Finally in Napoli

Buon giorno!
My roommate (Aimee) and I have finally made it to Naples. This is our second day in Italy and already we're pros at the whole speaking Italian thing.. not. I feel like a huge idiot everytime I open my mouth, so mostly I just say, "Si, grazie." I am, however, getting rather good at ordering gelato and granita di limone (much like frozen lemonade but better).
The flight to Italy, was long, but only because we had a 4 hour lay over at JFK, where I had to sit in an un airconditioned airplane for 45 minutes because the control tower caught fire. After a 9 hour flight (during which we were served salmon, yes fish on a plane, and pasta, best airplane food I've ever had), we landed in Rome and transfered to a flight headed for Naples. Already, at the Roman airport, I saw a VERY good looking Italian guy, fashionably dressed, so I took a picture, under the guise that I was taking a photo of Aimee.. stalker style.
We got to Napoli at around 3pm, and took the Alibus to our hostel. The bus driver, who had an adorable son who was helping him collect bus fare, was incredibly nice and even made a special stop just for us, right in front of our hostel. Random passenger on the bus was also very nice, told us about the local sights and showed us to our hostel's front door. We've just met really nice and interesting people so far. I'm beginning to like Italy, hah.
In the two days that we've been here, we did a huge amount of walking. Yesterday, was solely a walking tour of the city, and today was too, with a few stops at some castles, piazzas, a cathedral, and the museo archeologico nazionale di napoli. A very historical tour indeed. I actually met up with Steve, a friend I traveled around with in Shanghai, last night. He just happened to be in Naples the day I arrived, so I decided to stay in the same hostel as him, our little group went to Kestè, a small bar not too far from our hostel, and had beer while watching a small group of musicians play some very modern music (a.k.a . noise). This small group grew increasingly large as the night progressed, and when we left, there was a huge crowd watching the musicians, stilt walker, unicycler, and random other characters.
The shower that night, was THE most refreshing shower I've ever had, pretty much because I had spent a day and a half on airplanes and half a day sweating my pores dry. Not very different from Taiwan or Shanghai, actually. Our hostel comes highly recommended, clean rooms, AIR CONDITIONING, and nice staff. It's right across from the port of Naples, and is called Hostel Bella Capri. Must thank Steve for recommending the place, he left this morning on a train headed for Venezia (I think). It was cool seeing him in Italy because I've really only seen him in China, getting chased by young Chinese girls asking for hugs and kisses...
After breakfast, provided by the hostel, Aimee and I headed for the Castel Nuovo, only a 10 minute walk along the port and up a stinky alley. We went into the gates and that's about as far as we got because we didn't think going in was worth the 5£ (and by lira, I mean euro). So we continued up the street, through some malls and ended up getting a granita di limone. After that refreshing break, we headed to the Castel dell'Ovo, which is on a pseudo island thing and free to get in. The castle was closed for construction. LAME. So we turned around after walking in the burning sun and headed up the street. We decided to go to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and finally got there after haf an hour of walking. Entrance fee was 6,50£, no student discounts unless you're a resident of the EU. Lots of very old Roman stuff inside, i.e, coin hoards, glass vases, pots, statues, mosaics, paintings, other random relics, and an erotic room. You know, the usual... yes, an erotic room, only pictures can convey the graphic-ness of this self-proclaimed secret room, which shall be posted later, I promise. Following the museum, we went to Castel Capuano (which had been converted into the Justice building) and the Duomo (cathedral). The cathedral was more than a little elaborate, as most cathedrals are in Europe, and we even went into the crypt, which smelled like stale air, among other unique smells.
After this, I decided it was time for dinner, which we had already decided would be pizza. We went to a well-known-among-travel-guide-readers pizzaria and had the best pizza I've ever had in my life. A pizza magherita, so simple yet so delicious. The waiter guy was also very nice and our small pizza turned out to be as big as the large pizza. We left full of tomato-y satisfaction, the first meal we had to pay for since we've been here, awesome. I am now back in the hostel, trying not to sweat anymore.

So this is how it's gonna be, at the end of these posts, I'll try my hardest to summarize where I went/ate, if it was any fun/good, and how much it cost.

What: Granita di Limone
Where: Cafè Vesuvio; Museo Archeologico Nazionale cafe
How Much: 1,50£ and 2£
Verdict: Very good both times, but the one at the museum was better because it wasn't as sour.

What: Pizza Magherita
Where: Antica Pizzaria di Michele
How Much: 4,50 for the small
Verdict: AMAZINGly delicious

What: Castel Nuovo
Where: somewhere along the port
How much: 5£
Verdict: looked cool from the outside, but wasn't impressive enough for me to spend 5£ on.

What: Castel dell'Ovo
Where: connected island thing off the port
How Much: free
Verdict: cute surroundings, but under construction so I didn't get to go in.

What: Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Where: Piazza Museo Nazionale, 19, 80135 Napoli
How Much: 6,50£
Verdict: good museum, worth the fee, but no A/C

What: Castel Capuano
Where: I forget
How Much: free
Verdict: nice guard, but it's just the house of justice now.

What: Duomo
Where: Via Duomo
How much: Free
Verdict: awesome cathedral, elaborate as expected, but must cover shoulders!


Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of this work in progress site, what do you guys want to hear about??

Next: Arrival in Sorrento

New Beginnings

Welcome to my travel/food blog, not to be mistaken for a travel food blog. The difference: I don't just take pictures of food found whilst abroad, I take pictures of any worthwhile food that goes into my mouth and most foods I make with my hands, and I happen to really enjoy traveling.
I've been fortunate enough to be able to study abroad a few times, in Shanghai, China during Fall 2007 and Taiwan during Summer 2005, and will be studying abroad once again in Sorrento, Italy this summer. I have my wonderful mom to thank for that, as she also feels international experiences will strengthen my general understanding of the world, so thanks mom.
This blog is a few years in the making, I've thought about blogging for a long time, but have been too lazy/busy to actually start/keep up one. My last attempt at keeping track of my travels can be found on xanga. But don't bother to read it unless you want to kill a few brain cells.
Hope I keep up with this one. I want to thank all the readers in advance, you must have great patience!


Here's a first picture

Delicious signature dish called xiao long bao from the famous Ding Tai Fung in Beijing.

Enjoy that little peek of things to drool over. (not just food, hah)


Next: Where I'm headed to--a preliminary itinerary.