Taxi ride with Salvatore

Wednesday morning we checked out of our hotel in Napoli at  8:30am, leaving our luggage locked in their back room. We went to take the subway downtown to the old historic center, where Karen and Dave had tickets for a 9:30am tour of the Veiled Christ statue chapel (Cappella San Severo). Arriving down at the subway, it was very puzzling. The huge metal gate was lowered, blocking all entrance. I had never seen anything like it. Dee thought at first that it was just the ticket office closed, but we already had subway tickets purchased on a prior trip. Once we realized that we weren't going to get there on the subway, we walked up and grabbed a taxi. It was rush hour, but we had enough time to make it downtown.

The taxi driver, Salvatore, was a hoot! We chatted with him in Italian and translated for Karen and Dave. Once he understood we were going downtown for sightseeing, he went into tour guide and standup comic mode. It was awesome! He changed the route a little to go by several extra sights, explaining things along the way and making us laugh. At one point, he said "mamma mia", making Karen and Dave chuckle hard because they perhaps had supposed that that was an American stereotype of Italians. His Italian was great, but occasionally he slipped in a word or phrase in dialect,  which we loved. Once a motorcyclist held up traffic by trying to hop over the median on his bike. Salvatore said that that was an ancient Naples tradition, which they used to do with horses too. We asked him what his top sight to see would be in Naples, and he said the Veiled Christ, so it felt like we had good taste! The whole ride was really entertaining, with lots of laughs, well worth the extra price of a taxi over the subway. Unfortunately we forgot to get his phone number for future visits.

Salvatore after dropping us off

From there we walked over to the San Severo chapel. Karen and Dave had the 9:30 tickets, but we didn't have any, thinking we would wait for them outside. However, there was a long line for those with reservations, and no line at all for those without, so we bought two tickets and they let us in immediately, along with Karen and Dave. Nice! As always, the chapel/museum was stunning, with the Veiled Christ statue, the statue with a 3D marble net, and the floor design with a single piece of marble being our favorite parts. If you go to Naples, you must go see this place!

Veiled Christ: you can see through the marble veil!

The whole thing, including the net, is one piece of marble!!

The white design is mostly made of one continuous piece of marble!

We also walked along Christmas street, with nativity scenes and lots of ornaments. The ladies bought several things. Dee would really like to get a big Italian nativity set, including an Italian bagpiper, but we can't figure out a rational way to get it home. Walking back toward the subway, the ladies did some more shopping, with Dave and I zoned out from all the retail therapy. At one point we stopped for some pastry at a place called Moccia, at Via Benedetto Croce 57. The guy behind the counter was wonderful! After serving us, he saw Karen trying to cut her pastry up to share, and he quickly ran around with a knife to cut it up for her. Then I asked him what his favorite pastry was, and he said a little sugar donut which he called a graffetto. Not only did he show them, but he gave us three of them, refusing payment! I asked to take a picture with him, as such great customer service is not always the practice here. He obliged and then playfully held up a gold paper plate behind my head as if to crown me a pastry saint. We didn't get his name, but we will be back there next time! Napoli really shined for us this day.

St. Doug of the pastry shop

From there we headed back to the train station to go to Pompeii on the local train, with the subway running just fine. Dee stayed downtown to shop. As planned, we arrived in Pompeii in time for a sit-down lunch at the Hortus restaurant right across the street from the entrance to the archeological site. The rest and refreshment were well appreciated after a lot of walking in the morning. Our guide, Cinzia, was there a bit early, so we got started just before 2pm. As usual, she was awesome. Karen and Dave are really appreciating all the ancient history, and Pompeii is amazing. The weather was great, warm but not hot, but after the two hour tour we were bushed. 

Cinzia at work

 

We each had a lemonade slush and then caught the train (Circumvesuviana) back to Napoli. The trains each way were air-conditioned this time, which has never happened before for me, and we appreciated it.

We met Dee at the hotel and soon headed out with our luggage for the fast train back to Rome, with time for some "takeout" Italian food along the way, which we finished while waiting in the station. I had an arancino -- mmm. Our train departed on time but ended up stopping right outside the station in Rome for a while, arriving 15 minutes late. 

Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but we had tickets for an 8:30pm show of the Three Tenors. It is just a few blocks away, at the same Episcopal church where the LDS Charities Friendship Center is located, but we had to hoof it quickly from the station to make it. Everyone was tired, and Karen has a cold. Dee (with her short legs, as she likes to remind us) did a great job of keeping up with everyone thanks to her walking stick. We left our luggage at the Institute, and I ran down ahead to pick up the tickets. The other three showed up a few minutes later, with about five minutes to spare. The show was good, with the three tenors having amazing voices! The oldest man was the best, both in voice and in his way of acting out the songs. They sang songs from Napoli, with three ballerinas dancing for many of the numbers. The acoustics in the church are not great, but the chapel itself is gorgeous. It was the first Protestant church in Rome.

The show finished about 9:45pm, shorter than I expected, which was a blessing because we were all tired. Karen in particular was worn out with her cold, coughing quite a bit. We got home about 10:30pm. The day was long but wonderful. Thursday would be an early day, so we were all lights out fairly quickly.