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At 10:05, Giacomo from Naples Flegreo Rotary Club picked us up and we took a cab down to the historic district of Naples, where we met Alessandro, our English-speaking guide. We met at the Jesuit Square, which contains an obelisk which depicts the life of the Virgin Mary. Fittingly, there is a Jesuit church in this square and this was our first stop. It used to be a palace.
Inside the church, there is a room dedicated to Giuseppe Moscati, a Neapolitan doctor who cured many sick people in the city and was later sanctified. In this room, the walls are lined with silver ornaments indicating the parts of the body that San Giuseppe healed for each person. It’s breathtaking to see all of them on the wall. We went to see another section of the church with wooden busts of saints on each wall. It was then that “the incident” happened. In a brave attempt to capture these busts on film, Nick innocently took a picture of the area. However, his flash went off and alerted the church guard of his wrongdoing. The guard not told him not to take pictures in the church but she now became aware of Jane's and Martina’s exposed shoulders. You are not allowed to have exposed shoulders in a Catholic church. Jane luckily had a sweater to put on, but Martina thought her capped sleeves would have been sufficient. The woman in the church did not agree so we were all asked to leave.
We went to the church of Santa Chiara, which was totally destroyed by bombs in WWII and was rebuilt in its original gothic style. Attached to the church was a beautiful cloistered garden with frescoes on the walls and a huge atrium garden adorned with elegant majolica tile pillars, benches and walls. This area was originally designed for the nuns because they lived there and could only go outside if it was in the cloister.
We continued to visit some more beautiful churches and cloisters (Sant’Angelo a Nilo, Monasterio di San Gregorio Armeno, Piomonte della Misercordia). After a very spiritual morning, we ate lunch at a very famous pizzeria, Anticha Pizzeria e Friggitoria di Matteo. Why is it famous? Because Bill Clinton ate pizza here when he was president! We ate a large plate of fried appetizers before the pizza came out. While we were waiting for our food, a local accordionist came in and tried to serenade us into giving him some money. With some help from Giacomo and Alessandro, we successfully shooed him away.
Next, we headed to San Paolo Maggiore church, which had two ancient Greek columns in its structure. There were originally 8 but an earthquake destroyed 6 of them. Giacomo invited us to his house and we all fell in love with his house and his view of the sea. He told us that he had designed his whole house and that his father was a very famous chief of police. Giacomo was a great host. We had some drinks and came back to Denza.
Once “home,” we took a small walk around the area and bought some snacks and drinks. Then, we took a cab to Caffé Gambrinus for dinner with Rotary Club Naples Flegreo. This coffee house was the main meeting place for Neapolitan artists, musicians and writers in the 19th century and is quite likely the place where many of the most popular songs of Naples were composed. After dinner, we headed back to Denza for a relatively early night.
Thank you and good night.
Inside the church, there is a room dedicated to Giuseppe Moscati, a Neapolitan doctor who cured many sick people in the city and was later sanctified. In this room, the walls are lined with silver ornaments indicating the parts of the body that San Giuseppe healed for each person. It’s breathtaking to see all of them on the wall. We went to see another section of the church with wooden busts of saints on each wall. It was then that “the incident” happened. In a brave attempt to capture these busts on film, Nick innocently took a picture of the area. However, his flash went off and alerted the church guard of his wrongdoing. The guard not told him not to take pictures in the church but she now became aware of Jane's and Martina’s exposed shoulders. You are not allowed to have exposed shoulders in a Catholic church. Jane luckily had a sweater to put on, but Martina thought her capped sleeves would have been sufficient. The woman in the church did not agree so we were all asked to leave.
We went to the church of Santa Chiara, which was totally destroyed by bombs in WWII and was rebuilt in its original gothic style. Attached to the church was a beautiful cloistered garden with frescoes on the walls and a huge atrium garden adorned with elegant majolica tile pillars, benches and walls. This area was originally designed for the nuns because they lived there and could only go outside if it was in the cloister.
We continued to visit some more beautiful churches and cloisters (Sant’Angelo a Nilo, Monasterio di San Gregorio Armeno, Piomonte della Misercordia). After a very spiritual morning, we ate lunch at a very famous pizzeria, Anticha Pizzeria e Friggitoria di Matteo. Why is it famous? Because Bill Clinton ate pizza here when he was president! We ate a large plate of fried appetizers before the pizza came out. While we were waiting for our food, a local accordionist came in and tried to serenade us into giving him some money. With some help from Giacomo and Alessandro, we successfully shooed him away.
Next, we headed to San Paolo Maggiore church, which had two ancient Greek columns in its structure. There were originally 8 but an earthquake destroyed 6 of them. Giacomo invited us to his house and we all fell in love with his house and his view of the sea. He told us that he had designed his whole house and that his father was a very famous chief of police. Giacomo was a great host. We had some drinks and came back to Denza.
Once “home,” we took a small walk around the area and bought some snacks and drinks. Then, we took a cab to Caffé Gambrinus for dinner with Rotary Club Naples Flegreo. This coffee house was the main meeting place for Neapolitan artists, musicians and writers in the 19th century and is quite likely the place where many of the most popular songs of Naples were composed. After dinner, we headed back to Denza for a relatively early night.
Thank you and good night.
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