Naples...

Today we are in Naples and first impressions are not favorable. Let’s just say that Naples is not for the timid or faint of heart. The lonely planet guidebook gave an ominous backhanded warning. In the Rome section on driving it said ‘Driving in Rome is not nearly as frightening as driving in Naples…’ It’s madness! Absolute and total madness! The motorcycles and Vespas drive on any side of the road that offers any forward progress. We witnessed many near head on collisions between motorbikes. And let me just say that Naples is the reason the car horn was invented. You don’t have to do much to earn yourself a honk and minor irritations are announced by ½ a dozen drivers laying on their horns until they can move again, sometimes for minutes at a time. Even the cops get honked at. One way streets are posted but signs are ignored if it’s inconvenient.

We went out for pizza for lunch. Rome and Naples are said to have the absolute best pizza in Italy, and the two cities claim absolute superiority. Pizza in Rome is a thin crust affair, in Naples it is a hand tossed thick crust. My favorite is the ‘Margharite’ which is basically a cheese pizza, but made with ‘Bufalo’ mozzarella. Oh yeah ‘Bufalo’ is made from buffalo milk and it is far from the rubbery, flavorless mozzarella you get in the grocery store. Fresh Bufalo is almost creamy and so incredibly wonderful. I think I could live here and gain tons of weight quite happily.

By two o’clock in the afternoon the booming of firecrackers had started and as darkness approaches it has gotten louder. Just after 7:00 pm it is almost constant. Some of the booms sound like they’re using actual dynamite. It’ll be a quiet birthday for me, we’ll stay in doors where it’s safe, albeit noisy, and I’ll be happy to motor on to Pisa tomorrow.