How to Travel to Naples from Rome

Ciao tutti!

This post is intended to be more of an informational/technical guide for study abroad students (and other basic travellers) who want to visit Naples from Rome. In case you've landed on this page from another land, you should note that I've already detailed my weekend trip there with three separate, photo-laden entries: Naples, Ercolano/Herculaneum, and Pompeii. Feel free to take a look over there if you want to read more about my actual experience; otherwise, here we go!

Disclaimer: I'm not being paid or compensated in any way by anyone for this blog post. If you found it helpful, feel free to donate to my GoFundMe page to help fund more travels around Italy so I can write more informative posts. :) 

HOW TO GET TO NAPLES FROM ROME
The most cost-effective and convenient way to travel to Naples from Rome is by train, from Termini station. Termini train station is one of two available in Rome (the other is Tiburtina) and is easily accessible via the Metro. (The Rome metro has only two lines, Linea A and Linea B; Termini is on Linea A.) Metro tickets are 1.50 Euro from anywhere to anywhere, per single trip.

Our group booked our one-way departing train tickets through Trenitalia's English website for 19 Euro each a few days prior. These were the cheapest available for the time we wanted to go: 6:26 AM on a Saturday. It's perfectly possible to just show up to the station and buy your tickets from the kiosks there shortly before departure, and by doing so you may be able to get an even cheaper fare. However, we wanted the guarantee. (Most of us didn't book return tickets for the exact opposite reason--we wanted to leave the trip open ended in case we wanted to stay another night. Those who booked their return in advance paid 26 Euro; those who bought at kiosks in the Napoli Centrale station for a return train at the same time paid 11 Euro.) You can pay online on Trenitalia using a credit card.

Note: make sure to check the "strike schedules" for Trenitalia before you book--transit employees in Italy strike regularly, and you don't want to find yourself stranded. We used this site.

Try to arrive to Termini about 20 minutes before you train departs. When you're standing in the station staring up open-mouthed at the departure board trying to figure out which platform your train is leaving from, DO NOT TRY AND DIVINE THIS INFORMATION BY USING THE FINAL DESTINATION. That means don't look for trains based on "Napoli Centrale", even though that's what it might say on your ticket. Chances are, your train has another final destination. Look for the departure TIME and the TRAIN NUMBER, and go to that platform. Also listen for the departure announcements on the overhead speakers, which come in both Italian and English. Our ride on an Intercity train took about 2.5 hours with some pretty views along the way (once the sun came up).

WHERE TO STAY IN NAPLES
Our accommodation of choice was the most highly-rated hostel in the city, called Hostel of the Sun. You can book directly on their website, or use Hostel World to read reviews and book through them. If you book directly through their website they'll charge you a 1 Euro reservation fee, and you pay the rest when you check out after your stay. The cheapest rooms came in at only 16 Euro per night (for an 8 bed mixed dorm), plus free breakfast and WiFi. It was a STEAL, and the staff was super friendly and helpful, assisting us with all kinds of insider information and tips for planning our sightseeing. I'd absolutely stay here again. In your booking confirmation e-mail they'll give very helpful directions on how to get to their building from the Napoli Centrale train station. This involves exiting Napoli Centrale and walking across the street to the Metro, where you will buy a metro ticket for 1 Euro from a ticket agent and travel one stop (getting off at Universita), walking a few more blocks to the hostel.

Once you're checked in, if your room isn't yet available (check in is at noon, check out at 10:30 AM)  the staff will allow you to leave your belongings in a storage closet just off the kitchen while you go exploring. Lockers with locks on them are only available in the rooms themselves, so I'd recommend you take your valuables with you or better yet, don't bring them to Naples at all. Since we were a large group, most of us locked up our individual bags with combination locks on the zippers and then used a bike lock to string all 9 bags together. There was no reason to expect that anything would go missing in the hostel; this is just good standard behaviour.

WHERE TO EAT THE BEST PIZZA IN NAPLES
During our stay in Naples we ate at three different restaurants, only two of which I will recommend. The first is the famous L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele--yes, the same one in Eat, Pray, Love.

