Hello Family and Friends!
The first thing I do in the morning these days, is step out onto the balcony to view Vesuvius (the top of which is covered in cloud and fog this morning), and the Bay of Naples, as well as the Isle of Capri. I see two large cruise ships in the Bay this morning. We must have had a huge rainfall in the night, because as I look across the various levels of rooftop patios, I see that everything is wet. There's a little old lady off on a distant patio trying to haul a chair up a flight of winding, rusty stairs up to her rooftop.
Ron is still sleeping. I'm sure his poor brain is resting up so he can spring into action the minute his eyes pop open and navigate us all over the city, as he always does, every single day. You can't help it if one of you was born with navigational skills, and one of you wasn't.
Once again we had a delightful time with Rosa at breakfast, eating ricotta cheese along with homemade lemon marmalade on toast and as well, fresh oranges with the stems and leaves still attached. Rosa told us she had been a math teacher in a high school here in "Napoli". We each struggled to communicate during breakfast. Ron tried his best flipping through our Italian dictionary.
After breakfast, we went back to our room to plan our day around my "cooking lesson" with Vincenzo (pronounced Venchenzo) at 3:00 pm.
We decided to work our way towards the Vittorio Emanuele Funicolare Centrale Napoli (the tram) which will take us up to an area called San Martino. Once we got off the tram, we emerged into a different world. Right away I look into a doorway and see a gigantic pot of Bird of Paradise blooming. You don't see exotic flowers at home, unless you're at a florist. We crossed Piazza Ferdinando Fuga and noticed it was different up here - fairly upper scale, with nice buildings and well dressed people. I noticed quite a few darkly tanned, leathery skinned ladies in nice clothing, walking along with big handbags.
The first thing we did was look for a cafe and we found one called Tiffany Cafe for our coffee and croissants which were filled with chocolate and fruit. It was sunny and bright out. People were standing around smoking. We've noticed smoking seems quite prevalent here.
The Tiffany cafe is situated on a corner at a four way stop. Only the thing is - there is no such thing as stopping. There's is an endless competition between cars, trucks, pedestrians and scooters inching their way across the intersection. The scooters win out everytime. Cars nose across the cobblestone almost touching the vehicles crossing in front of them. Amazing. Not one accident! If one unfortunate driver hesitates, he is reminded instantly with a loud, sustained beep to GET moving. A huge truck with endless strips of garlic bulbs, chugs up and makes its way around the corner.
Ron tried to pick up tips for driving, since when we leave Casa Chiara, we'll be picking up a car to drive to our next destination - Orvieto (and the thing is - we have to drive out of Naples).
Just as we get up to leave, a lady, one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding a cigarette out the window, nudges across the intersection in her tiny car loudly singing, "The Circle of Life" in Italian, from the movie The Lion King. Everyone looks at each other.
We left and walked along until we saw the Castel Sant'Elmo. (An ancient Fort from 1329.) For ten euro, you can get the best (the word best is so ridiculous) view of this incredibly, beautiful city and the Bay.
When we got back down to the bottom of the old castle, we look around for a washroom, which we already know are few and far between. We ask the girl who sold us our tickets, and of course she waves that the washrooms are at the top of the castle (where we just came from).
One good thing to know is that the businesses in this city are required by law to let you come in and use their facilities.
We took the Funiculare back down to our street and stopped at Caffe Toraldo for a small dish of penne with pomodoro and a glass of Pinot Grigio. Delicious. Ron opted for a bag of San Carlo Sticki (your basic bag of Hickory Sticks chips), vivace style -that means "spicy-hot". I said, "Ron! We're in Italy for crying out loud..."
I'm gathering up courage to go face the boys at Regine Pizzeria, where Vincenzo (owner) will be waiting to greet me for my lesson.
