Naples & Pizza: A Love Story lol

So as I'm going through all my old pics, I'm remembering I bought a crappy used camera while I was there. All the dates on the photos are wrong by at least 10 years. Sadly, I only took 2 photos of Naples but took a lot more of Assisi.

I stayed in Milan for maybe a total of 2 days to rest up for the month in Italy. Of course, I explored some but nothing of consequence to write about until I returned later that month for my flight home. I'll return to that in a later post.

Napoli Coast

I decided from Milan I would take a train ride to Naples and work my way up through Italy for the month to make it back in time for my flight out of Milan. So, I took a 5 hour train ride and I was in Napoli. The first thing to know about Naples is that it is busy and the drivers are nuts. The hostel I stayed in was directly on the outside edges of a rotatoria which in English is a roundabout. These rotatorie are everywhere in Italy. This one in particular was terrifying because I had to cross it, on foot, every time I wanted to leave the hostel. There did not seem to be any traffic laws there and it was every human for themselves. Side Note: One thing I have learned in all my travels is that outside of the USA people don't give a shit about traffic laws if there are any and definitely don't give a shit about pedestrians.

So needless to say, crossing that rotatoria felt like putting my life on the line every time. BUT there was an amazing pizzeria across the rotatoria. So, duh, I crossed it a lot. The funny thing about my time in Naples is that I only remember that rotatoria, pizza and a guy I met in the hostel. So, I met this guy in the hostel, whom I can't remember his name and we hung out for a few days. There was nothing sexual or romantic, we just clicked and were both traveling alone. He is who I was with when I discovered that pizzeria. I will never forget that first bite. Pure heaven. Pure magic. We ordered just a simple cheese pizza. There are no sizes in Italy. When you order a pizza you get one size and it's usually huge but thin crust. We both took a bite, looked at each other and smiled and just kept eating. We didn't speak at all except for some shared groans from our bliss filled taste buds. After the pizza was gone, my new friend looked at me and said should we get another? And of course, I said yes. We devoured that second pie like it was the first. Everything about that pizza pie was perfect. To the perfect amount of sauce, delicious cheese, fresh basil leaves and to the lightly dripped olive oil on top. I can taste it now as I'm recollecting. I want to be there now. I wish I knew the name of the place but I don't. It's the pizzeria across the rotatoria from the hostel in Napoli. LOL I think we went back to that pizzeria everyday we were there. Like I said that pizza left such a mark on me that I can't recall much of Naples but that.

View on a train leaving Naples, headed to Assisi.

My new friend asked me if I wanted to travel to the next town with him and I said yes. We ended up in the small town of Assisi that was beyond picturesque.

Literally, the town felt like we had been transported in time and walked into medieval times because of the beautiful architecture. We walked around, ate food and drank wine. We had no plans at all. Just experiencing the day as it happened. We had no place to stay. So we walked to the top of the town which was straight uphill to the monastery. In most towns in Italy, the church is the center of town and then everything builds out from that. We had read that the monks let travelers camp in the gardens for free if you wanted to sleep under the stars. That is what we did. I don't really think I slept much that night because I couldn't get comfortable but it was a beautiful night.

Town of Assisi, right out of the Medieval Times

Took more photos of Assisi

I'll gladly take a sleepless night to say I slept under the stars on the grounds of an Italian monastery. The next morning, we packed up and said our goodbyes and grazie! You can use grazie as a way to say good luck. I don't know where he was headed but I was headed to Rome.

As you can see, most of what I'm experiencing is food and people. Of course, Italy is absolutely gorgeous. That is undeniable but experience is everything when you travel. Since I did all this before iPhones and GPS, I would say I remember more when I think about the food I at

recall this trip, my memories keep taking me to food or a person and then it opens up a memory door.

I would love to go back with my iPhone and GPS and a little more plan now being a little older.  Just the thought of all the glorious photos I could have taken. I only had a disposable camera. All my pics from Italy are quite sad and don't compare to my memories. But I don't regret any aspect of how I did that trip the first time around. I say this because going back to Italy is a bucket list for me. I would love to go back older and wiser now and with more money. I'm going to put together a post detailing an itinerary of my future dream Italy trip. Keep an eye out! Ciao!

Check out my Italia T-Shirts collection I designed inspired from these memories: ShopUrbanPop.

View from the monastery