NAPLES, ITALY
The bustling southern Italian city of Naples may at first seem chaotic, but visitors quickly fall under the spell of this underappreciated gem and its rich artistic heritage. Naples is quintessential Mediterranean Italy, and as a region, it’s famous for its delicious tomatoes and outstanding mozzarella cheese, so it’s not surprising that it’s also the undisputed “home of the pizza.”
A sprawling city of dramatic contrasts, Naples displays its regal past in the shape of impressive castles and magnificent palaces erected by Spanish and Bourbon rulers from the 16th to the 19th centuries. But the city is best known for a more ancient event – the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Still visible across the waters of the Bay of Naples, the volcano submerged the neighboring Roman city of Pompeii in yards of ash and debris, wiping out its entire population. Amazingly, the narrow streets of the historic heart of modern-day Naples still correspond to an ancient Greek-Roman grid. In this maze, life spills out into the public domain – people call to each other from windows, scooters zoom along doing their best to dodge pedestrians, and minuscule shops, neighborhood churches, and cafés juggle for precious space. Just as in centuries past, a lot of eating takes place outside, with food bought from open-air stands and glassfronted kiosks displaying tempting wares. The vast array of “fast” street food includes sweet and savory treats, from sugary doughnuts and crispy chunks of potato to fried arancini rice balls stuffed with minced meat. There’s even fried wrap-over pizza, though this oil-drenched snack is not to everyone’s liking. Originally fare for the poor, pizza has long been the flagship of Italian cuisine across the world. There are countless fanciful international toppings, but the most famous pizza of all is the classic Margherita. Invented by Neapolitan chef Raffaello Esposito in 1889 to honor a visiting Italian queen and the recently unified nation, it features the colors of the nation’s flag: white (cheese), red (locally grown San Marzano tomatoes), and green (basil). Today, pizza marinara is a close favorite, its anchovies jostling for attention among black olives, garlic, and sometimes capers. Without a doubt, the best place to enjoy a pizza is at one of the numerous family-run pizzerias in Naples, which fill the air with an irresistible fragrance of sizzling mozzarella and fresh San Marzano tomatoes bubbling under a drizzle of Campania olive oil and a sprinkling of native oregano. Whatever the topping, there is complete agreement on how the pizza is to be consumed – immediately and on the spot.

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