Europe Trip - Day 11 - Naples, Italy

Today was the 3rd day in Rome. We changed our plans and decided to make a day trip to Naples which is located in Southern Italy. We took a train from Rome to Naples. Naples is the third largest city in Italy and it is quite densely populated. As we started roaming around the streets of Naples we saw beautiful narrow streets and Italian houses. The city was very vibrant with busy markets and crowds of locals. Naples was turning out to be yet another beautiful Italian city. Also like other Italian cities it is ideal for people watching. We were impressed by the parade of well-dressed Neapolitans going about their day.

Streets of Naples

The roads everywhere in the city were choked with Vespas. Vespas seem very popular in Naples. Everyone on the road seemed to be driving Vespas.

Most popular mode of transportation in the city

Well one thing that we noticed very prominently in Naples was the huge amounts of trash on the roads. The city was very dirty with litter everywhere on the roads. It was little disappointing. But the city was beautiful with lovely harbours, beaches and old castle. We just kept roaming around and enjoying the views and local culture and food.

Very common sight in the city

Pizza, one of Italy's most famous foods, originated in Naples. One place where we really wanted to try the pizza was -Da Michele - which is the place where Julia Roberts goes for pizza in the movie Eat, Pray, Love. This was a nice little place with modest decor where you get pizza with only Margarita and Marinara sauce on a very elastic dough for just 4 euros. We ordered couple of Margarita and couple of Marinara pizzas and loved them. The pizza was so simple with no toppings but lovely sauces. Also the base was very different than what we traditionally eat in USA. We also took the customary photo with a Julia Roberts autographed picture that was in the restaurant. I personally adore Julia Roberts so it was fun having to experience the pizza in this place.

Yummy pizza at Da Michele

Here's Julia Roberts eating pizza at Da Michele in the movie Eat, Pray, love

Here's me eating pizza at Da Michele's :)

Us savouring the yummy pizzas

Posing with a picture of Julia inside the restaurant

Chef at work

Naples has a beautiful Amalfi coast which is supposed to have a very scenic drive. Unfortunately we were short on time as we had to head back to Rome. So we plan to revisit Southern Italy sometime in future and enjoy the local life and culture a bit more.

This concluded our memorable trip to Italy. It was very tiring and intense but we loved every moment of it. Next up on our itinerary were the beautiful Alps in Switzerland.

Check out pics here.