The second place that I'd recommend, even more so than Da Michele, is a nice place right next to the Universita metro stop called Il Pomodorino. Best pizza on the PLANET. For a more in-depth review of our experiences stuffing our faces at both restaurants, check out my Naples post.

 Pizza at Il Pomodorino

WHERE TO FIND THE BEST COFFEE IN NAPLES
Since you're doing your research for this trip, you might have also found out that Napoli is known for coffee just as much as it is pizza. We stumbled onto Caffe Ciorfito where I enjoyed the best cappuccino I've had in my entire life--and believe me, I've drunk a LOT of coffee.

If coffee is not your thing but you still need to satisfy a sweet tooth, grab a "baba" (pronounced bah-BAH) from any coffee shop or bakery. It's basically a white cake (close to Angel Food cake) soaked in rum. It's delicious. 

HOW TO GET TO MOUNT VESUVIUS FROM NAPLES
To get to Mount Vesuvius (and Herculaneum, called "Ercolano" in Italian, and Pompeii itself) you have to take a specific train called the Circumvesuviana that leaves from the main Napoli Centrale train station. Follow the signs in the train station to the ticket office, and make sure you speak to an actual ticket agent to confirm you're buying the right tickets. Typically it's cheaper to buy just a one way ticket and buy your return later. I believe we paid 2.50 Euro to get to Ercolano, which is the same stop you get off at for Mt. Vesuvius. Keep a sharp eye on your pockets and purses on the train--there are pickpockets watching.

So, you want to hike up Mount Vesuvius? Good luck. The summit is only open when the weather is fine, which it was not for our visit. It costs 8 Euro to get in and hike the 30 minutes to the crater. Regrettably, as I mentioned it wasn't open and so we couldn't have the full experience. However, we had elected to hire a taxi company just outside the Ercolano train station (as you exit the station, turn left and you'll see the office at the end of the courtyard; otherwise there are usually drivers standing around right outside the exit waiting to entice visitors) to drive us up the mountain as far as we could go, for 10 Euro a head roundtrip. It was a 20 minute winding drive and interesting with some nice views, but I definitely wouldn't do it again for the price. How to avoid that disappointment? ASK THE TAXI DRIVER IF THE SUMMIT IS OPEN BEFORE YOU COMMIT. If it's open, they'll say so, because then they're basically ensured your business. If it's not open, they will waffle about not knowing, not being sure, not being able to guarantee, etc, etc. Don't fall for it (like I did). You can see photos of the view from the top in my Ercolano post and save yourself the 10 Euro.

HOW TO VISIT ERCOLANO/HERCULANEUM
Did you know that most museums and archeological sites in Italy are free to enter on the first Sunday of every month? Yup! So if you can arrange your visit around then, great. Otherwise, it's a 20 Euro combination ticket to get into both Ercolano AND Pompeii, along with a few other smaller sites I believe. (If I'm remembering correctly it's 11 or 12 Euro to enter just the one or the other separately.) Tickets are available for purchase at the entrance. You can walk to the entrance gate of Ercolano from the train station, though we struck a deal with our erstwhile Vesuvius cab driver to take us directly there from Vesuvius and then onwards to Pompeii for an extra 5 Euro a head because were were running out of daylight. I would suggest that you spring for the audio guide to Ercolano; we didn't, and wished we had. Make sure to take advantage of the fact that you can explore inside the buildings themselves; you'll see the most beautiful frescoes and mosaics that way. (Photos to entice you found here!)

HOW TO VISIT POMPEII
Pompeii and Ercolano are not right next to each other; you'll have to either take a cab or hop back onto the Circumvesuviana to get there. Make sure to grab a map at the ticket office because the place is huge, and download the free 19 minute Rick Steves Audio Europe tour on your phone before you go to save on an audio guide. Photos and more information about our experience exploring Pompeii found here.

And that about wraps it up, ragazzi! If you have any questions, leave it in the comments and I'll do my best to answer. Ciao!

Disclaimer: Please note that all photos are mine, and are not to be used for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without my express written consent.

Day 19: Part 3: Pompeii

Continued from Part 2, found here.

