Buon Giorno…

It’s hard to choose what to share about our first visit to Naples, Italy – the food & wine OR the places we have visited so far.

We (hubs and I) are so tired after this first few whirlwind days… and yet we feel so blessed to have seen so much – especially that we are also sharing the experience with my oldest son and his wife and 9 year old daughter.

Let me say first – flying to Naples, Italy from Arizona is not particularly fun.

It’s grueling – without much of a pleasant moment to be documented. Lot’s of uncomfortable seats, bad food, rushing from gate to gate in airports we have never been to, speaking a language we are very unfamiliar with and finally almost 24 hours later seeing the smiling faces of my family in the distance made it all worth the effort.

I was so glad to be on land!

We spent the first full day lounging around the house… and unless you used the bathroom (an experience not easily forgotten) you really don’t realize you are further away from home than San Diego, CA (which is about 3 hours from my home),

Our first taste of Italian food was Pizza!

The best Pizza in the world is made in Naples. Really! I’ve tasted wood fired pizza in the states many times… but I now know that they don’t come close to the real thing. I learned that these wood fired pizza ovens are only allowed in Naples. The ovens are not allowed in any other region on Italy… it’s either a pollution or fire hazard.

So far I’ve also tried:

• Limoncello – which i liked but my DIL says tastes like Lysol.
• Prosciutto – salty but better than I’ve ever had in the states
• Fresh Mozzarella – I’ve got to try it again… I don’t think it was buffalo. We had to explain to my hubs that Buffalo Mozzarella is made from water buffalo no American Buffalo.
• Gelato – favorite so far is strawberry. A bit hard to get use to how sweet everything is here.

• Cappuccino – Huge fan of this. have not been brave enough to try esspresso in Italy yet.

Our tour guide Aldo… tried to entice me to have an esspresso…  but I new I would be embarrassed when I grimaced at the thickness.

I settled for a good old fashioned diet coke at this cafe.

• Nutella – very popular in Italy. My grandaughter loves it… not my cup of tea at all.

• Beer – Peroni – cheap and good. I’ve seen this for sale in the States… but it’s not the same as the true Italian brew. Not a light beer… but sooo tasty.
• I’ll confess right here. I am NOT a fan of Red Wine… until now. The local wine is delicious – the best is about $2.00 a bottle. Go figure.

It’s nice to find a bargain… would you believe gas is $9 a gallon??? It’s true… thank goodness for some NATO Ration Card type things that the military gets. It does supplement about 1/2 a months gas use. These rations bring the gas price down to a normalish $5 a gallon.

We have seen so much – It’s hard to digest. The most fantastic (top of list for now) is Pompei (or Pompeii) at the base of MT. Vesuvius. I’m in a bit of a daze after spending 7 hours waking the streets of the this ancient city.

You might not know this… but one of my previous business ventures (when I was younger and able to climb tall ladders) was as an artist. I painting murals and decorative painting on walls for clients.

Why is this important to know? Pompei is filled with Fresco Murals! Ancient murals that I could actually touch! It’s very strange to be able to walk through ancient historical archeological preservation… and be able to touch the walls, and the art that should be protected from greasy fingerprints. geeesh.

I picked a few pictures out of over 350 to show you… here are my favorites.

Ciao…

p.s. Don’t eat at the cafe’s in or near Pompeii… very expensive and it’s pure tourist fare that does not resemble good Napoli food.

Question by missy61886: My husband and I are PCSing from Germany to Naples, Italy in the begining of April, what can I expect there?
I mean the Base where we will be living at I think the Support Site is where the apartments are, what’s the shopping areas look and everything and off Post.

Best answer:

Answer by justdavesplace
Alot of smelly people who dont shower.
Italians, French, Brits, Germans, they all could take a good lesson from Americans regarding personal hygiene.

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Question by T21: Anyone know where i can find Italian to Napoletano (dialect of Naples Italy) dictionary? Ive looked everywhere
Looking for an actual dictionary, in the form of a book (not an online site) of Italian (or english) to Napoletano and vise versa. I found one of Sicilian to English but can’t find this one. I’ve looked in bookstores and on Amazon etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Best answer:

Answer by Little_Italy80
Finding these sort of dictionaries are not easy, especially if you’re overseas and not here in Italy.
Anyway here are some books that may be useful (actually there are many others) but I have no idea how you’re going to order them:

Andreoli Raffaele,
Vocabolario napoletano – italiano.
In 8°; pp. 476.
Napoli, IGEI, 1998.
Euro 30,00

Argenziano Salvatore
‘A Lengua Turrese.
In 8°; pp. 160.
Torre del Greco (NA), Nunzio Russo Editore, 2004
Euro 10,00
Grammatica e dizionario torrese con 8 racconti inediti in lingua turrese.

