A Brief Look at 2 Days in Naples

Although we were only in Naples for 2 days, and we hadn't visited this city before, we tried to make the most of this extremely short stopover. After meeting the family at the hotel and having drinks on our terrace on the afternoon of the 12 September 2013, most of the group went out for dinner for pizza. I didn't go as I was too jetlagged, but just to help everyone remember this was the pizza place they visited and very much enjoyed...

The next day, Nick and I walked around the old town and discovered some of the gritty, rundown streets of Naples. They were still beautiful in their own way...

We visited a few churches (as we always do in Europe - how can you not?). This was the most beautiful church - it was at the end of the street where our hotel was. Funnily enough, it was called Saint Caterina a Formiello - one of our fellow travellers was Catherine (so this was 'her' church). Even though we visited the famous Duomo after this, we still thought this was more lovely with all the frescos covering the ceiling - it had a certain ambience :)

As mentioned above, the famous Duomo San Gennaro is considered the most magnificent of the religious sites in Naples. It was quite beautiful and large, with some amazing frescos, but it felt more sterile than other local churches...

After walking the old town, we caught a taxi to the new part of town to see Gallery Umberto (after a lemon granite - a frozen delight to cool the body on these warm days - delicious!). This beautiful gallery has the largest glass roof in the world(?) - lots of expensive shops and eateries. Some of the best gelato and chocolate is around this area (and yes, of course we tried some).

Later this night, some of us decided to head out for some dinner. We wanted to go somewhere walking distance to the hotel as we were all tired and some of us were still recovering from jetlag - we asked the hotel for a recommendation and they suggested Mimi's Restaurant - a small local place run by a long standing family in the community. This was not only a fun night with the staff, but the food was DELICIOUS! I mean, it's pretty hard to get a bad meal in Italy, but when the food is surrounded by the right atmosphere and people, it can be even more glorious. We had a wonderful time here. Thanks Mimi's :)

Catherine was in charge of ordering the desserts - she managed to get "one of everything" - good choice!!!

 

Most of the group we travelled with (some family, some friends)... some were sleeping at home and missing out on Mimi's (what a shame)!!

 

 

Catherine having a glass of vino...

 

 

Hayley and Nick (that's us) enjoying our first night out together in Italy...
 

A final goodbye to our gorgeous Palazzo in Naples with room service mid-morning - aren't they lovely to send up donuts with our coffee :)

 

 

Given our car service to take the group to the Amalfi Coast wasn't due to arrive until 2pm, and check out was at 12pm (ahhh, don't you love those late check outs in Europe!), Nick and I took some time to walk around the local area one last time. We decided to have a quick bite to eat that turned out to be the best pizza we had on this entire trip to Italy... it was in a very unassuming little place with plastic chairs on a gritty sidewalk... what a great way to say goodbye to Napoli :)