After visiting five different European countries Melissa and I were just starting to feel like confident, experienced, European travelers.  Then, from June 18th to 21st, we visited southern Italy.  Even though the Italian border at Mont Blanc is visible from Lausanne on a clear day, we soon found out Italian culture is much different than that of its northern neighbor.

Our excuse for visiting was that my cousin Sam is living in Naples working for the U.S. Navy.  When he accepted the job he let everyone in the family know that if we visit, he could show us around.  His parents (Jim and Lee), girlfriend (Marianne), and Melissa and I took him up on the offer and collaborated to visit at the same time.

On Thursday our plane was scheduled to leave at 1 p.m.  But, perhaps because its destination was Naples, it was running on a more laid back schedule. At 2 p.m. our flight left Geneva, and when we landed in Naples a little before 4 p.m., where we too switched to a laid back schedule.  Sam’s office is near the airport and he offered to give us a ride to our hotel, but he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to leave.  Not knowing how long we’d have to wait we grabbed a drink at a cafe near the airport, and a little after 4:30 p.m. Sam showed up.

Italian driving is an adventure in organized chaos.  Our hotel was in the suburb of Pozzouli, 12 miles from the airport.  The first driving segment, from the airport to freeway, had modern looking, straight, wide roads, but still required attentive driving.  We saw pedestrians and left-turning vehicles cross where ever and whenever they wanted, and cars double parked blocking a lane of traffic.  The freeway, called the “Autostrade” in Italian, was modern and similar to freeways in the rest of the world, except for the occasional sight of a tiny scooter sharing the road with us.  While driving on the freeway Sam let us know that no one follows the speed limits in Italy.  If you’re not driving 10 or 20 km/hr over the posted limited you’ll get angry tailgating Italians honking at you.  When we exited the freeway in Pozzouli we entered roads with huge potholes and a maze of narrow one way streets, but everyone still drove fast and sometimes didn’t even worry about stop signs.  And I thought it looked hard to drive in Switzerland!

At the hotel the first thing we noticed, while walking from the parking lot to check in, was the amazing view of the Mediterranean.  Our hotel was inexpensive, even by rural Minnesota standards,  but it had the million dollar view.  From the hotel’s huge terrace the view was made up of colorful seaside buildings, that gave way to the harbor, and off on the horizon the isle of Capri and the beginning of the Amalfi coast were visible.

We picked our hotel because it’s where Sam has been living since he arrived, as well as where Jim and Lee booked a room.  Shortly after finding our room, we found Jim and Lee. They filled us in on the news from America, and also filled us in on the awesome cheap price they paid for groceries just down the street.  It turned out to be a common theme in Italy that all the prices were even lower than what we would find in the US.  After settling in, we went for a walk to check out the city, stopping first at a bakery down the street.  Everyone picked out a pastry and I’m fairly confident the price would be at least 10 francs in Switzerland, but I was dumbfounded to find out the price there was only 3 euros.

Our walk took us along roads without sidewalks, past old pottied bellied men playing cards, down to the waterfront. Along the way we saw stray cats and dogs, some buildings in disrepair, and learned why we use the Italian word ‘graffiti.’

In the main square of Pozzouli we sat down for drinks at a cafe.  Sam told us the favorite local drink is called a spritz, so we all ordered one along with ordering a mozzarella and prosciutto plate for the table.  The drink was sweet and fruity and went well on a hot summer evening.  The mozzarella was the special local variety called “mozzarella di bufala”  I was skeptical that I would be able to taste a difference from normal bland mozzarella, but I was proved wrong.  The cheese had texture, juiciness, and an actual flavor – definitely worth trying if you make it to Italy.  As we sipped on our drinks the waiter also brought us appetizers we didn’t order, and didn’t have to pay for.  Sam says this is common practice in Italy.  We had bruschetta, peanuts, crackers, chips, and whole fresh olives all brought out for free.

For dinner we left the cafe to find a favorite pizzeria of Sam’s.  We ordered three margarita pizzas (sauce, mozzarella, and basil) all of course in the Neapolitan style, and the price to carry out was just 3 euros a piece.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a grocery store to buy wine, and for 1 euro got a bottle filled by the owner from a cask in the back of the store.  We ate on the hotel terrace chatting away until dark, while enjoying the view, breeze, and sunset.

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