Naples had been high on my city break bucket list for a while. Italian food next to the sea with a volcano in the background? Check. Add to that the infamous lawlessness often depicted in films and I was sold. “Cars drive on the pavement in Naples”, said my mother of a visit to Italy’s third city in the ‘80s. I was excited to be part of her second visit almost 35 years later.
A hair-raising taxi ride from the airport through the narrow streets was the perfect introduction to the edgy city I had heard so much about . Our hotel, however, was a different matter. Situated on the top floor of a grand apartment building, Artemisia Domus with its high ceilings and tasteful art installations was a haven.
The first stroll down the streets of the Centro Storico (old town) did not disappoint. Cobbled lanes, barely visible through the throngs of people, adorned with stalls selling the native pizza fritta and take-away Aperol spritz were exactly the backdrop I had imagined.
Unbeknownst to us, it was All Saints’ Day, which meant that the famously bustling city was filled to the rafters.
Our first stop: Tandem. A specialist ragù restaurant serving up a six-hour cooked version of the infamous pasta sauce. We opted for a traditional rigatoni but many locals were gobbling down ‘scarpetta’: a bowl of ragù to be mopped up with bread. The perfectly al dente pasta arrived silkily coated in the rich burgundy sauce and we savoured every bite.
A post-lunch stroll to the port area helped us get our bearings of the ancient city. The waterfront was peppered with towering cruise ships and the tip of Vesuvius rose majestically behind them.
In need of a caffeine pick-me-up, we stopped off at Bar Mexico. In an attempt to blend in with the locals, we stood at the bar gulping down the potent, cacao-aroma espresso whilst nibbling on sweet biscuits adorned with lurid glacé fruit.
Our aim for the evening was to land a table at La Figlia del Presidente; a pizzeria recommended to us by some Naples natives. Walking past the restaurant at around 6.30pm on our way to grab an aperitif, there were already the first rumblings of a queue. It was clear that it was now or never and so we joined the waiting crowd.
The queue had more of a party atmosphere than a formal line - if only we had grabbed a takeaway drink! At 7pm, shortly after the last group of staff had finished their pre-shift cigarettes, the pizzeria flung open its doors. An authoritative-looking chief at the door soon ushered the two of us downstairs, past an orderly line of staff in bright chef whites lining the stairs.
The basement had a cave-like feel; sheltered from the madness outside whilst also containing the magical chaos of the pizzeria within the stony walls. As I sipped my beer and perused the menu, the ‘marinara special’ pizza jumped out at me. A mere 15 minutes later a picture-perfect creation of richly red vesuvio tomatoes, olives, anchovies, basil, garlic and oregano, bobbing in extra virgin olive oil was plonked in front of me, ready for feasting.
The next morning, in a bid to incorporate some non-food and beverage-related Neapolitan culture into our trip, we ventured to Napoli Soterraneo for a tour of underground Naples. We learnt that, for over 5000 years, the labyrinth of catacombs has been used as a burial ground in prehistoric times, as an aqueduct network by the Romans, a bomb shelter during WWII and then, sadly, as a place to dump the city’s rubbish. For an attraction with such an interesting history, we felt that much more could have been made of the tour, but it was educational nonetheless.
Culture satisfied, sort of, we set off for the port again. At seafood restaurant Officina del Mare, we washed oysters down with a chilled Sardinian Vermentino. A sumptuous plate of cacio e pepe spaghetti with red prawn tartare ensued. The brightness of the prawns was dazzling
Our last afternoon was spent in Vomero, an upmarket area perched on the hilltop overlooking sprawling Naples. We took the funicular from Montesanto, taking in the views along the way. Once at the top we ambled through an artisanal market before settling with a spritz to enhance our enjoyment of the Neapolitan vista.
There was only one way to spend our last night: eating a pizza, of course!
