Napoli: Sole, pizza e fantasia

You have many motto about Napoli like "you love or hate it, see Napoli and die" but for me Napoli is unique, an Italy inside Italy, lots of contradictions, beauty and troubles but come on it's Napoli..

SATURDAY

Easter 2012 was another occasion to visit the city with old and new friends and time to meet our great host and friend Giovanni. The weather was not the best but right people and place warmed up the atmosphere. My friend lives in a traditional area of Napoli not far away from Porta San Gennaro and the well-known "rione" Sanità. If you like walking in max 45 mins you can reach all the main spots of Napoli and train station too where you can get bus or train to discover all area around like Vesuvio, Pompei, Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri and more..
The right welcome was to try different kind of pizza some typical from Napoli like pizza fritta, panuozzo, piazza ripiena and more, have a look ;)

After this light lunch, we just had time to make shopping for Easter lunch before a thunderstorm made us come back home and enjoy a yummy dinner with other delicatessen like scamorza, mozzarella di bufala and different kind of local salami. The night was the time to discover the city by night, walking in a group made this safer and nice. First stop was Piazza Bellini and the nearby Piazza Dante but we ended up at the famous piazza san giovanni maggiore pignatelli known as Piazza Kestè where all young people meet to have a drink and a chat just in front of Palazzo Giusso, part of the L'Orientale

EASTER

Early wake up for me as we forgot to buy seafood for pasta and i have to manage to find some before their early close around 10 am. I go time to eat a yummy sfogliatella before having a traditional easter breakfast looking more as a lunch hehehe.. Don't forget to taste traditional tortano and the sweet Pastiera

Just time to breathe and it was time for a long and delicious Easter lunch were main dishes were Linguine al sugo di Vongole and capretto al forno con patate and still sweets and we managed to finish around 5pm. Finally we had a walk in Napoli as weather was fine: our friend lives almost at the top of Salita dei Miradois and from there you can go down crossing narrow and typical streets full of life and reach the heart of this area where it is full of shops, stalls and you reach Piazza Cavour. Just in front you have Porta San Gennaro and on the right side looking at the gate you have the National Archaeological Museum .

Porta San Gennaro

If you move a bit on the left side of the Piazza Cavour you have Via Duomo, on this way you can visit the Cathedral that t is widely known as the Cattedrale di San Gennaro. The church houses a vial of the blood of Saint Januarius which is brought out twice a year, on the first Saturday in May and on 19 September, when the dried blood usually liquefies. If the blood fails to liquefy, then legend has it that disaster will befall Naples. Keep going you reach the train station but we decided to follow the route through Porta San Gennaro till the heart of Napoli.

Duomo

It is an adventure walking in these streets, getting lost and find the way again and reach the main street that crosses the old center of napoli called Spaccanapoli. From there you can reach many famous squares like Piazza Gesù Nuovo,  Piazza San Domenico Maggiore where you can find the famous bas Scaturchio. You can also visit Piazza Nilo and on via Tribunali you have the entrance of Napoli Sotteranea and nearby the famous Via San Gregorio Armeno that is a street in the historic center of Naples, famous for tourist craft shops of cribs.

We had a nice stop nearby Piazza Gesù Nuovo in a cosy and cheap bar where we had a lovely chat and listened to music from a famous neapolitan singer Pino Daniele, song like Napule è. Time went by fast so we move toward the main commercial road called Via Toledo where you have Piazza Dante and on the way you can visit Galleria Umberto I where there's another well-know bar to taste sfogliatelle and babà.

Galleria Umberto I

The weather changed so we hurried up going back home and spent a great nite at Gio's place, drinking, talking, having fun  till dawn, last night before saying good bye Napoli

Bilbao o Bilbo es lo mismo : fiesta siempre jajaja

SATURDAY

Bilbao or Bilbo is one of my favorite city in Spain so far: I was there just once in 2008 but I said to myself someday I will come back and thats what I did last march 2012. A friend was coming to a big CouchSurfing event so I decide to join her and discover the city with her and other amazing people I met.

