Pizza in Naples

May 24, 2012

It’s hard to believe that this is my last port of call before ending my first contract. To celebrate this successful tour of duty, Tim, Karen, Rosie and I decided to go to lunch in Naples. Although Naples had done little to attract me on our last visit, I knew that I would have to eat the most famous dish from the birthplace of pizza. Fortunately, there is a great little pizza restaurant only a block from the ship. There are, of course, several great little pizza restaurants near the ship. But this one, in particular, is a favorite of ship’s crews which we would soon discover.

First we had to accomplish the simple task of crossing the street from the port to the shops. If it sounds like a simple task, you have never crossed the street in Italy. In Italy it appears that traffic lights are mere suggestions, and the key is to find an opening in the traffic, make eye contact with the driver or drivers and step boldly with more than a little faith that you won’t be run over. For Rosie, she had the added assistance of Tim escorting her through the traffic. Fortunately, Tim is not a small man which gave valuable mass to protect Rosie should a driver decide not to honor the pedestrians in front of him. Fortunately, we all made it safely across. Karen headed straight to the Money Change office while Tim negotiated to purchase a pair of ‘Faux Bans’ from a street vendor. With the preliminaries out of the way we headed up half a block to find our destination.

The restaurant is fronted by a small outdoor seating area, and on approach you are met with a clientele which is at least half comprised of crewmates. The waiter who greets and seats you looks like he may have been there as long as the restaurant, tall and wizened, with enough English skills to make every visitor feel welcome. We sat at an outdoor table and in no time our orders for pizza and a starter salad were taken, and wine was poured into small tumblers to lubricate our palates for the meal ahead. We looked around the garden seating and saw the trellis was adorned with pictures of various cruise ships. These pictures were signed as mementos by crews who over the years had visited this establishment. It made you feel ‘at home’ as if you were at the corner bar in Cheers, where everybody knows your name. It is at this meal I learned what the British call the leafy vegetable, arugula. They call it rocket. And now you can sleep at night. When the main course came it was definitely worth taking our life into our hands crossing the street. The pizza was crisp, savory, and flavorful. But realizing it was our ‘last supper’ together, we got a bit teary-eyed, which led for some melodramatic photos in order to capture the moment.

With the meal done, Karen and Tim headed back to the ship while Rosie and I went to take a stroll through Naples. Maybe it is that the city does not offer that interests me near the port. Maybe it was the realization that I would soon leave the ship that made me restless to get back onboard. Rosie agreed, and we headed back onboard Silhouette with our time on my floating home soon coming to an end.

And the adventure continues . . .