So where we last left off, we had just finished exploring the majority of Ercolano (Herculaneum), though not as much as I think some of us would have wishes. As we were leaving, we noticed an entire lower level (complete with what appeared to be human bones of some kind--casts of those petrified by lava??) that we had completely missed. If I ever get a chance to go back, I'll be making a beeline for that. BUT! Due to time, it was off to Pompeii we rushed, in the taxi cab that had driven us to the top of Mount Vesuvius and whose shrewd driver had noticed our concern for time and struck a deal with us.

He dropped us off right in front of the entrance and we climbed the long winding path to the entrance. Once glance at Richie's map of the place told me it was MUCH bigger than Ercolano, but after a few minutes of making our way around I realised that Ercolano was definitely my favourite by far and away, for two reasons: 1) the individual ruins of Pompeii are largely roped off/gated from visitors, which allows you to peek in but not explore in the interactive manner we so enjoyed in Ercolano; and 2) there is precious little of the artwork/mosaics/frescos/columns/marblework left to marvel at.

Pompeii, as noted in an earlier entry, is much larger than Ercolano--a true metropolis. It seemed fairly well organized, with large intersecting city streets, an amphitheater, and varying class levels of houses, slaves, and houses of worship.

Some of the gang outside the entrance (through that arch behind us.)

An example of how the majority of the ruins are gated off--and giving a shout out to my GoFundMe sponsors Caylee & the Brindley family!

Well preserved, but again, roped off to exploration. I would have liked to go meandering around here.

A panorama of the Forum of Pompeii--traditionally, forums were the "public square" lined with judicial buildings, law enforcement, offices, temples, and market stalls. Much like the Roman Forum here in Rome it's largely in ruins so you have to rely heavily on your imagination to see what would have been.

The first and really only interesting bit of tile work we found in Pompeii. (We've had a lot of rain recently, conveniently making the fountains much more realistic!)

Three of the bellas (from left to right, me, Marshmallow, and Scraps), standing atop what would have functioned as a crosswalk--since there was often waste mucking up the deep streets. The two grooves in the middle are so that the chariot wheels could get through.

It is SO much fun having willing models that will allow me to direct them into super rad pics like this one: Abbey Road, a la Pompeii. (From left to right: Marshmallow, Richie Rich, Scraps, and Jordy.)

Some of our tour was enriched by the free 19 minute Rick Steves audio tour of Pompeii, downloaded through his Audio Europe app the night before.

It was right around this time that the gray skies finally overcame us...and we got HAILED ON in Pompeii. Totally random and totally cool cold.

Inside that case is a plaster cast of a dog, caught in the lava flow. You can see the body painfully twisted into a yelping, escaping position. I found it quite strange that these famous plaster casts were stored in a seemingly haphazard way, under a corrugated overhang and behind a chain link fence just off to the side of the forum.

And here is the famous, classic cast that everyone recognizes from Pompeii--a man, crouched down and shielding his face from the oncoming volcanic ash. When the lava came down, it oozed over these dead bodies (who fell where they were at the primary pyroclastic blast) perfectly preserving them. In the intervening years before discovery, the bodies and bones disintegrated into nothing. When the archeologists found them, they poured plaster into the moulds left behind--and this is what they wound up with.

On our way out, heading back to Naples to catch the train home!

As many carbs as we eat on the daily, all the walking offsets at least some of it--nearly 10 miles in a day after all was said and done.

We hopped on the train back to Naples, and from there had a quick last dinner before departing for Napoli Centrale to head back to Rome. It was two incredibly long days, but so worth it. My final impression of Naples is that it really is a dirty, messy city. The locals there don't seem to care very much about their city. BUT, the food is absolutely out of this world, even better than what people said it would be. As for the "danger" aspect I was so frequently warned about, I didn't feel it. I didn't feel any more at-risk in Naples than I do in Rome, which isn't much. Perhaps this is because we travelled in a large group, or we were more prepared/safe--or maybe the city just isn't as dangerous as it used to be. There was *one* moment on the train from Naples to Ercolano where a man was standing entirely too close to us and giving off a decidedly predatory energy as he slowly scoped us all out, head to toe, one by one (clearly looking for loose purses, iPhones foolishly stashed in easy-to-pick back pockets, etc.). It made me nervous and several of the others picked up on it as well. Fortunately, Kansas is not easily intimidated by such things and levelled unwavering eye contact with the man consistently, making clear that his advances were NOT going unnoticed. He got off at the next stop.