Guggenheim

Journey to Bilbao was pretty long and with a stopover in Munich too. From airport just get an urban bus for €1,30 or if you buy a transport card for only 0,70€ but the card cost 5€ and then u can charge as much as you want and pay less. You have different stops till the bus terminal in new part of the city and I decided to get off nearby Guggenheim Museum where I met my friends and other people.

We just took some pics nearby Guggenheim and I went straight to meet my host Adrian in Casco Viejo, my beloved district in Bilbao where you have most popular tourist spots. Some people decided to go to Kobetamendi, nice mountain nearby where you have a great view of Bilbao. I  just had the time to say hello to Adrian and we went straight to have lunch in Spanish time jajaja from 3pm but I met great people and food was so yummy at Zaka Bar like my dessert fresòn :)) not a big strawberry sadly :(

After we had a jam session at Hika Ateneo and a place where you can play board games too like our never ending monopoly game. If you want to have fun, just go back Casco Viejo where you can eat pintxos and you have some bars with disco music but if you wanna meet local and enjoy a cool place, go to kafe antzokia where we ended up our night.. I was looking for some churros but when its 5am just bocadillos jajaja...

SUNDAY

One of main attractions of Bilbao is Guggenheim Museum so at least once you have to visit the museum and its surrounding like the famous spider or the dog Bilbo. We had a guided tour to discover the museum inside with its exhibitions and its collection like Richard Serra with the famous matter of the Time. I really like the museum and you can have multiple entrance so later we came back to have a second and accurate look at all exhibitions like Brancusi-Serra one.

After the visit it was time to improvise a flash mob in Plaza Nueva before eating a good dish of langostinos a la plancha and still curious to know what to visit here? Please wait cause we went back to Hika Ateneo where we had an international dinner with food from all over the world like Italy, Spain, India, USA, Germany and so on  and I met a lovely French girl Emilie co-hosted by Adrian with my friends Serena and Paola. Food was awesome and we had lovely talks before going to dance salsa till late.. Night is over? Nope as we went back home and Emilie cooked amazing crepes and onion soup that we didn't manage to eat as too late

MONDAY

Last day as Emilie was in Bilbao for the first time we had a city tour but I also have time to go to the shop of one of my favorite Spanish brand :)..As we stayed in Casco Viejo we had everything close to us like Teatro Arriega and all the streets in this area full of shops, bars and more.

The Old Town features many of the oldest buildings in the city, as the St James' Cathedral or the Church of San Antòn. Most of the Old Town is a pedestrian are during the day. Nearby is one of the most important religious temples of Biscay, the Basilica of Begoña , dedicated to the patron saint of the province, Our Lady of Begoña.

Seventeen bridges span the banks of the estuary inside the city limits. Among the most interesting ones are the Zubizuri (Basque for "white bridge"), a pedestrian footbridge designed by Santiago Calatrava opened in 1997, and the Princes of Bridge, also known as "La Salve", a suspension bridge opened in 1972 and redesigned in 2007. You can have nice walk in the new part of the city where the stadium Vicente Calderon is located too and some parks and nice squares and churches are situated. A nice square to visit is also Plaza Nueva where you have many bars and restaurants too.

 After this fast but complete city tour, we had a chance to taste a real Valenciana paella made by our friend Maria.. Best way to finish this short but awesome trip: Bilbao is still one of my favorite Spanish city so I recommend you to have a stop in Bask countries  if you wanna visit the North of Spain..Hasta Luegoooo

Bratislava: hrad, pivo a viac

 FRIDAY

Bratislava is one of my favorite city in Central Europe where some of my close friends live too. I started to know this city 6 years ago and then I keep coming at least once a year.. I missed last year so I said lets go back and meet my friends there.. spring just started but Bratislava kept in my mind uhm winter is still here so I just felt the difference when we landed from Rome..

Bratislava castle

I moved quickly to meet my friend at her job then after a nice chat in front of an cup of hot chocolate we went to her house in a district new for me but very nice: Koliba.

Koliba is situated on the foothills of the Little Carpathians and is part of the Bratislava Forest Park.

