First things first: my disclaimer.
Originally, I wanted to travel somewhere in southern France to sunbathe by a beach near some rocky cliff. I was reminded on different occasions how the French do not like Americans and I realized (even if this wasn’t true) I didn’t want experience it in the slightest. I directed my attention to Italy. I imagined Sicily would have been perfect for relaxation and solitude. This was supposed to be a “do nothing” kind of vacation. Only the bare minimum so I could reset. But then I wondered when I’d come back to Europe and my plans completely went haywire. I was trying to figure out how many cities I can see within five days. I started out with six. Which dwindled down to four… then eventually one. Somehow, someway I landed in Naples. I was aiming for warmth and rich culture but Naples didn’t really scream “rest and restore”.
Nevertheless, I still found a few things to help me enjoy my time there.
Pizza Making
This is the first Airbnb Experience I signed up for! I was a bit hesitant at first but I thought “what could go wrong?”. I walked about 11 minutes from my Airbnb to the meeting point. I was pleased it wasn’t too far away. Everyone waited about 20 minutes before our host appeared. There had to be a total of 15 people in attendance. My group consisted of five people including myself for the English tutorial. We learned about the history of pizza and the ingredients used. Our host was pretty clever and he made sure we were paying attention. Everyone paired up to get hands on for the dough making process. I was paired with a woman from California. I wish I was solo; that’s the one thing I regret about this. Forced conversation makes me cringe and I imagine she felt the same way. After we made the dough, we placed it in a tray for tomorrow’s group to use (which means we would use the dough that was created yesterday). Before we began the second phase, we enjoyed a couple appetizers: bruschetta and arancini. I had a huge appetite at this point and the arancini was new to me and tasted amazing! Once we were finished we started to form our dough into pizzas. We added tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil. We all got place out pizzas in the brick oven. Now, when I tell you it was hot… I mean it was unbelievably sweltering. I’m 100% sure us being back there was a safety hazard. Nevertheless, I was glad I got to experience this.
Oh! And my pizza turned out perfect. It was the prettiest pizza of them all.
I still had plenty of day left over after my pizza making was complete. I figured I would head back to my Airbnb so that I could rest a little bit but on my way there I was stopped. A man, maybe seven years my senior with cute round glasses and curly hair towered over me. He asked me if I needed help and if I was lost. I said no that I knew where I was going and he asked me what I was holding in my hand. I felt wary (you can’t ever be too careful) so I took a small step back. I showed him that I just finished a pizza making class and I realized how naïve I was. I pretty much just told this man that I’m a tourist. I took another step back. He looked at my certificate and expressed what appeared to be genuine congratulations to me. That made me smile. I’m not sure if he was teasing. He asked for my name and where I was from. He offered to help me find my Airbnb but I said it’s OK and reminded him I know how to get back. He offered to grab a cup of coffee and I thought that was so sweet. But I was not comfortable doing so. I think you can never be too careful. This person did nothing alarming. I was either a bit paranoid or I sensed that something just wasn’t right. He let me know that he thought I was cute and he wished me a great time in Italy. I express my gratitude and I wished him farewell.
Let’s assume he wasn’t a bad guy? The way he approached me and started conversation felt different from what I’m use to back at home. There’s usually a feeling of dread if a man is coming toward me with interest. The conversation isn’t as organic at home. I didn’t endure cat calling and this man wasn’t undressing me with his eyes. The approach and light conversation was just easy. Don’t get me wrong, he could easily have been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But I expect to be approached by wolves more times than not.
Street Food Tour
Before we dive into this, I need you to have low expectations regarding my memory. I did not remember the names of everything I tried during this tour but I can show you pictures and perhaps you can remind me what I sampled? Overall, the food tour was a nice experience because not only did we get to try local food but our guide also showed us different landmarks in the area so the tour was a 2-in-1. The first thing I tried was fresh mozzarella that came from a buffalo. The mozzarella was wet and did not have any flavor. The second thing we sampled was pizza. The first pizza ever made and “wallet pizza“. Now, the first pizza was the same as the pizza I made the day before. Which I wasn’t entirely crazy about. I love American pizza. The wallet pizza was interesting… I believe it was mozzarella and ricotta cheese but the whole thing was fried. Something Americans know plenty about 🙂 The concept was interesting but I didn’t finish it because it was bland. The next thing we tried was the star from yesterday! Arancini. It was pasta with cheese and meat balled up with the crust around it and fried and it was so savory and just absolutely amazing. I am salivating right now thinking about it. It was the best thing I tasted while I was in Italy. Our next stop was for desserts. The first item was something like a rum cake it was quite light in flavor despite its appearance. The second item was a flaky kind of cake with powdered sugar on it. I expected that to be richer but this was also fairly light. I was pleased to have a dessert that wasn’t over powering me with sugar. However, I learned all the sugar I was expecting in the cakes was very much present in the limoncello shots. Those things were outrageously sweet and strong! I decided not to finish mine.
Now the last night was a surprise for me because I do not remember reading this in the itinerary. We made our way over to a gelato shop and I was able to order my affogato. This is my favorite dessert and one of few ways I’ll consume coffee. I loved watching it being made I was highly pleased with this being my nightcap. The tour continued on but I had to walk back to my Airbnb by myself and I didn’t want it to be too dark so I went ahead and I left for the evening.
Boat Tour
Looking back I probably wouldn’t have done this again but I’ll share why I enjoyed this experience, first. I got to sail a boat all on my own! Well… kind of. The sailor was still there keeping an eye out but I did learn how to sail or at least learned how to keep the boat in the right direction. And the view was so beautiful. The water was gorgeous and the geography right by the water was breathtaking it was a beautiful day! The sun was out and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. (I have an awkward tan on my ankles to prove it).
I never sailed a boat before! The only thing that would’ve made it better was if I was either completely on my own or had a friend with me because it was just me and the sailor out on the water. And that’s just not something that I would encourage women who travels alone to do. I was never in danger there were moments of discomfort and a little bit of awkwardness but at the end the day it wasn’t horrible. I can tell that the sailor was very comfortable talking a certain way with women and that part is what made it 2.5 star experience. Also I got a little seasick on our way back because we were going against the wave so we were rocking more. Also the sailor hit someone else’s boat as we were docking back in so that was awkward but other than that I had a pretty decent time out there on the water.
All in all, I did challenge myself by coming out here. I’m not sure if I would choose to go on this vacation again if I had a chance to do it over just because I was in a weird headspace and I would’ve rather relaxed by the beach near a beautiful view instead of in Naples but that doesn’t mean that the city doesn’t have much to offer it just means that I didn’t plan this out the right way and that Naples isn’t really for me. But that’s just something I’ve learned– every vacation isn’t going to be outstanding but you can still take away good moments.
Zaira Viteria 