Cruising into Napoli

After breakfast at a small bakery in Ravello’s main square, we headed off again along the Amalfi Coast back to Sorrento.  This time there was more traffic and a bit more trepidation as we navigated past parked cars on one side of the road and the boxy blue buses coming toward us on the other side of the road.  It took less than an hour to make our way back to bumper-to-bumper traffic in Sorrento, where we turned in our rental car and descended on foot down to the port to catch a ferry to Napoli.  In our opinion, the ferry was the perfect mode of travel.  It was faster than the train (30-40 minutes), inexpensive (< 10 €), the seating was much more comfortable with lots of room for our bags, and we could walk around on board, have a snack, sit and watch the video screen, or just stare out the window.  Cruising on the beautiful Bay of Naples with views of the majestic Mount Vesuvius in one direction, and the hills of Naples dotted with colorful buildings just ahead of us made for a most impressive entrance.

Castel Dell’Ovo

We were able to walk the one kilometer from the main port of Naples, Molo Beverello, to our hotel, the Royal Continental (Via Partenope 38/44, tel: +39 081 245 2068).  We were very happy with our room overlooking the Castel Dell’Ovo and the Bay of Naples, and we were very happy to feel the warmth of the beautiful sunshine, which was sorely missed on the Amalfi Coast.  We met up with our friend, Pat Mikkelsen, La Capitaine of a beautiful Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 named Daste, who has been recently making her home in the Marina di Camerota, about 130 kilometers south of Salerno.

Strolling the Streets of Naples

Of course, the first stop on our tour of Napoli was lunch at Ristorante Rosati (Via Chiaia 260, tel: +39 081 421 660) for Pizza Margherita.  It was only later that we discovered that we should have gone to Antica Pizzeria Brandi (Salita S. Anna di Palazzo 1-2 – Via Chiaia, tel: +39 081 416 928), the birthplace of Pizza Margherita in 1889, which was named in honor of the queen of Italy at the time.  However, we were certainly not disappointed with our delicious pizzas at Ristorante Rosati.

Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola in Piazza del  Plebiscito

Shopping in Naples

We spent the afternoon meandering through the colorful streets and piazzas, soaking in the ambience and hunting down restaurants for dinner tonight.  Along the way we picked up some vino and some goodies for an aperitivo on the balcony of our hotel room, where we relaxed and watched the sun slowly disappear for the evening.

Comments

[Penny Ewles-Bergeron]

Nice account of your visit. You ate in the right place (-: Da Rosati has been our favourite and we have lived nearby for the past 6 years.