Up Next: a condensed how-to guide for travelling to Naples from Rome, for future study abroad students. Until then, ciao.

Disclaimer: Please note that all photos are mine, and are not to be used for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without my express written consent. 

Day 19: Naples, Part 2: Ercolano

Continued from Part 1, found here.

Sunday morning found us all racked out in our respective bunk beds (I sleeping especially soundly on the top bunk, with Garcia as a quiet, immobile bunk buddy below me and a blessed lack of snorers in the room!), roused earlier than expected by the ever impatient and insomniac Jordy.

After feasting on another breakfast of Nutella with a side of toast, we hopped onto the Metro and then to the train that would take us up to Mount Vesuvius, I being the stubborn one wanting to hike to the top of it. (Having hiked an active volcano in Guatemala some years ago, I can attest that both the view and the thrill of volcanoes is decidedly addictive.) Upon arrival at the station we found the taxi cab company that was recommended to us, that for 10 Euro a head would take us up the mountain and back. We had been warned by previous groups that the final leg, the actual National Park, was intermittently closed due to the foul weather. The taxi driver said he could not guarantee if it would be open or not. I, being the ever-optimist, hoped and believed in the sunshine outside currently keeping the rainclouds at bay and that the summit would be open, allowing us to hike the final 30 minutes to the crater on top. The rest of my group, it would seem, KNEW that the summit would be closed, for if it had been open the taxi driver would have said so willingly.

I remained in stubborn ignorance of this fact, and the rest of the troupe claimed they'd want to take the ride up to the top regardless. After a 20-minute dizzying ride along tiny wet roads with stunning views of the city of Naples and the bay below us we arrived at the entrance to the summit--only to find it CLOSED, due to the freezing temperatures and whipping wind. :(

View down the side of the mountain from the entrance to the National Park. That gray stuff slithering down the hill is the old lava from the last blast; in the distance, the city of Naples around the bay.

Those mountains there mark the edges of the original crater.

All's well, though, I suppose, because the view really was incredible and we were able to see the actual original crater of the blast that downed Pompeii and Ercolano--a huge, vast oval in which the current crater and park now sits. One can still see the lava that flowed down the mountainside during the last eruption in 1944. At any rate, we took a few pictures and then enthusiastiaclly climbed back into the van with frozen fingers and numb lips. It wouldn't have been an enjoyable climb to the top, that's for sure.

Where I Stand: as close to "atop Mount Vesuvius" as we could get, amid reddish-orange volcanic gravel.

As the day wore on, being eaten up by travel time, we decided we would make a dash to BOTH the archeological sites we were interested in: Ercolano (Herculaneum, in English) in the town we were already in, and Pompeii, a quick ride away. Ercolano had come highly recommended to me by multiple sources, saying that while it was the smaller of the two, it was vastly more well-preserved and prettier.

They were right! Ercolano was a small beachside town for the wealthy, and was actually the first of the two towns destroyed. (We learned the majority of this in a BBC docudrama watched a few days prior in my room called simply Pompeii: The Last Day--you can find it on Netflix and YouTube.) By my rough estimate it's about one-fifth the size of Pompeii, but was sparsely populated by tourists even on a free day, and was deliciously unfettered by gates and ropes keeping us out of the ruins. Garcia, Marshmallow, Kansas, Richie and I found ourselves as little children being permitted to run wild in an amusement park. A historical amusement park, making us feel transported in time and bringing ancient history to life in a way I have never experienced.

As I mentioned, many of the houses and ruins are open for exploration, and the sight of one fresco on one of the walls ignited a "treasure hunt" feel amongst us as we competed to find the most beautiful, the most well preserved. When you step back and think about the fact that you're looking at a nearly 2,000 year-old mosaic, or fresco, just sitting there right in front of you--suddenly the rest of the scene comes to life. To say it was stunning is an understatement, and that 1.5 hours was the highlight of the Naples trip for me.

