Naples is crazy!  It’s a great big plate of tangled pasta with every single thing you have in the fridge thrown into the pot from across the kitchen as fast as you can, while company is passing through, and for reason unknown to man, it works–it is in fact, absolutely delicious.  I was greeted at the station in Naples by my friend Pam who expertly wound us through the crowds and stairwells back to her home, nestled into the hillside above the sea.  Fusun, whom I had never met, but was a friend as soon as I hugged her, had made a huge gift of a Turkish feast of carrot, Greek yogurt and garlic salad, stuffed eggplant, fried zucchini cakes and red lentil balls and we had it along with Pam’s delicious, spicy, lentil soup.  We ate and laughed, said goodbye to Fusun and walked around a lake.  Through the bamboo was an oasis of grapevines, ruins and volcano, and in the Naples tradition–every so often, tiny cars zipping along the nature trail.

We came home and made more food. Pam marinated chicken with green and black olives, onions, figs, prunes, garlic, capers, white wine, and bay leaves and when Pam’s husband came home, we had that with fresh mozarella di bufala from Fusun’s landlord (it comes in exchange for paying the rent.)  This morning we are going directly to the heart of Naples to brave the mad streets and markets, before I take the train back North.

Life is worth the trip.