Naples is the birthplace of pizza, and we were keen to do it justice.

Neapolitan pizza is quite unlike pizza found throughout the rest of Italy. Restrictions of the ingredients are tight; the tomatoes must be either San Marzano or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio, and the mozzarella must either made from water buffalo milk or Fior di Latte (a specific type of cow’s milk). Furthermore, the dough must be kneaded and formed by hand, and baked for 60-90 seconds at 485 degrees celsius in a wood fired oven, producing a soft and elastic base once cooked. Yum! This is our experience of Naples through four pizzas in four days.

Pizza Imperatore 1906

We arrived in Naples on a Friday evening after 7 hours spent on 3 regional trains from Lucca. Although I’d heard about the city’s passion, noise and grit (and Sara had visited Naples previously), we both felt a pang of culture shock as we walked the raucous, dark streets of the Centro Storico (old town) on our way to pick up a late night takeaway pizza. This feeling was beautifully encapsulated when, back at our 5th floor apartment, a whole cake of fireworks were set off in the street below, exploding just outside our window.

Despite how tired and overwhelmed we felt at the time, our Margherita pizza from Pizzeria Imperatore 1906 turned out to be our favourite of our visit to Naples. Maybe it was our hunger levels, or possibly our initiation into Neapolitan pizza, but my goodness did it hit the spot. We were hooked, and immediately understood why there was a pizzeria on almost every block.

• Queueing chaos: 2/10 (disappointingly orderly)
• Pizza base: 10/10 (perfectly stretchy and very tasty)
• Toppings: 8/10 (simple but effective)
• Ambience: 8/10 (fireworks as dinnertime entertainment)

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele

On our second evening in Naples, we headed to the hugely popular L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, just across the square from our Airbnb. Upon arriving, the swarm of people surrounding the pizzeria gave us confidence this was a good choice, whilst simultaneously piquing our queuing anxiety. Almost everywhere we experienced in Italy had its own unique queuing system, and this was no different. A fellow punter took pity on us and explained how to navigate the rabble. At length, we placed our order, picked up some beers from a nearby shop to drink while we waited, and joined the impatient crowd to claim our pizzas.

This pizzeria served pizza as it used to be, without many “toppings” as we know them. You could choose between 4 options:

1. Margherita – tomato, Fior di latte, basil, pecorino
2. Marinara – tomato, oregano, garlic
3. Cosacca – tomato, basil, pecorino, pepper
4. Marita – half Marinara, half Margherita

Sara ordered a Marita, and I went for a Cosacca. In both cases, we were blown away by the level of flavour produced by so few ingredients. Maybe the protected local produce did have more flavour than those found elsewhere, or maybe these flavours are just easier to appreciate with few distracting toppings. Either way, we were both glad to have experienced what felt like the most authentic pizza of our visit to Italy so far.

• Queueing chaos: 10/10 (maximum confusion, loved it)
• Pizza base: 7/10 (a bit too floppy)
• Toppings: 10/10
• Ambience: 5/10 (eaten in our weird Airbnb)

Pizzeria e Trattoria Del Purgatorio

For our third Neapolitan pizza, we ate at a restaurant on the busy and largely pedestrian Via dei Tribunali. Despite its positive reviews, Pizzeria Del Purgatorio felt like it catered more to tourists, and matched neither the elegance or rustic charm of our first two pizzas. Desperate for more vegetables, Sara ordered a Siciliana, and I stuck with the classic Margherita. The pizza went down just fine, but it seemed like there was far better to be eaten in Naples.

• Queueing chaos: 1/10 (table service)
• Pizza base: 8/10
• Toppings: 8/10
• Ambience: 7/10 (good eavesdropping opportunities but the couple on the neighbouring table got distracted from their discussion of whether to make a go of their relationship so we were left with a cliffhanger)

‘a Puteca d”a Pizza

We’d seen “pizza fritta” (fried pizza) advertised and consumed throughout Naples. Having never even heard of it before, we were keen to experience it ourselves before leaving the city, even though we were very full of pizza by this point. On our final day, we joined the large crowd surrounding ‘a Puteca d”a Pizza, again in the Centro Storico. Long queues outside food venues generally mean either good food, or inefficient kitchens, or both.

We shared a pizza fritta filled with broccoli salsiccia (broccoli and sausage), one of our standard orders from our local pizzeria at home. Although the crispy folded outer was deliciously unhealthy, the pizza didn’t have the deep-filled, puffy centre that we’d seen from other vendors and definitely didn’t match our beloved Pizzeria di Camden on flavour. I’m sure there’s a place in my life for fried pizza so we’ll have to return to Naples to give it another shot.

