Tuesday, 27 March – Last day in Naples

Valerie:
Today, we went to Franco and Maria’s again for noon meal. Maria served us a huge plate of pasta. I wish I could have eaten it all, but it was too much. Then veal cutlets, asparagus and fried artichoke. This is the big season for artichokes, and it is on the menu everywhere. It was a sad goodbye, since Roger will probably not see Franco and Maria again.

Roger is slowly accepting that the trip has been very difficult for him, even after recovering from the stomach issues. He was very solemn this afternoon and some tears were shed.

Roger was stationed in Naples while he was in the Navy, and he was the opposite of the rest of his mates…he lived off base when allowed, and he liked liked to eat Italian food. F & M owned an Italian restaurant. Maria cooked, and Franco was the front person. Roger ate many meals there over the years. The restaurant eventually closed, but the three of them have kept up the long distance relationship for close to 50 years.

So, when we are in Naples, they would like to feed us every day, if we were so inclined. We saw them three of six days, each visit just the right amount of time, about two hours. Conversation can be difficult, with Franco speaking some English, mostly restaurant parlance, and Roger speaking tourist Italian. Maria doesn’t speak English, and I don’t speak Italian, but I learned what mangia, mangia meant very quickly. Eat, eat!

We were aided by google translate on the iPad.

Anyway, so much food at noon, that we have stayed in this evening and are working on the travel logs.

Roger:

Our last day in Naples I believe we went to our favorite appliance store for a TV cable. I did better at parking. Then we drove to Franco and Maria’s street and parked on the sidewalk. Being early we walked slowly up the hill to a nautical store. They were having a closeout on winter items. Valerie saw a coat that she liked. We told them we would come back later. On to the important stuff. We stopped for cookies at Pasticceria Albino. Waddled away with 7 Euros worth of assorted cookies returning to Capo Horn for the jacket purchase. The store was odd in that I could have also purchased a small boat anchor. I have never seen a boat trailer in the Vomero. Next stop is lunch. Franco had his technical guru, a neighbor, come to setup the TV so that the channel numbers are the same as before. Maria remembers that paglia e fieno is my favorite pasta dish so Valerie and I each had a large portion that we could not finish. The leftovers are not wasted. Maria, for another meal, will make a frittata with the leftovers. Main course was veal cutlets, asparagus and fried artichoke. During the meal Franco spoke optimistically about Team Napoli’s chances of winning Serie A. They just needed to beat Juventus. Valerie showed them a video of the Lailah playing the violin and pictures of Pepper and Barney. I had caffe and cookies at the end of the meal. It was sad to depart. Maria and I hugged. Out on the street Boris was being riled by Valerie’s taunts. Back to the hotel for a nap.