Brunetti Salvatore
Scrivere il dialetto napoletano.
Saggio per una grammatica dialettale.
In 8°; pp. 223
Napoli, 2000
Euro 20,00

D’Ambra Raffaele
Vocabolario napolitano – toscano domestico di arti e mestieri.
Ristampa anastatica, Napoli 1873.
Ed. rilegata in tela; in 8° grosso; pp. 574.
Sala Bolognese (Bo), Forni.
Euro 58,00

D’Ascoli Francesco
Dizionario dei sinonimi e dei contrari del dialetto napoletano.
In 16°; pp. 215
Napoli, Gallina, 2002
Euro 16,00

D’Ascoli Francesco.
Letteratura dialettale napoletana. Due volumi.
Volume I: Storia
Volume II: Testi
In 8°; pp. 724 complessive; in cofanetto
Napoli, Gallina, 1996
Euro 31,00

D’Ascoli Francesco
Lingua Spagnola e Dialetto Napoletano.
Con un discorso introduttivo di Antonio Altamura.
Seconda edizione ampliata.
In 8°; pp. 173.
Napoli, A. Gallina, 2003
Euro 14,00

D’Ascoli Francesco,
Nuovo vocabolario dialettale napoletano.
Repertorio completo delle voci, approfondimenti etimologici, fonti letterarie, locuzioni tipiche.
Presentazione di Nicola De Blasi
In 8°; edizione rilegata; pp. 866.
Napoli, Gallina, 1993
Euro 41,32

D’Ascoli Francesco
Rimario della Poesia Napoletana.
In 16°; pp. 194
Napoli, Gallina, 2001
Euro 10,33

De Blasi Nicola
Campania.
Collana: Profili linguistici delle Regioni – a cura di Alberto A. Sobrero.
In 8°; pp. 130; glossario.
Bari, Laterza, 2003
Euro 7,75

De Blasi Nicola e Imperatore Luigi,
Il Napoletano parlato e scritto.
Con note di grammatica storica. Nuova edizione.
In 16°; pp. 236.
Napoli, Dante & Descartes, 2000
Euro 12,40

De Falco Renato
Alfabeto Napoletano.
Edizione rilegata con sovraccoperta, dimensioni: cm. 21 x 14 ; pp. 655.
Napoli, Colonnese, ottobre 2002
Euro 48,00

De Falco Renato,
Del parlar napoletano.
Manualetto per tutti.
In 8°; pp. 166.
Napoli, Colonnese, 2000
Attualmente non disponibile

De Frede Carlo
Lessico napoletano e memoria storica.
In 16°; pp. 99; 15 illustrazioni.
Napoli, A. De Frede, 1995
Euro 13,45

Greco Maria Teresa,
I vagabondi, il gergo, i posteggiatori.
Dizionario napoletano della parlesia.
In 8°; pp. 164; ill.to.
Napoli, ESI, 1997
Euro 12,91

Imperatore Luigi,
Appunti sul dialetto napoletano.
In 8°; pp. 133; intonso.
Napoli, A. Berisio, s.d.
Euro 15,49

Iandolo Antonio
Parlare e scrivere in dialetto napoletano.
In 8°; pp. 342.
Napoli, Tempolungo, 2001
Euro 15,50

Iandolo Carlo,
‘A lengua ‘e Pulecenella.
Grammatica napoletana.
In 8°; pp. 288.
Sorrento (Na), Di Mauro, 1994
Euro 18,10

Iandolo Carlo
Dizionario Etimologico Napoletano
In 8°; in cofanetto; pp. 373.
Napoli, Cuzzulin, novembre 2003
Euro 17,50

Lingue e Culture dell’Italia Meridionale (1200 – 1600).
A cura di Paolo Trovato, con una bibliografia delle edizioni di testi meridionali antichi (1861 – 1914) a cura di Lida Maria Gonelli.
In 8°; pp. 600.
Roma, Bonacci, 1993
Euro 41,32

Longone Giuliano e Martini M. Stelio,
Cronologia della letteratura napoletana.
In 8°; pp. 171.
Napoli, Tempolungo, 1999
Euro 12,39

Martorana Pietro,
Notizie biografiche e bibliografiche degli scrittori del dialetto napoletano.
Ristampa anastatica, Napoli 1874
Ed. rilegata in tela; in 8° grosso; pp. 488.
Sala Bolognese (Bo), Forni.
Euro 46,00

