Via Toledo: Very cool. So, today Janise was meeting up with us at Napoli Centrale but not until the later afternoon so we packed up our bags and headed out to explore and take some rad pictures. We headed down Via Toledo, took a turn down somewhere to the left and found ourselves in Babak’s version of heaven. The entire little alley ALL the way down was shop after shop of only one thing: Guitars. The kid needed a cup to catch all the drool. I don’t know if I mentioned this but he’s in Italy studying Jazz Guitar at the Conservatory in Roma. From there I took us to find the place I’d been wanting to go since I heard about it. This is what I was told:
“If its daytime you can try wandering into the quartieri spagnoli, which are down near the end of the street [Via Toledo] off to the right, but don’t look lost or too American. It’s just a whole new world in there. Little walking only streets with houses thousands of years old, super, super poor, clothes hanging everywhere, etc.”
Welp, here I was with my backpack and Babak with his and a map in my hand to find it and yup I definitely found it and explored it that way. It was incredible. It was almost breathtaking seeing these people and their homes and their faces and the history and colors and smells and sounds all woven together. They’re all just there. Living. It’s normal life to them. It’s beautiful.
…oh and did I mention that Babak also took out his ginormous! Professional grade camera with a lens that grows longer than Pinocchio’s nose! Yup, sorry dude, we definitely failed on following that advice in this case. I don’t think I looked more American, lost, tourist MY ENTIRE TRIP! But I felt safe and wasn’t lost :)
Hey, you do what you can, and then you pray and play and in the end it always works out.
Mission accomplished.
From there we took a bus, grabbed lunch at this amazing pizza place called Pizzaria Pellone. Mmm! Mmm! Good! Bonissimo!!! I got the margarita with mozzarella di buffalo. I’m actually salivating right now typing this. And as a disclaimer, Starita and Pellone are just too good and too different to compare. You have to just try both.
Really though...I really am in love...really really...and not just with mozzarella di buffalo.
Wow! Sounds like a fascinating city! I like your style - just wandering around in one of the most "dangerous" cities in the world. Thats awesome! Question, were there Spanish people in the Spanish quarters or were they regular Italians?
ReplyDeletei don't really know. The only other ethnicity I personally and specifically recognized was actually Phillipino. Sorry :)
ReplyDelete