Napoli then Home🍕

Our hike had ended but Keeley and I had one more full day in Naples before flying home the following day. We were dropped off at the central train station and we headed back to the same hotel we stayed at for two nights pre hike - the Ibis Styles. Located just two short blocks from the train station which makes it very convenient and a recommendation from Rick Steves. Not fancy but very clean, comfortable, affordable and pretty quiet. They have a nice optional breakfast with lots of great food (and an amazing coffee machine) for just 9 Euros per person per day. The area around the train station is often described as gritty, but we never felt unsafe and we weren’t expecting that there would be an abundance of things to do, see and eat right around there. Also we didn’t plan to be out late at night - things to take into consideration. So for us it was great.

We didn’t have anything in particular we were planning to do that day. A little shopping and our last amazing pizza was all that was on my list. The weather was nice so we headed down to Naples Bay and decided to then loop up into the Spanish quarter for shopping and lunch. We really enjoyed the area and found it to be vibrant and authentic. From my reading it appears to have undergone a positive change recently and become kind of a hot spot for tourists and considered safe. It was very busy so my one caution as always is just to be mindful of your wallet or purse. Good advice wherever you are. There is a main street that runs perpendicular to the bay that is full of shops and restaurants but then lots of little streets that intersect the main street with an abundance of more shops and restaurants. We strolled around and then just randomly picked a spot for lunch that looked like a good choice. It did not disappoint. Is it possible to get a bad pizza in Naples? The wall of pictures was our view from the restaurant. The soccer team from Naples is United FC and the locals are rabid fans and their pictures, jerseys, statues and shrines are everywhere. The restaurant we were eating at had a life sized statue of Maradona and I wasn’t sure they were going to serve us when we admitted we didn’t know much (or really anything) about him. We shared a fresh green salad and delicious margarita pizza.

Sitting next to us at lunch was a nice couple from Holland. We started chatting and they had lots of questions for us about the US. They were heading to the Amalfi coast and we told them we had just left that same area and were pretty tired. The woman very sweetly said well the Italians have perfected the art of doing nothing so maybe consider that an option for the afternoon. What great advice! We had been up and out and hiking for 10 days so relaxing sounded so good. We decided to work our way back to the hotel stopping off here and there for shopping and one last scoop of gelato. Then spent a couple of hours relaxing on our beds. I might have even dozed off for 20 or 30 minutes.

We did a bit of organizing for the journey home, took another walk around before heading to dinner. Another Rick Steves recommendation not too far from our hotel. He has never given me a bad steer and this time was no exception. He said it was a restaurant full of locals and that appeared to be the case. We got there right when it opened at 7PM (like many places in Europe restaurants open later - 7 or 7:30 or even sometimes 8PM). We were seated right away but that table pictured right next to us was filled a minute later. We weren’t super hungry and decided to share an appetizer and entree - getting back to our normal amount of food. For the appetizer we ordered the ricotta with tomato jam and nuts and the entree was ziti with red and yellow tomatoes and pecorino cheese. Both were fantastic. The ricotta was so smooth it was perfect to spread on the amazing bread. A successful last meal in Italy.

Goodbye Napoli and Amalfi coast! We were up early and headed to the train station to catch the Alibus back to the airport. Off first to Dublin and then connecting to the USA.

I also wanted to post a picture of the hotel we stayed at in Vico our first four nights of the hike. Hotel Aequa was a very pretty hotel in a great location in the little town of Vico Equense just up the coast from Sorrento. If you are looking for a quiet less expensive option then some of the trendier locations or plan to be driving in a car this hotel does have a garage which is not always the case. The town had some nice restaurants and shops and a very local feel. Also a small beach and marina.

This was the view from our room.

This trip was as close to perfection as possible for me. I was experiencing it with my favorite female and everything went according to plan with zero issues. The weather was great except for a tiny bit of rain for a few hours one afternoon. It didn’t stop any of our plans. We walked according to my calculations a bit over 84 miles which was important since it felt like we were consuming way more than our normal amount of food which either way would have been fine since it was all fantastic. If someone ever tries to tell me there is a tastier tomato anywhere in the world I will just firmly say that’s not possible - end of discussion. Keeley and I lost count on how many cappuccinos we had throughout the trip. There might have been a few consumed after 10AM - sorry Federico! I think it was my best packing job ever. We wore every single thing we brought and always felt we had everything we needed. We picked the most clean clothes to wear home. Our toes have been in the Mediterranean. 🥰

This trip was on my list for quite sometime and it exceeded my high expectations. If you have something on your list I hope you make it happen too. Jump while you can! Arrivederci for now🩷