Marulli Giacomo e Livigni Vincenzo
Guida pratica del dialetto napoletano o sia spiegazione in lingua toscana della mimica di alcune frasi e delle voci dei venditori e scene comiche dei costumi napoletani.
Ristampa anastatica, Napoli, 1877
In 16°; pp. 71.
Sala Bolognese, (BO), Forni.
Euro 12,40

Mery Guglielmo,
Quadro cronologico dal 1200 a’ nostri giorni degli scrittori in dialetto napoletano.
Ristampa anastatica, Napoli 1879.
In 16°; pp. 63.
Cosenza, Brenner.
Euro 9,30

Oliveri Aldo
Grammatica lessigrafica della vera lingua napoletana.
In 8°; pp. 249.
Napoli, Napoli Viva, 2004
Euro 12,00

Parascandola Vittorio
Vefio.
Folk – glossario del dialetto procidano.
Prefazione di Mario Stefanile.
In 8°; edizione rilegata con sovraccoperta; pp. 307; 22 figure in b/n.
Napoli, Arturo Berisio, 1976.
Euro 40,00
copia unica

Rotondo Antonio
Vocabolario Italiano – Napoletano.
Prefazione di Renato De Falco
In 8°; pp. XVI – 373
Napoli, T. Pironti, 2001
Euro 29,96

Tilgher Ardiana
La Poesia dialettale napoletana 1880 – 1930.
Nuova ristampa con notizie bio-bibliografiche a cura di Laurentino Garcia y Garcia.
In 8°; pp. XX – 108; ritratto dell’A.
Roma, 2001
Euro 15,49

Volpe Pietro Paolo
Vocabolario napolitano – italiano.
Ristampa anastatica, Napoli 1869.
Ed. rilegata in tela; in 16°; pp. 493.
Sala Bolognese (Bo), Forni.
Euro 39,00

Ciao!

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Question by rdooley271: Is there a particular wine famous to the region of naples, italy?

Best answer:

Answer by Eccentric_One
Yes, it comes from Vesuvius, the volcano region and it’s called Lacryma. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art24322.asp

By the way, I tried it there and I didn’t like it. When you buy a bottle, buy a pricer one or just buy wines from northern italy, they are much better.

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Question by StatenIsland:)redrover: my family comes from naples italy i want to know who comes from naples?
i am just curious about the country my ancestors came from and about the history the landscape plz help me

Best answer:

Answer by ANGELofMUSIC
hi i am italian but not Neapolitan
i come from Palermo in Sicily
how , I can tell you that Naples is a city rich in history and beautiful places
There you ever gone?
I have been there ever but from what I see on television is a beautiful city
Sometimes it is bad things happen
But after all the bad things happening everywhere
Kisses

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Question by Meep Meeper: Is there sharks in rome, florence or naples, Italy?
Im going to Italy this summer and I am REALLY scared of sharks and i really wanted to know just in case.

Best answer:

Answer by soccerluver7
Nope

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Question by jenny: What should I do in Naples, Italy?
I only have one day in Naples, Italy, while I’m on a cruise. What should I do while I’m there?

Best answer:

Answer by K.Ro
There’s a small but interesting museum with Cristo Velato, and petrified human bodies of a chemistry experiment gone wrong. You may have to ask the locals where it is (just say, “Cristo Velato?” with an Italian accent). Also, a visit to Pompeii is pretty standard, as is one to Capri, if you’re not already going there on your cruise. I’ve heard the “egg” Castle (don’t remember the word for ‘egg’ in Italian) is nice, but I wasn’t able to see the inside when I was there.

One day is enough in Naples, have fun!

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Question by bddylan: How far is L’aquila, Italy from Naples, Italy?

Best answer:

Answer by Vincenzo
300 km (road)

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Question by Bigbears Wife: Naples, Italy…….what is it like..might be moving there?
Naples, Italy…….what is it like..might be moving there?
My husband is in the military and we might pick orders to Naples, Italy. But i’d love to get more information about actaully living there and what all is there…good and bad….i’ve looked at a few books and sites but i was wondering if anyone has any other information. Thanks

Best answer:

Answer by Time travler
The main thing that I remember about Naples, Italy are the insane drivers. Lots of people drive those vespa scooters like a bunch of maniacs, cutting right in front of you and weaving in and out. They were the craziest drivers I have ever seen and that includes driving in L.A., California.

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Question by me: What is the scenery like on a train between Naples and Reggio Di Calabria (or somewhere near) in Italy?
I was wondering if you see a lot of the scenery of southern Italy on a train between Naples and Reggio di Calabria or somewhere where i can catch a ferry to Sicily.

Best answer:

Answer by lara
Rocky coasts

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