Rome to Naples on the Autostrada 230 km, cost 16.50 euro in tolls. Temperature 36c and humid, I was glad when it ended and I could get out of my riding gear. As I had time I rode as far as the road would take me up Mount Vesuvius. You have to pay for parking at the top because most people leave their cars there and hike further up the mountain, they let me off because I was just riding through hahaha though I did have a Magnum at the top. There are also a few restaurants on the mountain with great views and I had lunch at one.

I stayed in Portici about a 15 min train ride from central Naples because I was told that my bike would get stolen if I parked it on the street in Naples. Apparently the city is a den of thieves ruled by the Mafia, Camorra and Ndrangheta (I’d never heard of them either). Every single Italian I met warned me about Napoli, they said you must have 10 eyes hahaha. I have found Italians in general to be a happy people with a ready smile but here in Napoli people do not smile easily.

Now the real reason I came here was for pizza, this is the home of pizza, where it was invented. Strangely the Napoli pizza crust is very soft and bread like, quite unusual compared to what I consider a normal pizza. I had a Napoli pizza in Trieste and it too had the soft crust unlike anywhere else in Italy or the world. They also serve beer and wine in plastic cups in all the restaurants I saw in the old city, strange.

I took the Metro 1.10 euro a ride to the Castel Ovo (closed) to see the sea, which is not possible from the central part of Naples because the port occupies the coast line. Lots of people out in the sun on a Sunday.