoli jersey for my nephew which took us to a team store in the central station. We had to walk through half a dozen construcgtion zones to get there and was nearly run down by two dozen scooters in the process but we made it. And then they didn’t have his size so we found a cafe where we couldn get good coffee to plan the next steps.
Travel tip #23: be prepared for people to expect you to love Starbucks even if you don’t. This shipe “proudly serves” the stuff which I assume is why I can’t drink the coffee in the dining room without cream (I usually take my coffee black.) In fact, we nearly paid for an upgraded drink package because it would come with unlimited specialty coffees. Then we got on board and realized that meant Starbucks so we were glad we didn’t spend the extra $300 dollars EACH (granted it also came with higher end liquors and bottled wine but we were just fine with the slumming liquors like Tito’s vodka and Bombay sapphire gin.)
After a lovely non-starbucks cappuchino, we headed west to find our way to see an few of the churches in town starting with the Duomo. Yet again the scarf came in handy to cover my sholders although the number of people who ignored the clearly posted “no tank top signs” was appalling. The cathedral was big and baroque and really something to see. Then it was off to the Jesuit church of the Gesu Nuovo which was even more ornate than the Duomo. Across the street was the church of Santa Chiara, a stark gothic church especially conpared to the first two. And these just scratched the surface!
We were hungry from being so holy so it was off to lunch. My GF restaurant finder app listed a place with great reviews from the GF community and it was right in the neighborhood. And my pizza was amazing. And Frank’s never arrived. After I was halfway done with mine, I went to see what was the problem and they hadn’t even made his! While I appreciate that they took good care of me, I didn’t appreciate that they didn’t notice that they forgot to make Frank’s. When it eventually arrived, he declared it to be the best pizza he had ever had and so he was willing to forgive the oversight. The fact that they threw in a couple of limonocellos helped a little.
By now we had spent some time wandering around the old part of town which meant there were lots of shops – including a FC Napoli team store that Google didn’t bother to tell us about! So football jersey secured, we started working on gifts for the 13 year old niece which meant visiting leather shops. And an Italian leather purse was thereby secured.
And then we headed to the final stop in the city: the Castle Saint Elmo. A fortification buit in medieval times to protect the kingdom on Napoli. It sits high up on a hill over looking the bay and requires a ride in a funicular to get there. But the visit is well worth it. The fort is very interesting and the views are breathtaking.
Travel tip #24: pay attention to things on tourist maps even if they aren’t recommended for a visit. We only found out about the castle because a map in a Rick Steve’s guide book indicated where the funicular was relative to things he recommended that people visit although it was not on the list of things to do.
We had walked across the entire city from the train station in the east to the castle in the west. So after appropriately admiring the beautiful scenes, it was back to the ship and our last dip in the pool and hot tub. We soaked in the lovely warmed water as the ship pulled out of the Bay of Naples headed north. Grabbing what might be our last happy hour cheese plate and wine, we sat on our balcony and watched as the seagulls accompanied us out of the harbor. We made a pit stop to the disco lounge for the 80s music quiz (we came in second to a group of about 5 women who weren’t even alive in the 80s but we won’t comment on that). Then dinner and the final show in the theather where they tried to shove every possible show of the cruise into one: aerial artists, dancers, magicians, dancers, etc. Can’t say I was impressed.
Dubious data for today:
26,335 steps and 28 floors
Number of church domes visible from one side of the castle: 15
Number of nuns passed today: 6
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