Naples.....

Weather.....hmmmmm....i was off at 8.....looooong nightshift......and then time to sleep....staff captain was out till around lunch....so kim andi would only go out then....so good time to sleep....problem...i was not tired at alll......so.....i was arbing around for quite some time until finally my body said....ok now im tired....time to sleep.....

Around 1pm we left....strolled towards the underground tunnel....there is like 3 touristy ones in Naples....but we wanted to go to a particular one....the one on Via Tribunali....near the church....so off we tracked.....it drizzled a little...so yes, umbrella was needed.....but not bad rain......we knew the underground tour would start at 2....so we had good time.....and now here is the unbelievable part.....guess where it was....right next to the famous pizzeria that kim took me to, about 3 weeks ago....and guess what....he had never seen the nderground tunnel sign...even though the sign is quite large....hmmmmm....amazing.....anyway....moving on.....of course we chose the English tour.....first thing we were told we going to descend into the tunnel....30m underground....the deepest we would go though would be 40m.....i was excited....here is a pic.....

We were going to walk about 1km underground....but the entire underground is about 400km...amazing...it was first used by the Greeks for stones and then later the Napoli people used it is a cistern....but it had to be stopped because there was a colera outbreak and from that moment....the cistern was closed and used, sadly, as a rubbish dump.....in 1943 however, the Napoli people needed shelter from the bombings of World War 2, so a clean up was done, in which they just covered all the rubbish....can you believe, the original grouns is 5m below,...in other words....rubbish is 5m high....they also covered all the wells so that the bombs could not enter the underground and of course they built stairs so that the people could access the underground....interesting......

After that we strolled further where the guide explained a little bit more about the war, also stating that the one well remained open because a church was placed on top, they believed that this church would not be bombed cause it is a holy plae, they were however wrong, and the church was destroyed in the war....then time to go though to see the cisterns.....we were given candles because it would be dark and extremly narrow....and they did not exaggerate....big people definitely cannot do this tour.....but man....was so cool to walk through this narrow 100m strip.....we would walk it twice.....so cool.....here are three pics....

We reached the cisterns....first we we shown a small one...built by the Greeks and then we were shown the large one....after that we moved towards another part....situated below the church....so kim was like...haha...they prob used this as a wine cellar...i was like...ja sure....and guess what...the nuns did use it as a wine cellar....unbelievable....and i noticed that somehow it was warmer...even though we were now 40m underground...when iasked why...the guide explained that the nuns actually invented some type of AC in order to keep the wine at the right temperature....wow....here are two pics....first pic is part of the wine cellar and the second pic is the ancient AC......

Here is another intersting fact....the humidity down there is between 90% and 98%...wow.....then time to walk through the narrow path again and give back our candles....

The end of the tour the showed us the old Napoli theatre...which is underneath 6 buildings and some arts are above....so of course it is very difficult to visualise....but fascinating so see some of the original walls and places....one part we saw was the backstage....here is a pic

And we all know i like arb facts....here is one...the Napoli people were very clever....they knew Naples has a lot of earthquakes....so look how they constructed the walls....first the bottom is diamond shapes....why...because earthquakes will go along a diagonal...so it can run along....but then the movement needs to be broken....and hence the bricks then became horizontal after a certainbheight...here is a pic...incase my explaination is not so clear....

The entire tour lasted 1.5hrs....after that we were starving....kim did some research of the top Naples pizzerias....i thought that was so amazing that he did that.....i loved it....and we ended up at a Pizzeria called Il Presidente.....the pizza oven/ kitchen was in the front.....you had to walk through this narrow ath to get to the tables...strange....but kind of cosy.....and man....pizza was good....BUT....we both thought the place he took me to the previous time....it was better....might have been the choice...cause we just asked the waiter to bring us the favourite....the dough...fab....but i think i mentioned before.....it is just sondifferent...cause it is gooey rather than crispy....man so divine.....i love it....and it is gooey and fluffy...yummy...of course i took a pic.....

Then...time to stroll back...was getting a little dark...yes...at 4:30....we strolled throu the christmas market again....but first we tried this Napoli speciality called baba.....we thoug it would be doughy and dry....how wrong we were.....so fluffy....and when youbordered it they poured rum over it....but not to forget to mention...it had already been soaked in rum before....man it was so good....do me a favour....if you are ever in Naples...find yourself a pizza and a baba.....so so excellento....and here is a pic of the baba......so that you know what you will be looking for....and then also a pic of the Christmas street....so nice....not the best pic...but if you can imagine...the entire street porb around 300m has Christmas stall on both sides.....what an atmosphere.....

Last but not least......i mentioned that back on the ship i need some coffee....and what goes good with coffee...some pastries....for once no ice cream....but three pastries.....one with nuts (turned out to be very dry....and it was my choice....how embaressing).....one filled with nutella....very good but VERY rich.and of course a marzipan....not good marzipan at all...way too little almond essence....and way too much sugar...i guess cheap marzipan cause almonds are more expensive than sugar....and yes yes....here is a pic.....back on the ship with some french pressed coffee.......hope you are jealous...

So Naples....you know...people tend not to like it....i have no idea wh...they always say....yes...go see Pompeii and Herculaneum.....and Amalfi coast but they all say...dont stay in Naples its so dirty and not nice....i dont know....but i love it...but again...im bias with Italy....yes...ill say it again...i just love Italy....so....tomorrow Cicitavechia....my parents are signing on and Kim is signing off.....man....already 10 weeks on the ship...time just flies.....so cheers......Naples finito....new blog soon....yes...im managing to update quite frequently cause im nightshift still...couple more days.....so keep reading...but now s holiday time...so you should be having time to read my blog....hahaha....ok cheers now.....

 

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