Napoli - Tuesday, 20th September

This morning, we said goodbye to the boys as they headed out the door to school, and then we were picked up by Mario (Torre) and driven back into Naples city.  After dropping our bags off at our hotel (which has the most stunning view across the bay and to the Vesuvius) we parked the car and took the Funicular down into the centre of town, to Spaccanapoli (break Napoli) - a long, very narrow street, filled with lots of little shops and market stalls and very few cars, and which runs in a perfectly straight line for about four kilometres through the centre of Naples.

Early in the afternoon, we met up with Mario's wife, Diana, for a HUGE pizza, and then went back to their home to meet their son, Vittoria (nearly 14).  We spent the afternoon chatting, while the children played cards and Monopoly and talked to each other in broken English and Italian.  Very entertaining. When Clouds isn't too sure about a word in Italian, she uses the English equivalent with great confidence and just adds a vowel to the end of it. 

After dinner, and a really lovely day in Naples, the girls and I headed back to our hotel, where they began to prepare for their 'show' (they'd been planning it all day) - Ava dressed up as a man, interviewing her friend "Chubby Girl", Claudia.  This involved lots of pillows, hair clips, make up, and patience on my part.  Now all in bed and ready for a morning train trip to Formia (on the coast, half way between Naples and Rome) to have lunch with Valeria (Zamparelli) and then an afternoon train to Rome!

View from our hotel, across Castel Dell'Ovo, to the Vesuvius

Spaccanapoli

Tribute to Maradona, Spaccanapoli

Light lunch!

Very funny - had the girls in stitches

More gelato!

Mario

Pops

Vittorio, Ava and Claudia

Ava, Vittorio and Claudia

Mario, Ava, Vittorio, Diana and Claudia

Ava - serious Interviewer

"Chubby Girl" - Claudia

The Interview