In Bologna we had our sun, but we didn’t quite have our warmth. For that we would keep heading south.
Italy has a new high speed train network, and getting around the country was surprisingly easy. We walked from our hotel to the train station, and then were whisked away at almost 190 mph towards the south. In a few hours, we were in Naples and at last taking off our winter coats and casting aside our scarves.
Outside the train station, we didn’t make it two blocks before Anna and I looked at each other and laughed – where were we? Cars and scooters were flying by at insane speeds, garbage was piling up in alleys, pristine churches and ancient ruins were fighting for space along crowded streets while priests and children and prostitutes all walked calmly by – was this Europe? It felt somehow more like Africa or Central America – Belgium was far behind us at any rate.
Naples is the birthplace of pizza, and we wanted to find the best it had to offer. Since real pizza comes from wood burning ovens that can take most of the day to heat to the right temperature, pizza was our daily dinner, and each day we selected a different pizzeria. The first night was “El Presidente,” with walls covered by photos of the Japanese Prime Minister smiling with the staff during his visit. The second night it was “Da Michele,” the pizzeria where Julia Roberts goes to eat in “Eat Pray Love,” with photos of her smiling with the staff now accordingly posted on all the walls. The last night it was, “Da Mateo,” the pizzeria preferred by Bill Clinton, whose photo was the most prominent there.
At Da Michele, we were seated at a four person table next to two young Italians who were in Naples for work and who were also looking for the best pizza in town. One of them had been to New York City, and I asked if he had tried the pizza there and what he thought.
He laughed at me. “Come on,” he said, “This is the best pizza, right here.”
Da Michele only serves two varieties: Margherita and Marinara, purportedly the only two varieties worth eating. The dough is thin and light with a smoky charcoal taste from the oven, the sauce is a bit sweet. Most surprising though was how little cheese the pizzas have compared to what we were used to back home. With less cheese they’re not nearly so filling, and you can eat a full pizza and still be standing at the end of the meal – you might even be hungry for dessert.
Finding pizza was serious business for us, and we were not disappointed. Even as we tested the seafood and the pasta, no matter how delicious it all was, we still found ourselves wondering when our next pizza would be, and where it would come from…
