Naples

After spending about five or six days together, my parents and I went our separate ways on the morning of September 4. My mom and dad flew off to Portugal to round out their vacation, and I headed to the train station to start my long trek to the Positano.

For the next few days, I would be traveling with Reed again and with his visiting wife, Jen. And my first step in reaching Positano was meeting them on a train. That morning, they were taking a train from Florence in the North to Naples in the South, and I boarded that train as it stopped briefly in Rome.

Once we were to arrive in Naples, our plans were somewhat flexible. The later trains and buses we would be taking did not require advance booking. I had looked into what there might be to do in Naples, but I came up somewhat empty-handed.

Though Naples is Italy’s third-largest city, it’s not really a tourist destination. The city offers little in terms of tourist attractions, and it is known to be overcrowded, a little dirty, and speckled with sketchy pockets throughout. So we decided not to spend much time in Naples. Everyone knowledgeable that I have talked to since has endorsed this decision.

Naples can boast of one high achievement, though: it proudly holds the title of the original birthplace of pizza. So when Reed, Jen, and I arrived in Naples, we decided to venture out of the train station for an hour or two to taste what promised be the best pizza in Italy.

After struggling with the map a bit, we made our way to Pizza Trianon - a spot that Reed’s “Guide to Italy” (or something like that) recommended. I had been in Italy for a while now, and I knew that their pizza comes very wide but as thin as a wafer. 75% of their cuisine seems to be glorified crackers. So instead of ordering the classic margherita pizza, I added sausage to mine.

I hate to say it, but my pizza was just fine. It was nowhere near the best pizza that I have ever eaten, though it probably put up a good fight for the best pizza that I tasted in Italy. In Naples’s defense, I’m not a big fan of thin-crust pizza. And when you factor in the general lack of vegetables and herbs that I encountered in Italy (surprising, I know), the pizza was a bit disappointing.

But it was fun to eat a pie from the pizza motherland, and I’m glad that we got out of the station and looked around Naples. I’m sorry that there aren’t really any pictures on this page, but Naples isn’t really much to see.

Sorry, Naples.