DAY 50 – The Birthplace of PIZZA!

May 8 - 3 nights in Naples (Napoli) with Lillie, my HS music friend

When I heard that a high school friend of mine was teaching school on a military base near Naples, I got in contact with her and she invited us to stay in her spacious home. 

Lillie's sweet dog named ???  (I forgot)

 We had so much fun reminiscing and as she was driving us around with her cute dog, I wondered if she remembered a song “I Thank You God” by Lloyd Pfautsch from our All-State Choir days in 1968. I started singing it and she immediately chimed in with her alto part. We both remembered the whole thing...very cool!

Lillie in her Military Music Room - she's been teaching for over 40 years and still loves it!

Lillie showed us her music room with all of the Orff instruments and more. Too bad Idaho public schools don't have such education in the arts.

"Each individual is like a single note...Together we create a Masterpiece."

 I got a chance to play on her old grand piano and also listen to Lillie play.  (BOO!  I didn't get a picture of her house or her grand piano - what was I thinking?)  I was always envious in school of how well she played. It was good to hear her again. We enjoyed some meals at her beautiful home that the US government allows as part of her benefits.

Lillie served us some yummy things when we arrived!

The famous Italian Bruschetta that we loved, of course!

The 2nd night, we picked up some rotissiere chicken to go along with left-over potluck from Teacher Appreciation Day at her school

We had a lot of different foods that parents had brought and the teachers divided up afterwards.

Lillie and I remember many things about our days in school - especially the choir classes.

For our last night together, we got pizza in a local restaurant - Scrumptious!!

 I had an enjoyable time visiting with her about good old Broomfield High School and actually speaking to an American for a change.

The area where she is staying is actually where Mozarella cheese began and is very famous for it. 

We went to a factory and watched it being rolled into balls – it was so so so GOOD! ...and the olives she bought were the best I'd ever tasted. It's hard to describe the taste. My mouth waters for them as I write this!

They keep the mozarella in balls and leave it in water until it is bought.

We had a little time in Naples before going to Lillie's home. There is much history here and of course – the birth of Pizza came from Napoli! 

The history of pizza begins in Napoli

 In 16th century Naples, a Galette flatbread was referred to as a pizza. A dish of the poor people, it was sold in the street and was not considered a kitchen recipe for a long time.  An oft-recounted story holds that in June 1889, to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Marcherita of Savoy, the Neapolitan pizzamaker Raffaele Esposito created the "Pizza Margherita," a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, to represent the colors of the Italian flag.

 Napoli has turned into the most important transportation hub of southern Italy.  It is also famous for its Camorra, a Mafia-type of criminal organization.  This is one of the largest and oldest, dating back to the 18th century.  (It may be as early as the 16th century).  Lillie says it is VERY real!  The Camorra families team up with the police and the politicians for real problems everywhere...sex slavery, drug trafficking, and much more. One huge problem is the waste disposal.  Evidently, the Mafia gangs control the dump, the waste transport, and everything having to do with waste disposal.  But...they are not doing anything with it so there is trash everywhere and causing real health problems.  

This is a common site on the streets

 Take a look at some of the photos we took of the old city of Naples.

The long street to shop was the BEST, but we had backpacks on and only a little time to explore, so we'll have to come back someday.

 

GELATO...it's the best!

 Maybe Nutella!!

Nutella® spread, in its earliest form, was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. At the time, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing.

So Mr. Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy (northwest), to extend the chocolate supply.  It was introduced to the market in 1964. 

Famous for their wooden spoons

...and their Hot Peppers

So many fun shops - I could have explored all afternoon

There are water taps all over Italian cities - we filled up our water bottles from them.

This group of students practiced their English on us and asked us many questions.  One was, "Where are you from?"  I told them to guess - "California, New York, Florida, Washington (they meant D.C.) were some of their guesses.  When I told them they would never guess, they began naming other states.  I finally told them.  Only about 2% of Europeans have even  heard of Idaho!  HA!

Napoli (Naples) they say is like a "beautiful woman with dirty feet."  - mmm....take that how you'd like, but we managed to be in the Naples area for 3 days and thoroughly enjoyed it.