Napoli Beats

There are two kinds of people.

1. Those who will happily wait in a queue for hours to eat at a really famous restaurant/eatery.
2. Those who will stand in a queue for a bit, start wondering if the food in question is really worth the wait, are tempted to look extra carefully at the folks coming out of the eatery to guage if they have that postdivinegrub smile and body language on, and most times walk away when the wait extends beyond half an hour.
   I am quintessentially the 2nd.

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Naples, is perhaps the only exception.
We waited outside it for 94 minutes!
For one, we reached at the worst time- 1 PM, when the serpentine queues were the longest in the day- but I hadn’t seen a single place yet which was even slightly tempting. More importantly, the Michele boys giving out table coupons were clear about the time it would take to a table, so we could step away for an Aperol spritz and aperitivos in the meantime.
Michele is one of the oldest pizzerias in Naples, and perhaps the most famous in Italy. It’s fame (not only because of Julia Robert’s movie Eat Pray Love) has driven locals, tourists, royalty, famous movie and sport folks to it’s door for their iconic pizzas since 1870. In Maradona-obsessed Naples, Michele’s proudly displays table number 10, where he sat.
It doesn’t take long to make your choice: the only two pizzas served are the Marinara (tomato, origano and garlic) and Margherita (tomato and mozzarella), and then there’s a third- half and half.
The verdict excites plenty of debate, but personally, I loved it. It was uncomplicated, had distinct flavours, extremely thin crust and fresh cheese and tomato sauce.
The staff is friendly, happy to pose, and extremely efficient. Also, they don’t rush you, despite the lines outside.
A gastronomical experience worth a 90 minutes Napolitano wait.

Napoli’s near-grubbiness is hard to miss. Yes, there’s trash. Yes, there’s obvious slumminess. Yes, the narrow lanes with apartments displaying drying clothes, noise, tiny lifts and a certain smell that reminds you of parts of Mumbai, but once you’re over that, Napoli’s Sicilian heritage takes over. Unrestored ancient piazzas, 2nd century BC worship homes with remains of saints dating almost as far, antique shops in antique mercattos…
The old Napoli part of the city draws you in- slowly but surely.
All soul.

And then there was our bnb. Absolutely the other end of the spectrum- It was created for Instagram.
That’s it.
Color coordinated, crammed full of objects that would photograph well, a propped bath tub in an already smallish bedroom, whites hung up for a Napolitan drying clothes effect, et al, but no door to the bathroom.
A pretty- and very grammable- terrazza with a view of the Vesuvius completed the picture.
The gram would think that’s soul enough.