Weekend Activities

Another great weekend! We spent a lot of time at the pool, the temperature is slowly creeping up...and will be in the mid 90's this week. Saturday afternoon we did a BBQ at Gianni and Consiglia's, this was her first one ever! And of course she loved it, everyone always does!

This is Gianni Jr. what a cutie!

Saturday night we went to dinner with Paolo, his 3 brothers, sister and thier spouses, a big group... The food was fantastic and the company was even better!

Sunday we went downtown Naples mostly to go to the San Severo Chapel to see the Veiled Christ statue, but there is always neat stuff to see and do.

This street is called "Christmas Alley" they sell all kinds of things, but mostly items for the Presepe (nativity scene), it's pretty amazing, they get so detailed. As you can imagine it gets packed around Christmas.

This cute little guy is pulcinella, he's the "mascot" of Naples and is everywhere! Here he's riding a Baba, that's like a sponge cake soaked in lots of rum!

And here they are!

No baba for us though...marching on!

Here he is again...

This "guy" is selling pasta measuring tools, I know what my measurement is....Grande!!

Our first stop was to the Sansevero chapel to see the Veiled Christ, absolutely amazing! It was carved from one piece of marble. We couldn't take any pictures inside, so here is website to check it out for the San Severo Museum

In the Underground Chamber, housed in two glass cases, are the famous Anatomical Machines, i.e. the skeletons of a man and of a woman in upright position, with the artery and vein systems almost perfectly intact. The Machines were made by the doctor Giuseppe Salerno of Palermo, under the direction of Raimondo di Sangro. The discovery of notaries’ deeds and credit notes makes it possible to date these “works” to 1763-64. The two anatomical studies are the most enigmatic objects in the Sansevero Chapel. Still today, after about two-and-a-half centuries, it is still not known which procedures or materials were used to obtain such an exceptional preservation of the circulatory system... Creepy!

This is the facade of the San Lorenzo Maggiore church.

Naples is built on top of an old Greek city, so all over the city, just about every church and home has an entrance to the "underground". We didn't go down this weekend, but we've been before, it's very cool!

In the center of this square (Piazza San Domenico Maggiore) is an obelisk—a so-called "plague column"—topped by a statue of Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order, erected after the plague of 1656. Construction on the spire was started after the plague of 1656 and was finally finished in 1737.

This is us outside the San Domenico Maggiore church.

The chandeliers were beautiful, it's hard to tell from the picture, but they were a rose color.

Piazza del Gesu Nuovo - The Spire of the Immaculate Virgin stands at the center of the square. It is the tallest and most ornamental of three such "plague columns" in Naples—that is, built to invoke the Lord's protection from the plague. This one was completed in 1750 after many decades of construction.

Gesu NuovoThe Church of Gesù Nuovo (New Jesus) was originally a palace built in 1470 for Roberto Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno.



Santa Chiara is a religious complex in Naples, that includes the Church of Santa Chiara, a monastery, tombs and an archeological museum.
The monastery was built in 1310-1340 by King Robert the Wise of Naples for his wife Sancia, who is also buried in the complex. The original church was in traditional Provençal-Gothic style, but was restored in the 17th-18th century. After the edifice was almost entirely destroyed by a fire after the Allied bombings during World War II, it was brought back to the alleged original state by a disputed restoration, which was completed in 1953. The architect followed the strict rules of Franciscan poverty: only one aisle with 10 chapels on each side. Even now its very simplicity is its most inspiring feature.

The majolica-tiled cloister of Santa Chiara

Consiglia was camera shy and didn't want her picture taken, so of course I snunk one in...

The archaelogical area is characterized by the presence of an old thermal bath building on which rooms are superimposed over each other, and by small service rooms. The building is the most complete example of thermal space in Naples and was built around the end of the first century C.E.

The bell tower of the Santa Chiara church.

Gianni and Consiglia took us to a great pizzeria... again, I don't think we've run into a pizzeria or pizza we didn't like, but this one was different. Although popular in the States, this is the first time we've ever seen a "stuffed crust" pizza!

This was mine...Mozzarella, tomatoes, parm, arugula and the crust was stuffed with ricotta! Yummmmm!

And of course the vino.....

No matter where you walk, there is always something cool to see around every corner...

This is a statue of the Egyptian god Nile, known as the "Body of Naples".

Everyone checking out an obviously ancient wooden door.

There are also little "chapels" everywhere.

When we first saw this fluffy little critter, we though it was a dog... either way, so cute!!

This church is closed now, and in need of a little attention. But with a church on every corner (almost literally) I don't see that happening.

Graffiti on the way back to the car...and of course he's wearing Naples (soccer) colors!