Birthday in Napoli

Thursday was our second and last full day in Napoli. It was very hot and humid. In the morning we checked out and left our luggage at the hotel, locked in a room near the front desk. It has been tough not having a laptop with a keyboard; phone and tablet are not as good for how we usually roll. If we knew better how well the hotel would have cared for our stuff, we might have brought out laptops.

It was also my 62nd birthday, and our kids and a few friends sent some good wishes. We took the Metro to the historic downtown area. There were some very kind people on the metro, one immediately giving up his seat for my wife with her walking stick, and another elderly man giving up his seat for a mom with a stroller; then a young woman got up to give him her seat! We walked around the streets, stopping for Wes and Alyssa to do some shopping. They got to run the nose of Pulcinella, a long-time tourist tradition.

We also walked down Christmas street, though nobody bought anything. After hitting lots of shops throughout downtown, we stopped again at Cafe Diaz for a nice lunch (Dee and I ate there in March). We asked if they had air conditioning, which they did, but it was right next to the very hot kitchen, so we did better outside under the shadow of a big awning with some nice breeze. The waiter also brought us ice cubes for our water, which is often thought of here as unhealthy. I had a salmon salad, and Wes had some wonderful risotto.

After lunch we did more shopping, with Wes and Alyssa buying a few things. Dee looked at jewelry but didn't buy anything, despite my urging. I love buying jewelry for her, so I told her that I wanted to do that for my birthday. How very selfish of her not to buy anything! 😉😏 I enjoyed some nice gelato, and Dee bought some delicious taralli (read about them here).

We also found the Cloister of Santa Chiara (Chiara is the name of our oldest daughter). She was apparently one of the first followers of San Francesco di Assisi, so the order has a long history. 

 

At 4pm Wes and Alyssa had a scheduled tour of Sansevero Chapel, which we really enjoyed in March, with the amazing statue of the Veiled Christ. There have always been big lines before, so we had bought them a reserved ticket, but there was no line this time. They just stayed inside a short while, which is enough to enjoy the amazing statues. Then we were all exhausted and hot, so we headed back to the train station. We picked up our luggage and hung out in the air conditioning in the lobby for a while, before walking over to the station to grab a bite and wait for the train. 

The train was on time, and the Knieses (with some friends of theirs from Texas) ended up in our same car! Dee visited with them a good part of the way back. When we arrived at the Institute, we picked up our laptops which we had left locked up inside. Wes and Alyssa decided that they wanted to go see Trevi Fountain one more time before leaving the next morning, so they headed out on the Metro while we drove home. We arrived about 9pm. Dee started laundry immediately, and I took a shower to rinse off after a hot day. It was still hot outside, but at least we could sleep in the cool. The trip to Napoli was good, but maybe a bit too long and definitely exhausting. 

When Wes and Alyssa got back, we did a bit of business, giving him some stuff to take home and doing accounting for how much they owed us for various tickets. They left us most of their euros, all of their Metro tickets, and the SIM cards they had borrowed. We planned a bit for how the logistics would work in the morning. Dee gave Alyssa a small gift: a sturdy Italian shopping bag with a horse painted on it. Dee didn't know that Alyssa was into horses when she bought  it, so it was a good pick. 

It was good to be home.