I always like to discover new corner and Koliba is very nice area where you can start nice trekking and its just 5-10 minutes to the old town by trolley-bus. My friend lives in a cute house with other 5 people coming from US, Germany, Belgium and Slovakia too wow nice combination and good start for an international dinner with other friends coming to meet me.

Koliba

Dinner was very yummy and I cooked bucatini all'amatriciana and I brought olive and cremini, specialities from my home town. Funny was the making of 2 desserts during the evening before people came. My sweet friend Vero just finished the two cakes and left them in the nearby room while we were keeping to cook in the kitchen but we heard some weird noise from other room: well lovely dog called by me Dario just ate half of both two cakes lol so we just managed to put the other two halves together to keep at least one.. Meanwhile Ivana was making a salad and a german couple competed with me making a vegan pizza ;).

Meal was enough for everyone and I convinced the vegan couple to have some pasta with bacon :))..Other roomate welcome me with some shot of hruškovica and we ended up the night  in a cosy pub U Dezmara in old town.

Brati and Danube by night

SATURDAY

After a yummy breakfast, we decided a meet up after 11 at Trhovisko nearby old town and reachable by bus or tram. This open-air market typically sells a mixture of products direct from local farms and orchards, herbs, cut flowers, bread, mushrooms, pickled goods like gherkins and peppers, and local cheese and dairy products. There are also small shops selling inexpensive clothing, stationery and wine, as well as cafes and pubs, clustered around them. Main idea was to taste some cheap food and very cheap wine in many pubs you can find all around. I really loved the atmosphere and people I met as it seemed to me life was back to 20-30 years ago. I had a  typical lokše while my friends had langoš and well some glasses of local wine too

Trhovisko

After a fast lunch in a peruvian restaurant called Casa Inka, I had to meet an italian friend coming to Bratislava for the first time so I was her private guide to discover old town. You can move easily in old town and everything is close by. Our first stop was in the main square Hlavne namestie where colorful buildings reminiscent of the baroque and renaissance era fill the perimeters. The Old Town Hall and the Roland Fountain also are nice spots to have a look.

Hlavne namestie

We had a little detour to see Opera House with a coffee break before moving along Danube and have a look at new Apollo Bridge and from far at the Bratislava castle. If you have time go up the castle on foot or by bus and from the castle windows, 3 countries come to view - Slovakia, Austria, and if weather is clear, Hungary. So we just passed by and have a stop at St. Martin's  cathedral. From there we moved around old streets till the famous Micheal's gate: this area is full of restaurants, clubs and café bar mostly attended by tourists. Going through the gate we ended up our fast tour at Presidential Palace and in the same square you can visit summer archbishop's palace.

Micheal's gate

After some relax, it was right time to visit a local restaurant with cheap prices and good food but away from touristic routes. Just take tram 9 or 14 and get off Herlianska stop then walk till U Deda restaurant . Here first I had a glass of my favorite slovak drink Kofola then I ate a typical slovak dish bryndzové halušky, potato dumplings with Bryndza ( a soft crumbly sheep cheese). It was curious to have a dessert maková štrúdľa, a strudel with poppy seeds and have a look at it ;)

maková štrúdľa

The night was the main event of my weekend in Bratislava, common friends had an idea of an ugly sweater party at 4 you wine bar. Lots of people gathering there to have fun and taste some local pivo (beer): people from all over the world coming  from near Vienna too just for this. Night is along so we kept having fun at another bar called Goblins where it was time to catch last night bus to go home ;)

Ugly Sweater party

SUNDAY

Sunday is the day of rest and it was like this, pity I didn't know it was the weekend of bratislava marathon so next year maybe I can run at least half marathon as included in the program or marathon relay with other three friends. Nice idea to end this awesome weekend was a brunch at Hugo's place. I cooked my last olives and I brought small spicy salami and yummy smoked scamorza (italian cheese). We also had lovely pasta cooked by Hugo and an omelette by Ivana and we tasted cocido mate too and colomba, italian traditional easter cake. 

smoked scamorza and little spicy salami

Time to say bye and hug my friends and luckily find a lift to airport.. Ahoj Brati and just a little tip if you have time go to visit Devin Castle nice place nearby Bratislava good for picnic too in spring and summer time so go and try :)))