Thursday, July 2, 2009 – Naples – Happy Anniversary Mike!
See all the pictures HERE.
We docked in Naples, and Mike and I were a little bummed about not going to Pompeii. I have been interested in Pompeii since I was in 2nd grade. However, we were excited to do the tour with Morgan today anyway. I was a little nervous as to how she would do, but I was anxious to try it.
Mike surprised me by breaking the no gift for the anniversary since we are on a cruise rule. He gave me a beautiful blue morano glass necklace. I absolutely love it. I have gotten several new jewelry pieces on this trip, so that rounds out the collection! Thanks Mike!
We made it to the lounge where we check in for the tours around 9:20, and we got to get a head start to the bus. Morgan did pretty well making it to the bus, but then she was a bit mad when the bus drove back closer to where we left the ship to get the rest of the people. All that effort for nothing!
We first did a tour of Naples. It looks really pretty from a distance, but when you get into town, the buildings are peeling and aren’t so pretty. We drove around for a bit, and then we stopped to see the square. This was the square where the kings lived, and it was nice to see it. We also saw a beautiful church that is in the square, and we saw the old opera house as well as some other cool buildings. We shopped for a bit in our “free time” and then we went back to the bus. Mike and I had to carry Morgan for a bit on our backs, but it wasn’t too bad. She did a great job of getting around. We saw a protest that we later found out was because the health benefits are being reduced (National Healthcare). They will start having to pay for some things like blood tests, x-rays, etc, and they are MAD. Sounds like some other debates going on in the US. Imagine that – the government can’t afford to provide EVERYTHING? NO WAY. Hopefully, the US won’t go down the same path.
We then did a panoramic tour. We drove through the nice areas of Naples where the really expensive villas were that overlooked the sea. We saw where the president’s house was, and we saw the other side where the crater and the soccer field was. There was a HUGE street market going on where we turned around. The guide said that there are all Catholic churches in Naples – no synagogues, no mosques, nothing but Catholic churches. That was interesting to me.
We had a quick stop to take pictures at a beautiful scenic spot overlooking the water, and then we went back into town. We drove down the street where the consulate buildings are (the most protected street in Naples according to the guide), and we saw the US consulate, the French Consulate, and the British Consulate. We stopped and ate at ToTo’s Pizzaria. We got to watch them make the pizza. We learned the story of pizza and that it originated for Queen Margharita (spelling??) who wanted a restaurant to make her something different but that represented Naples. Pizza had always been for poor people because it only had 4 ingredients – water, yeast, flour, and salt. So, the restaurant put tomato, mozzarella, and basil on the dough. It had the colors of Italy on it, and the Queen loved it. Now, you can get many types of pizzas, but this is how it originated. This is the type of pizza that we ate. It was delicious.
We didn’t think that Morgan would like the pizza as it wasn’t light sauce and double pepperoni, but she ate over half of the HUGE pizza (that was a serving for one). We did learn later that pizza is usually not eaten for lunch but is more of an evening meal. We sat with three people from California, and they were really great to talk to and to share our table with. The pizza was very simple, and it didn’t have much on it. However, I thought it was fantastic and would love to have it again. J We had some weird fruit dessert, but Mike was nice and got Morgan a chocolate ice cream from around the corner. We also had a local beer that was included in the meal. It was rather tasty.
After the pizza, we headed back to the ship. We got to the room and found that the towel animals book that Morgan had been dying to get (they put a different towel animal on our bed each night) was waiting. We tried to make a duck, but it didn’t look very good. So, we made a cobra, and it wasn’t too bad for our first one. :)
Mike and I then went to do our 2 miles of walking/running. It was pretty hot out, but it was really nice to see the port area as we went. Mike said, “I haven’t ever run in Naples before.” I thought that was so cute. :)
Grams, Papa, Mike, Tracy, and Mark all had longer tours than us, so they didn’t get back until about 5:30 and we sailed at 6. We had drinks on the balcony before our 7:30 dinner reservation at the Pinnacle Grill which is the specialty restaurant on the ship. Our travel agent had given us that as a gift. It was nice to have it for our anniversary. Mike and I have been married for FIVE YEARS! Wow, how time flies. It was a nice way to celebrate at the very nice restaurant. I had lobster bisque and a filet with blue cheese. We also shared some mushrooms, asparagus, and spinach. Morgan and Mike also had the filet. Morgan got the chocolate soufflé for dessert, but she didn’t eat but half of it. The ship was having a “dessert extravaganza” from 10:30 – midnight (Biko would not approve), and Morgan had been excited about it. However, she decided that she didn’t want to go, so we all called it a night to prepare for our 6:50 am tour to Rome the next day.