Queueing chaos: 8/10
Pizza base: 9/10
Toppings: 7/10
Ambience: 9/10 (eaten in the suitably rowdy Centro Storico)

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We did things other than eat pizza while in Naples (honest!), but for that you’ll have to wait for the next post.

Having spent the last couple of days exploring Lucca itself, we were keen to see some more of what Tuscany had to offer.

In the morning we hopped on an early-ish train Pisa, since no trip to Tuscany would be complete without a visit to the famous leaning tower. Knowing that tickets were sold out online, we joined the queue to find a lone ticket was still available for the final slot before we needed to return to Lucca. We snapped it up for Sara, since I’d visited the tower only last month as part of a highly cultural stag weekend.

We spent the next few hours exploring the cathedral and some of the quieter piazzas around the leaning tower. More importantly, we also squeezed in lunch at L’Ostellino. I’d also visited this tiny sandwich deli last month, and had hyped it up quite a bit to Sara. I picked up a roast pork, brie, olive tapenade and chilli sandwich, while Sara went for prosciutto, pecorino, honey, pear and walnut. Both lived up to expectations, and this place now occupies two spaces in my list of top ten sandwiches ever. I asked Sara for her opinion, but apparently she doesn’t keep a list of her top 10 sarnies 🤷🏻

Sara then joined the queue for her tour up the tower. However, a combination of slippery steps and wobbly knees meant that she only managed a single lap of the top deck of the tower, pausing just long enough to give me a wave. Good luck trying to spot her in the photo!

We returned to Lucca following a power walk back to the station. This was necessary to make it to our next excursion on time – which was almost certainly the most romantic date I’d ever planned – a tandem bike ride through the Tuscan hills followed by a wine tasting at a local vineyard. However, the reality of a 35 degree bike ride in the afternoon sun set in quickly as we wobbled our way through one of Lucca’s city gates. Then, just as we’d started to hit our stride and the buildings and traffic made way for vines, the road turned steeply uphill. I frantically searched for a lower gear as our bike lost speed, only to find that there were no gears, and we quickly ground to a halt. I have no shame in admitting that we pushed the tandem up the final stretch, arriving at the vineyard with very rosy cheeks even before we’d hit the wine.

The wine tasting itself turned out to be more of a set menu accompanied by wine pairings. In fact, the 4 courses and 4 glasses of wine was probably the best dining experience in Italy so far, and the views over the Italian countryside were just the icing on the cake. The vineyard itself was owned by a half-Italian, half-Wisconsin chap who was understandably proud of his dual heritage, and who gave us the warmest of welcomes. We happily grazed our way through the courses, and all-too-soon it was time to head back to Lucca in order to return the tandem. This direction was easier now that gravity was on our side, not to the mention the additional ballast and dutch courage.

The following morning, we passed another couple on a tandem cycling serenely through Lucca’s cobbled streets as we made our way to the station. I can only assume our arrival at the vineyard was similarly graceful.

Lucca is a medieval town in Tuscany, known for its staggering number of churches and towers. We spent a couple of slower days here without a set itinerary, mainly wandering the streets in the walled old town.

It is one of those places (there seem to be many in Italy) that is nonchalantly beautiful, with stunning historic buildings, ornate doors, traditional shop fronts and just the right amount of peeling paint and graffiti so that it doesn’t look like Disneyland. Bicycles were the preferred mode of transport, there were vineyards within easy reach (more on that to come) and the town even had its own craft brewery (which we dutifully sampled more than once – we are nothing if not thorough). This felt like a town that had the measure of us.

On our first afternoon, we picked up a delicious picnic of focaccini (tiny bread pies, filled with delights like fior di latte or gorgonzola, radicchio and walnut) from the iconic Forne a vapour Amedeo Giusti and walked the 4km footpath around the 16th century walls that encircle the old town.

Walking the walls was a popular tourist activity, although most people seemed to opt for renting Quadracycles. Having got in a right pickle in one in Santa Barbara with the Appletons a couple of years ago, we knew that they weren’t the easiest to control, and sure enough we overheard some great family arguments on our way. This was a really lovely introduction to Lucca as we could peer into the old town from above but also see lots of the ‘new’ (still quite old) town beyond the walls.

During one of our walks, we came across the Torre Guinigi and climbed the 230 steps to the top for the view over the red rooftops that the Lonely Planet described as “predictably magnificent”. The thing that really set this tower apart was that there were seven mature trees growing on the very small rooftop. It didn’t seem like the greatest idea in terms of structural integrity, but it did look lovely!

We returned to the same spot on the city walls on several evenings to watch the sun set over the Tuscan hills. On one evening, as we ate our poke bowls (you can take the girl out of London…), an opera singer and classical quartet began a performance just behind us. SO Italian!

After a relaxed couple of days, we were ready for some exploration further afield, so we set off to see a bit more of Tuscany by train and bike.