I was right, he was there waiting with a pleasant smile. He brought me into the kitchen, and introduced me to the staff. Of course I felt a bit awkward at first, but all the staff were so pleasant and welcoming. I met Amedeo, who is a Cameriere (waiter), Alberto, (chef), Vincenzo ( second chef), Niaushad (dishwasher,) and Luigi (cameriere), as well as Pasquale (pizza chef). All were born in Naples, except Naushad who came from Ceylon seven years ago. When Naushad discovered I was Canadian, he wondered if I might be interested in sponsoring him to come on over to Canada.
Vincenzo showed me each station in the tiny kitchen. There was the salad, meat, pasta and the sauce station, the chopping and dishwashing area, as well as a large wood - burning pizza oven to the side.
Sadly, they don't make their own pasta, but it all comes from right here in Naples, I was told.
I help out Vincenzo with chopping up vegetables, but mostly I observed a variety of foods being prepared.
Vincenzo asks me if I can come back tomorrow when he will be "doing the fish (peche) preparation." I say, Yes, and wonder if anyone will notice the close pin on my nose, since I do not like the smell of fish. At the same time, I think how lucky I am to have an opportunity to be immersed in this culture with these lovely people for this brief moment in time!
Ron and I left Regine and journied back into the streets of Naples to try a famous pizzeria called Di Matteo Pizzeria e Friggitoria founded in 1936. Earlier, Vincenzo had offered Ron a pizza "on the house", but Ron said, "No thanks!" I guess he still felt full from his hickory sticks.
We tried Crocche (potato deep fried). I know you're thinking, well isn't that a French fry? Well no, is all I can say. We ordered Pizze Margherita Al Prosciutto, and Pizze Capricciosa. This time, the entrance to this Pizzeria WAS through the kitchen right past the cooks. We found a table in this very busy, colorless, little place, where a paper table cloth was quickly flung over a dark, wooden table, and our order was taken "Pronto".
Ron started telling me that he's really happy he has quite a few different colors of the shirts he now has on. He says he may just keep them forever, especially the orange one and the blue one.
As we sat, in walked a couple with matching red hats and jackets. This form of dress always attracts attention. They sat down at the table beside us. The guy leaned over and said to me, "Way you fum?" I said, "Canada, where are you from?" He said, "Safascisco!" and then proceeded to tell us about their recent cruise. "That's nice. Did you have fun?" I asked. "Very fun!" he said. His wife was busy bobbing around snapping pictures of the cooks.
We noticed the cooks suddenly catch a break at a table about about seven feet from us. Suddenly there are four of them that sit down. Each has a huge plate of pasta, which it appears, must be consumed quickly. Some finish, jump up, and then others sit down for their turn. We notice one Chef stands up and has a hole in the rear of his checkered pants, and a cigarette hanging out one side of the mouth. He quickly returns to his station, working away, placing pizza and pasta orders on a dumbwaiter to go upstairs where other guests are seated. The whole restaurant works like a well- oiled machine.
On the way out, Ron decides to use one of the few washrooms in Naples. A guy is in there cleaning it. He motions for Ron to use the other one, The Ladies. There's someone in there, who screams at him to blabbetty-blabbetty (which Ron interprets as "GO USE THE MAN'S".
We left, and Ron in his cheerful manner says, "Hey! Do you want to go into the Duomo?" Not really, I say. We go anyway and he walked around taking in the glory and majesty of another cathedral, while I sat quietly in a pew in the back. Ron comes over and insists I follow him to a very beautiful room with black marble columns. Reluctantly, I followed and came into a large side room which is impossible to describe - full of exquisite marble flooring, sculptures and beautiful paintings. Also, there was gold and silver glistening on the altar. I saw candles burning at the front, and decided to light a candle in honor of my sweet grandmother who had so recently passed away May 7th. I stare at the candle and think, "I love you, I miss you", and shed some tears...
We drag ourselves through the cobblestone streets and take the Funiculare back to Casa Chiara. Thank goodness for this tram system!
Tomorrow will be busy because first, we have to get up early, meet a new couple from Turin, Italy at Rosa's breakfast table and then head off to my "Fish" lesson with Vincenzo. Also, we planned to see a Palace, walk the promenade along the water, and video tape the amazing streets of Naples on our last day!
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