First night in Napoli after a long (9 hour) train journey from Palermo. Yes, they really do put the whole train on the ferry between Sicily and the mainland. Not many on the train and therefore a very deserted ferry for the short (20 minute) part of the trip. We’re staying at Casa D’Anna, a most wonderful five-room guest house on Via del Cristallini. We’re in the smallest room (Nisida) at 15sq metres but gets us all the benefits and our own sunny private terrace. 

We start with a walking tour of the Centro Storico – how many churches is it possible to cram in? There’s barely room between the tat shops, the bars and (Napoli’s specialities) religious cribs. Why?

A short stagger from Casa we eat at a very busy genuine Napoli pizza restaurant. There’s a queue but we get in after about 5 minutes – they can see we’re old and collapsing on the street whilst we wait isn’t good for their business. It’s enormous inside (well, most of the seating is outside actually) with maybe 100+ covers. Rapid efficient service. Ok, there’s quite a big table of Americans – you know, east coast women with deep loud voices but probably (hopefully) voting the way we would like them to. Two very tasty pizzas, no salad, fizzy water and a bottle of local red. A great start. 

Restaurant Concettina ai Tre Santi – in the Michelin Guide too…we went back a couple of times