Naples, Italy

naples 26th-27th june

naples was noisy, chaotic, polluted and cramped though guess what- a welcome change from the droning island life down south. here vanessa and i went our separate ways as she visited pompeii while i made my through the labyrinth streets for a glimpse of the napoli lifestyle.

gastrnomy-wise, the pizza was their pride and joy and the art of pizza making was a life-shaping trade amongst fathers and sons. i decided to hunt down Gino Sorbillo. tucked away in the dinghy old neighbourhood of via del tribunali, i was first rejected for being too early- hmm, at eleven-thirty? it's alright, great things were worth waiting for.. so i bought a bag of chips and burrowed into the tight unevenly paved streets, to the dismay of my four euro slippers..

diavola from gino sorbillo

when i finally returned to gino's, i was relieved to find it somewhat empty as i have been cautioned against the long waits. there were a couple of women and a male post-teenager.. all of whom looked like tourists and i felt like we were bonded under similar guidebook/review sources and a pressing need to taste 'pizza most traditional'.

i order the diavola, which literally means the 'devil'- spicy ham, chewy mozerella, soft thin base.. it tastes so good, it must be bad for you aka SIN METAPHORIFIED. i am not going to ruin this with more description.. JUST GO TRY IT, for heaven's sake!

rows and rows of babas



household pastry treat- the 'baba', which is a rum-soaked cake tenderly sliced down the middle and stuffed with usually cream, fruit and other figure-wrecking fillings.



naples's galleria umberto where i caught the italy versus australia match where i got a taste of the italian soccer passion. when totti scored the penalty goal, the italians went wild jumping in front of the television, popping champagne bottles, blasting their horns.. scaring the hell out of me. haha...



before i left naples, i trotted over to a working class cafe for breakfast.. i forgot to take note of its name.. though the casher told me it was a pizza, i DO NOT reckon so.. the base is foccacia, with a layer of flaky puff pastry covering the middle ham and cheese filling. highly unusual but definitely worth a try.