A panorama of the ruins of Ercolano. It begins at the wall on the far right, and extends down only a short way to the retaining wall on the bottom along the left.

Where I Stand: on 2,000 year old marble ruins, entrance to a doorway.

No big deal...just a 2,000 year old painting of a bird eating cherries on a wall...

Mosaic--not painted. Mosaic. Wee, tiny stones.

We were consistently surprised that we were allowed to walk on the original mosaic tile floors, where the ancients trod, just so lah-dee-dah!

This was one of the best preserved art pieces we found, absolutely beautiful. The two sides separated and shown in more detail below.

May we interest you in something from the snack bar? Yes, in fact--according to Rick Steves, these corner buildings, which we suspected had something to do with cooking based on the stovetop-like design with pots underneath to hold burning coals--were snack bars. Buon appetito indeed.

My highly active imagination nearly spied a gladiator rushing around the corner of that courtyard, to training.

Octo-man...type...thing...

Ancient Roman selfie before departing Ercolano for Pompeii!

Part 3, detailing Pompeii, coming soon!

Disclaimer: Please note that all photos are mine, and are not to be used for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without my express written consent. 

Day 18: Napoli, Part 1

This past weekend part of my “troupe” and I travelled to Napoli (Naples), largely because of my lifelong quest for pizza. Well, to be fair, not so much pizza as just DAMN GOOD EATS, but yeah, basically. Ever since I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert eight years ago (which was an excellent, life-changing book and an absolutely soulless, abhorrent movie) I cottoned on to the idea that Naples was the place of the best pizza in the world. Hence, my ambitions. What more can one want out of life than crispy carbs, tomato sauce, and cheese?

Upon my arrival in Italy, though, whenever I mentioned I wanted to go to Naples the first thing I heard was “Oh, yeah, Naples is dangerous” or "Oh, you shouldn't go there, the Mafia is all over the place there" or some variation thereof. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Problem is, I’m quite the stubborn brat—so when someone tells me I shouldn't do something based on fear, especially when it’s people repeating only anecdotal advice they’ve heard elsewhere, well…nothing gets in the way of me and the world’s best pizza, least of all some rumors of “danger.” I like to live dangerously, to my father's perpetual chagrin. 

"Just makes it all the more appealing!" I chirped to my detractors, determined to go even if it was alone.

My apparent fearlessness (or possibly sheer stubbornness, or complete disregard for my life) appeared to spread to my fellows, though, and before I knew it there were nine of us set to depart on the 6:26 AM train last Saturday.

Alas, not all of us managed the "departing" part, at least not properly. In the dash to the train and amidst the confusion as to which train we were actually supposed to be on, nearly climbing onto the wrong one before I overhead an announcement in Italian confirming our *actual* train getting ready to depart on another platform, Marshmallow (formerly known as Smash) got separated from the group. As train 701 pulled away from the station, gaining speed, I counted off and realised with a horrible sinking feeling that we were one short. Sure enough, as we found out later, Marshmallow had doubled back to go check the main display board and in the meantime we left without her. Compounding the situation was the fact that Marshmallow has no way to communicate outside of WiFi zones, so there was no way to get in touch with us and vice versa. It was at this moment that Garcia and I mandated the implementation of a "Battle Buddy" system, wherein each person with phone service pairs up with someone that does not, and is responsible for keeping an eye on only that one person--though Garcia and I consistently practiced our Italian counting skills by counting off to nine all weekend long. Fortunately Marshmallow is the kind of person to stay cool and calm in such a situation, and she explained later simply hopped on the next train and found her own way to our meeting place as I had faith she would do.

Nevertheless, on our way we were, this particular weekend trip being funded by two of my GoFundMe sponsors: Caylee Walker, and the Brindley Family!

