Vedi Napoli, poi mori

I am hoping this saying about Napoli is not literally true, as it means "You see Napoli, then you die."  Having now seen Napoli (even though way too briefly), I still have a few other things I'd like to do before dying.  The saying means that Napoli is such a beautiful city and has everything, that once you see it, there is nothing else.  I need to return to Napoli when I have much more time.  I arrived in Napoli by way of a comfortable train ride, and was picked up by Davide, who then drove me to Sorrento.

We went to his sister Elda and family's home, where again this homeless person was taken in by a wonderful family for another simple but excellent meal.  Elda had prepared pasta with a sauce made from fresh cherry tomatoes.  We had salami, bread and fresh mozzarella.  For the meat course, she fixed some chicken fillets with a simple sauce of olive oil with parsey and pepperoncini to pour over them.  Perfect, but as always, more food than you can eat.  We topped it off with a delicious homemade Limoncello.  Their back yard is full of beautiful lemons.

                                           Elda cooking

Elda, I and Davide

Elda, Antonio and I

Erica

After dinner, Davide drove me back to Napoli (about a one-hour trip if traffic is not too bad.)  The drive was an adventure in itself, as Davide, being a professional driver, has driven this route 1,000's of times, and we cruised in excess of 100 km/hr, weaving around slower traffic.  Arriving in Napoli, we only had about an hour before I had to get to my ferry boat.  Davide wanted me to try the most famous pizzeria in Napoli, Da Michele, but food was out of the question.  So, we did a quick tour of some landmarks, just to whet my appetite to return soon.  Here's a few quick looks. 

 Then went to the dock to board a much bigger ferry than I was expecting. Having never been on a ship, I was expecting a small ferry boat, not one that was loaded with semis and other autos, and buses.  You can see them loading, preparing for departure.

I have a little room that is esseentially 4 bunks, and a small bathroom.  There is a full bar, restaurant, and other amenities on board.  I stood outside with a scotch viewing Napoli as it got dark, and we departed.  It's now about 3:00 a.m. and I'm wide awake for some reason.  All my toys are unavailable.  My blackberry battery died, and I can't seem to get the charger to work here, as I think the electricity in my room is watered down.  There is no wifi access on board.  So, just typing away to later add this to blog.  We should arrive in Palermo between 6:30-7:00 a.m, although there is a chance with all those semis on board that we may end up on bottom of sea. If so, the above caption would make a good epitaph on my tombstone.  Leaving the port of Napoli, it struck me that this was same port my grandpa, Francesco Pingitore set out from in 1902.  Ellis Island records online show he left Napoli with last residence in Settingiano, and he was 20 years old.  He arrived on March 14, 1902.  More on this in next post, as I will try and get  bit more sleep.  Ciao