Monday, March 11. Naples

Yeah, I'm sick. Lol. I figure that I'm coming back to Naples one day so missing out on Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii is okay if it means resting and making sure the rest of the trip isn't jeopardized.

I had breakfast at my hotel and went back to sleep. I woke and realized that in my excitement, I had forgotten to do the remainder of my laundry when I had first arrived to Naples. I went ahead and got that done and finally headed out of my hotel room early in the night.

I got some pizza with bread crumbs, mashed potatoes, and ham. Really good but super filling. Felt like a waste not being able to finish most of it but fuck ittt.

I continued galavanting around Naples. I've noticed a couple of things. Naples might beat out Manila for the city with drivers who are able to maneuver in tight spaces. These Neapolitans will make any car or motorcycle fit in a 10 foot wide street, even with a shitload of people walking about.

I'm here during Carnival so a lot of the museums are free to enter. I went to a couple but I'm not a huge museum guy so I only went to ones that I ran into during my walks. I didn't really plan on going to any of them.

I was hanging out in front of Castel Nuovo when a random dude came up to me and asked me questions in Italian. Some woman was with him and she greeted me as well. I couldn't understand them but I knew right away that this was a scam. I heard something about using my phone and him giving me €1 to use it. Apparently the lady had an emergency and they really needed to use it.

I've seen scams like these before. Stuff like street merchants trying to sell you bracelets and being so pushy that they put the bracelet on you. Gypsies who will do anything to scam you out of money.

In these situations you gotta just walk away. Some people (especially Americans) get annoyed when people touch them but you gotta just understand that that's how things are out here. If you walk away they'll give up eventually.

I wanted to try some svogliatella, this pastry that Naples is known for. I passed as couple of places that didn't have any more svogliatella before I ended up at Gran Caffe Gambrinus, some famous place. It's overpriced but not by a ridiculous amount. I FaceTimed my family because it's my dad's bday. That was nice.

My hotel has a park area right across the street. I chilled and people watched before finding a pizzeria that was showing the Roma-Empoli game.

My train to Florence doesn't leave until 10:30AM tomorrow so I don't have to rush to get ready like I have for the other train rides over taken for this trip. And the ride isn't as long as I'm used to on this trip, at a little less than 3 hours. I'm hyped to see Michelangelo's David. I'm hyped to see the sunset, which is supposed to be world class.