Today I got an early start and my friend and I dropped her daughter off at school and then went to get a coffee and pastry at a local cafe. After the cafe  drove to downtown Naples. We parked in a garage and walked to Castel dell’Ovo. Vitigno Italia 2014 was going on and although it didn’t begin until 2, we got to walk around their venues and saw a schedule and then walked to the top of the castle and took in the panoramas. I would love to go to that wine festival someday; the European School for Sommelier was there and my brain exploded. I have wanted to become a Sommelier for years now and being at the same wine festival with students from the major European Sommelier institute was super awesome!

After the castle, we walked back the garage and retrieved my friend’s car and drove down to city-center and parked so that we could walk around by Piazza del Plebiscito. We walked to the new Magnum Pleasure Store. You get to pick a Magnum bar, choose what coating to dip it in, the toppings you’d like (3), and a topping to drizzle…all for 3 Euros! It was delicious and amazing! I got pistachios, rose petals, and pearls! We ate our ice-cream and then went shopping. There were two stores that I liked: Kiko and Alcott. They are both really, really reasonable and were very “Italian.” Kiko is really low-priced makeup and Alcott is “vintage American” clothing…I would compare it to Abercrombie, but with a European twist. This may sound weird, but I liked more of the guys clothing than the women’s. The women’s clothes are CUTE and super HOT, but I know I could never pull any of their styles off, but I found like 3 pairs of shorts and two shirts and the guys section I would have purchased had I had the money.

After we shopped for a while, we drove back to Aversa to pick up my friend’s kids from school. We made it back a little early, so we stopped and had lunch and a glass of wine and then went back to her house.

We rested, I did some laundry, we ate some snacks, and got dressed. One thing that has bummed me out about this trip is that I should have packed less cool weather clothing and more “going out” clothes. I did great with the color schemes I picked for this trip, but I should have brought more of my stylish things. I assumed I wouldn’t be going out at night since I’m by myself here, but I will know better next time!

We went out to a cool lounge/cafe tonight in Aversa: Pink House Cafe. The lady that accompanied us to the catacombs on my first day here came with us and two other ladies that are friends with my friend. We had fun laughing, drinking, snacking, and talking. I like getting to know new people that are nice, so it was fun! The manager was SO nice at this cafe. He gave us free snacks and invited us to all of their events and was trying hard to promote his establishment. It was really reasonable and the drinks were very well made! So, if you happen to be stationed/live in the Aversa area, I highly recommend this place.

Today was a great last day in Naples and while I don’t think I’d ever travel here alone, the city is very interesting, intriguing, and beautiful. It’s jarring at first and I’ve never been anywhere that I can compare it to (even in Italy), but I would definitely suggest you spend a few days in the south, if you ever come to Italy. It will help broaden your understanding of this country and the vast challenges faced by the people of this region. There are complex issues and challenges at play in this city and there is no better way to understand them than seeing it for yourself. Also: CAPRI!

Tomorrow is another travel day, so I will talk to you fine folks tomorrow evening all the way from Assisi!