Andiamo...
As we start the week in Virtual Naples (Napoli)
The best Walk Through Naples I found with Rick Steves (check it out)
https://youtu.be/mgxD4JgdMYY
A teaming vibrant city...the third largest in Italy...and the largest in Southern Italy. Very densely populated do not expect yards here...in fact, green areas are very scarce in Napoli. The streets are gathering areas, playgrounds, market places amidst cars and omni-present Vespas.
Napoli is also the birthplace of
Pizza!!!
Not the thick multi-topping creations we have in the states, either. Napoli Pizza is either made with sauce, oregano, garlic and NO cheese...or Pizza Margherita Style with sauce, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil. That's it. And, if you want it to go the whole thing is folded in fourths and handed to you kind of like a thick pizza sandwich in paper towel. Mangia!
And, OMG doesn't this make you want pizza???
Later in the week I'll get fresh ingredients and we will make one at home! Recipe to follow.
There are coffee rules as well. In Napoli coffee is Espresso served in demitasse and nipped down in 30 seconds like a shot. Do not order a latte. You'll just get this
Latte in Italian is just milk.
Another coffee rule in Napoli is Cappuccino is only drank in the mornings. Never past noon. Seriously.
During Napoli's beginnings there was a huge influx of Turks and Germans and French and Northern Italians and Spanish... and so...gestulation was created as a way to bridge the language barriers..
This was (pardon the pun...hands down) The BEST Video I found on the subject.
https://youtu.be/aHZwYObN264
And for those moments when "Basta" just isn't enough...
https://youtu.be/jVfW-IU2jAc
The gestures are a particularly lovely accompaniment to some of the Street Language you'll pick up in Napoli.
When you ask for Un tavelo por due, por favore (A table for two, please) and the waiter seats you right next to the bathroom...
Che Shifo (What Shit!)
so you stop at the open table in the sunny piazzo instead and seat yourself to which your waiter yells:
Che Palle (What Balls)
while you are giving him the sign of the cornuto... (basically- I am sleeping with your wife/your wife is sleeping around).
But somehow, you manage to get lunch anyway, and the food is Magnifico...in fact the best you have ever eaten...so your comment might be
Meglio del Sesso! (Better than Sex) ...but not with your wife...
Your mileage may vary.
And don't really give your waiter the cornuto sign or he may spit into your food before dumping it in your lap....
More tomorrow as we check out Mt. Vesuvius!
Ciao!