Our accommodation of choice at only 16 Euro a night (plus free breakfast) was Hostel of the Sun, located near the city center and the metro. The directions to get there provided to us in a confirmation e-mail had us chortling and feeling like we were on a treasure hunt of some kind: “Emerge from the metro and you will see a statue of a horse. Turn the opposite direction the horse is looking and you will see two streets. Tale the street on the left.” Once we found the place and climbed up 7 flights of stairs (yes…) we were warmly welcomed into what appeared to be a hippie commune filled with brightly painted walls, bean bag chairs, Bob Marley jamming on the sound system, and varying degrees of nose rings, dreadlocks, and alpaca sweaters. The staff were super chill, allowing us to leave our bags in a storage closet while we went off to explore the city and inviting us to the free breakfast available even though we were only reserved for one night. Nutella is the drug of choice in Italy, and on every table in the tiny kitchenette we found a MASSIVE 3 pound tub.

 (I introduced Caylee to Nutella when we were kids and she claims she's never been the same.)

Small toasts, salami, cheese, OJ, and coffee rounded out the simple but filling spread. We rejuiced while chatting with Sabrina at the front desk, who pointed out that because the following day was the first Sunday of the month all of the archeological sites and museums in Italy were free. That fact combined with the cold drizzly weather outside forced us to switch up our plans and nix the Isle of Capri, also pushing Pompeii to the following day to save us the 20 Euro entrance fee. As we stood at the front desk, having given my cell phone number to Sabrina and showed her a picture of Marshmallow and explaining what happened, who should just so happen to casually saunter in? MARSHMALLOW! Cool as a cucumber, of course. Our relief was palpable as we smothered her in hugs.

Now that we were all reunited and our plans for the day dashed by the weather, what was there to do?

PIZZA. (Because pizza is always the answer, to everything.)

As I mentioned earlier my primary reason to coming to Naples was for pizza, because of the book Eat, Pray, Love. In it, the author/main character travels around the world for a year to three countries: Italy, India, and Indonesia. In Italy she details the spur-of-the-moment train trip she takes to Naples with a Swiss girlfriend to seek out what is rumored to be the best pizza in Naples (and therefore the world, since Italy has the best pizza in the world and Naples has the best pizza in Italy). It’s called Da Michele, or in it’s entirety L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, and it’s the first place I wanted to go. Not only because of the book, which put Da Michele on my bucket list over 8 years ago, but because just about everyone I talked to about Naples mentioned it as a must-stop. The other place that was immediately brought up as rival to Da Michele is Di Matteo, which we unfortunately never visited. A second trip is perhaps in order, then, for a true Battle of the Pizzas.

So off we toddled to Da Michele, marvelling at the unsavoury frequency of dog poop on the sidewalks and shameless (mostly ugly) graffiti on the walls.We did find some exceptions.

The city was still largely quiet due to the early hour (about 10:30 AM) and slick from the same on-and-off again rains we’ve had in Rome.

As we meandered along we passed several street vendors setting up for the day and it looks like even though I missed the best of artichoke season, gorgeous Japanese eggplants are in coming into abundance.

Upon arrival to Da Michele we were relieved to see that it was largely empty, having been warned from online reviews that sometimes people can wait in line for up to two hours for a seat.

Da Michele offers only two pizzas: Margarita or Marinara. You can have extra cheese on the Margarita, and that’s about it. We all opted for the main favourite Margarita and a round of Nastro for all. We waited about 7 minutes—snapping pics of the photo of Julia Roberts at the pizzeria during filming hanging on the wall—before huge steaming circles of wonder were placed in front of us.

I know I can't blame only you Julia for such a shitty movie, but seriously. What a disservice to the book.

So simple—thin crust, blackened and slightly charred on the puffed rounded edges, soggy and impossibly thin in the middle, with fragrant red sauce, melty white cheese, a lone basil leaf on top and a finishing drizzle of olive oil—and so. unbelievably. good. Granted, it’s not hard to please a bunch of early-morning-rising, travel worn, and starving college students, especially with beer, but yes—oh, yes—this is the best pizza I’d had in Italy thus far.

Thanks to Scraps for one of my favourite candids of all time. :)

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves we wandered around the city trying to avoid slipping into a carb coma too soon.

 And while my final impression of Naples was that it is a rather ugly city, nothing like my beautiful Roma, as Richie noted while I snapped this picture--it is possible to see a bit of beauty everywhere if you look hard enough.

