From Market to Palace in Portici, Napoli

Our last few days in Italy we spent with family in Portici, a sweet town outside of Naples. We started our last Saturday by going all the way down the side of the town and volcano to the base where there was a tiny street that met another tiny street where noise came out of. We followed it, and we followed the line of ladies pulling there shopping carts. The noise of people selling became louder and as we exited the mouth of the little street we found ourselves in a wonderfully loud and busy and delicious smelling market! Prices were incredibly low, fish freshly killed, octopus escaping from their pools, and pocket sized pizza popping out of the ovens.

I love the street cats.

Pizza portafolgio: pizza wallet style. It is a small pizza, folded and eaten quickly! 

I could die happy in this market!

We walked in pure joy munching on pizza and paying a fraction of the grocery store price for all the goodies we were going to devour at home: fresh fish, fruit, and new things for the house. It was wonderful.

The octapus on the ground pulled himself over the edge of the tub and escaped, slowly slithering down the street till the fisherman plucked him up and put him in a very deep pool reprimanding him, "You will be eaten today! I can guarantee you!" I'm sure he was delicious. A sad ending.

In the afternoon we decided to go royal. We visited the Royal Palace of Portici where the Borbonic family first settled. The King of Naples, Charles of Spain, arrived in 1735 when he was only 18. He came with grand ideas and had an enormous talent for seeing his plans through completion. He began building his first palace in Portici where it was close to the sea, but far enough from the busy city of Naples. In Portici, on the base of the Vesuvius volcano, King Charles built his modest palace. As the builders excavated they discovered an ancient Roman Villa. King Charles was delighted and carefully preserved, studied and offered the objects found to a new university in honor of studying ancient  Roman life. He later went to build 120 homes in Portici for his royal court. Even today, those noble homes are magnificent and today house 3-4 families as the homes were eventually divided into large condos. King Charles of Spain didn't stop building in Portici, his grand plans of palaces extended to Capodimonte and then to the Reggia di Caserta, his largest palace.

The day we went to the Reggia di Portici it was sweltering hot. We left the house around 4 PM when in America it would mean leaving the house at 2 AM: Everyone was sleeping or indoors, all shops closed. There was bright sunshine and daylight but in this town, lunch breaks last till 5 PM on weekends and towns are still from 1 PM - 5 PM. Not a soul in site! I forgot what this was like because in the US, if the sun is shining you better believe people will be outside cutting their grass, flip-flopping to the pool, hiking in the woods or firing up the grill. Not in Italy! No sir, nap time is respected!

If I were queen I would hail my royal subjects every morning and wear my grand crown every day. 

To think that this was King Charles' "Cottage"

So there we were, like zombies in the empty streets of Portici, sweating profusely as we walked toward the palace. 

As we arrived in the palace we were greeting with fresh cold air that is naturally without air-conditioning. One of the marvels of old buildings in Italy is that they were built to be fresh in the summer and warm in the winter. We had a great time viewing each of the ornate rooms and imagining life there. I have to say, I really felt at home in the Royal Palace. I could see myself settling in there very nicely and getting used to royal life in a New York Minute!

My room

Great grand-mama

The hair-brushers quarters

My cat-napping room

My informal entry

Don't mind if I do.

My bed's headboard would be this bronze horse. Keeping it simple, naturally...

Joking aside, this is an ancient roman lamp! Isn't it amazing?!

An antique chef full of curls

What Portici looks like from the view of the Vesuvius volcano

I have to say that I had a bit of vacation grief and depression start to set in as we left the Reggia di Portici. I realized how rich in culture, art, history and food this place is and that I only saw the beginning of the iceberg!