We docked in Naples, and Mike and I were a little bummed about not going to Pompeii. I have been interested in Pompeii since I was in 2nd grade. However, we were excited to do the tour with Morgan today anyway. I was a little nervous as to how she would do, but I was anxious to try it.
Mike surprised me by breaking the no gift for the anniversary since we are on a cruise rule. He gave me a beautiful blue morano glass necklace. I absolutely love it. I have gotten several new jewelry pieces on this trip, so that rounds out the collection! Thanks Mike!
We made it to the lounge where we check in for the tours around 9:20, and we got to get a head start to the bus. Morgan did pretty well making it to the bus, but then she was a bit mad when the bus drove back closer to where we left the ship to get the rest of the people. All that effort for nothing!
We first did a tour of Naples. It looks really pretty from a distance, but when you get into town, the buildings are peeling and aren’t so pretty. We drove around for a bit, and then we stopped to see the square. This was the square where the kings lived, and it was nice to see it. We also saw a beautiful church that is in the square, and we saw the old opera house as well as some other cool buildings. We shopped for a bit in our “free time” and then we went back to the bus. Mike and I had to carry Morgan for a bit on our backs, but it wasn’t too bad. She did a great job of getting around. We saw a protest that we later found out was because the health benefits are being reduced (National Healthcare). They will start having to pay for some things like blood tests, x-rays, etc, and they are MAD. Sounds like some other debates going on in the US. Imagine that – the government can’t afford to provide EVERYTHING? NO WAY. Hopefully, the US won’t go down the same path.
We then did a panoramic tour. We drove through the nice areas of Naples where the really expensive villas were that overlooked the sea. We saw where the president’s house was, and we saw the other side where the crater and the soccer field was. There was a HUGE street market going on where we turned around. The guide said that there are all Catholic churches in Naples – no synagogues, no mosques, nothing but Catholic churches. That was interesting to me.
We had a quick stop to take pictures at a beautiful scenic spot overlooking the water, and then we went back into town. We drove down the street where the consulate buildings are (the most protected street in Naples according to the guide), and we saw the US consulate, the French Consulate, and the British Consulate. We stopped and ate at ToTo’s Pizzaria. We got to watch them make the pizza. We learned the story of pizza and that it originated for Queen Margharita (spelling??) who wanted a restaurant to make her something different but that represented Naples. Pizza had always been for poor people because it only had 4 ingredients – water, yeast, flour, and salt. So, the restaurant put tomato, mozzarella, and basil on the dough. It had the colors of Italy on it, and the Queen loved it. Now, you can get many types of pizzas, but this is how it originated. This is the type of pizza that we ate. It was delicious.
We didn’t think that Morgan would like the pizza as it wasn’t light sauce and double pepperoni, but she ate over half of the HUGE pizza (that was a serving for one). We did learn later that pizza is usually not eaten for lunch but is more of an evening meal. We sat with three people from California, and they were really great to talk to and to share our table with. The pizza was very simple, and it didn’t have much on it. However, I thought it was fantastic and would love to have it again. J We had some weird fruit dessert, but Mike was nice and got Morgan a chocolate ice cream from around the corner. We also had a local beer that was included in the meal. It was rather tasty.
After the pizza, we headed back to the ship. We got to the room and found that the towel animals book that Morgan had been dying to get (they put a different towel animal on our bed each night) was waiting. We tried to make a duck, but it didn’t look very good. So, we made a cobra, and it wasn’t too bad for our first one. :)
Mike and I then went to do our 2 miles of walking/running. It was pretty hot out, but it was really nice to see the port area as we went. Mike said, “I haven’t ever run in Naples before.” I thought that was so cute. :)
Grams, Papa, Mike, Tracy, and Mark all had longer tours than us, so they didn’t get back until about 5:30 and we sailed at 6. We had drinks on the balcony before our 7:30 dinner reservation at the Pinnacle Grill which is the specialty restaurant on the ship. Our travel agent had given us that as a gift. It was nice to have it for our anniversary. Mike and I have been married for FIVE YEARS! Wow, how time flies. It was a nice way to celebrate at the very nice restaurant. I had lobster bisque and a filet with blue cheese. We also shared some mushrooms, asparagus, and spinach. Morgan and Mike also had the filet. Morgan got the chocolate soufflé for dessert, but she didn’t eat but half of it. The ship was having a “dessert extravaganza” from 10:30 – midnight (Biko would not approve), and Morgan had been excited about it. However, she decided that she didn’t want to go, so we all called it a night to prepare for our 6:50 am tour to Rome the next day.
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