On the way we discovered Caffe Ciorfito, where some of us stopped to get an espresso. I opted for a cappuccino and thank god I did, because in the process of my research for this trip I had also discovered that Napoli is famous for its coffee. Oh, my. I don’t know what it is about their coffee, what they do to it, but…and as the daughter of a Guatemalan woman raised on a coffee farm, having drunk it daily since I was 12, I probably shouldn’t be saying this…IT IS THE BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD. If my compatriots hadn’t been restlessly waiting outside to explore more I could have happily posted up at the bar for the next few hours enjoying several more.

At this point The Assassin took over the navigational duties and took us to a metro-type thing that would take us straight up to the main hill that overlooks the city for a panoramic view. Unfortunately we never really made it there as the heavens opened up and began pouring down on us, with two umbrellas between the nine of us. We sought refuge in what showed up on the map as Castel Sant’Elmo and agreed to fork over the 5 Euro entry fee to explore a cool castle. A cool castle it was decidedly not, as we walked into what was a modern art museum--with all of us hating modern art.

Here Scraps displays our disappointment at our discovery in front of...whatever the hell that is. (AKA NOTHING ANY OF US WOULD PAY 5 EURO TO SEE.)

Admittedly the top level offered quite the view of the Bay of Napoli and the city sprawled out beneath us, but the pouring rain, mist, and puddles proved a bit of a challenge.

Scraps and I crowded under an umbrella and sprinted through several puddles, gushing gutters, and slippery stone steps to the top to see the view for ourselves, snapping this quick panorama before retreating to the dry alcoves in fits of giggles at our misfortune.

It was about at this point with most of us more than soaking wet (I being informed by a certain Albanian with raindrops in his eyelashes: "Awww poor Krazie, you look like a poor wet dog!"--"Wait, I meant like a really CUTE wet dog!") that we decided to forgo our other city-touring plans and head back to the hostel to relax and dry off. Couldn’t make it that far without running into a gelateria of course, and as Italy has proven to me time and again no matter what the temperature is outside (45 degrees and wet, in this case) it is always appropriate to indulge in an ice cold treat. Besides, it was impossible to walk past this place without stopping to gawk—hot pink walls, chrome fixtures, and the most incredible array of gelati, sprinkle covered cones, tortes, coffee, etc. Fantasia Gelati it is indeed.

 “This is SEX!” one proclaimed. “No but really, this is actual sex.” And if that isn’t an endorsement I don’t know what is.

Back at the hostel with warmed and dried feet (and, okay, some wine) the group mood quickly escalated into riotous giggling and a hilarious game of "Never Have I Ever". Looking around the room at all nine of us crammed into a six-person bunk bed room, with frizzy rain soaked hair and the flush that comes from exploring a new city and trying new things, clambering all over each other, laughing, smacking each other and shouting over one other I remember thinking “Well I’ll be damned...I guess this is what they say being in your 20’s is all about.” I never thought I’d get to live a storybook life, but in that moment, it was.

Alas! One cannot subsist on wine and gelato alone and the pizza rush had long since worn off, so off we ventured out into the night to find proper sustenance. Torrents of rain have a penchant for forcing you into the first place that’s open, and thank goodness it did, because Il Pomodorino served me a pizza that even eclipsed that of Da Michele. It edges out the win by only a nose, but their Donna Carolina with ricotta cheese, ragu, and meat is the most delicious concoction of carbs and cheese and godly deliciousness to touch my lips since I arrived in Eataly three weeks ago. Angels sang, all in the heavens rejoiced, and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. It’s highly likely that I’ll go back, JUST for that. Well, that and the cappuccino at Caffe Ciorfito. Perhaps I’ll just ping-pong between the two all day until someone takes pity on me and rolls me back to my hostel bed.

At the end of the night, I tipped my hat to the supposed Mafiosi crawling all over the city, because if it's true that they're there and it's true that they're quite bon vivant, well--perhaps they killed off anyone making sub-par pizza, and thus, the city hosts only the finest. Ciao!

Part 2 coming tomorrow!

Disclaimer: Please note that all photos are mine, and are not to be used for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without my express written consent.