04 April 2013

Napoli

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En el segundo aƱo de mi estadĆ­a en Francia, tuve la suerte de tener de compaƱera de apartamento a Eleonora. Si antes de conocerla me encantaba Italia, con ella mi fascinaciĆ³n aumentĆ³ exponencialmente. Para empezar, aprendĆ­ a comer pasta sĆ³lo con aceite de oliva y ajo frito, muy prĆ”ctico para cuando la despensa estĆ” vacĆ­a. Me mostrĆ³ unos cuantos grupos de rock italiano (ademĆ”s que descubrĆ­ que Tiziano Ferro sĆ­ lo escucha la gente cool y no sĆ³lo las latinas romĆ”nticas). Pero sobre todo, fue muy gentil en invitarnos a su casa en MilĆ”n y a visitar a su tĆ­o que vive en NĆ”poles. En MilĆ”n sĆ³lo estuvimos unas cuantas horas, en las que comimos con su familia un almuerzo italiano completo, con pasta de entrada, carne, ensalada y fruta. ProbĆ© ademĆ”s la mozzarella de bĆŗfalo, que es absolutamente deliciosa. Aprovechamos para caminar un poco por la ciudad y como estĆ”bamos en plena Fashion Week el arco de la Paz estaba invadido por lo que imagino que eran modelos, bloggeros y periodistas. Hasta nos regalaron revistas que fuimos leyendo en las miles de horas de tren hasta NĆ”poles.
Hay ciertas ciudades que tienen tantos edificios histĆ³ricos y monumentos importantes que uno se siente fuera de lugar, como si se estuviera en un gran museo gigante donde no se puede tocar nada. NĆ”poles no es asĆ­: todo es antiguo y hermoso, pero no es una ciudad delicada o frĆ”gil. Por lo contrario, es tosca, confianzuda, ruidosa, sucia y llena de graffitis. Me sentĆ­a en casa, tal vez porque se parece a AmĆ©rica Latina, con ropa colgada en los balcones, mercaderes en todas partes y con la paranoia de que me fueran a asaltar.
El tĆ­o de Eleonora nos dio un recorrido sĆŗper completo de la ciudad. Caminamos por el centro, recorrimos NĆ”poles subterrĆ”nea, nos llevĆ³ a los miradores para las vistas panorĆ”micas y tuvo mucha paciencia mientras buscĆ”bamos souvenirs. QuedĆ© descorazonada cuando no pudimos comer en la PizzerĆ­a de Michele (tenĆ­a fresco el recuerdo de “Eat, Pray, Love” y esta es la mejor pizzerĆ­a del mundo segĆŗn la autora) debido a la enorme cantidad de gente haciendo fila para entrar. Pero nos llevaron a otra donde probĆ© una verdadera pizza Margarita tan buena que me hizo preguntarme quĆ© hacemos arruinando las pizzas con carne y verduras. Una de mis visitas favoritas fue el monasterio de Santa Chiara, donde los claustros tienen unos murales y unas cerĆ”micas absolutamente hermosas. Vimos tambiĆ©n la capilla Sansevero, donde hay unas estatuas hermosas en el primer nivel y en la parte subterrĆ”nea se encuentra un museo dedicado a los pasatiempos cientĆ­ficos del dueƱo de la capilla. Un extraƱo contraste ver a un Cristo velado de mĆ”rmol en un piso y en otro un cadĆ”ver con las venas petrificadas.
DĆ©jenme ahorrarles unos cuantos euros y decirles que todas esas pastas y risottos que venden en las tiendas tradicionales son completamente normales y sĆ³lo sirven para engaƱar turistas. Lo peor es que estuve por semanas comiendo kilos de espaguetis por los que paguĆ© mĆ”s de diez veces el precio normal y esos risottos de “sĆ³lo eche agua” son una mega estafa. Y pensaba clausurar mi serie italiana esta noche pero Pompeya merece un post aparte. AsĆ­ que habrĆ” que esperar para el museo de este domingo.
During my second year in France I was lucky enough to have Eleonora as a flat mate. If I loved Italy before I met her, thanks to her my fascination only grew exponentially. For starters, I learned to eat pasta with just olive oil and fried garlic, something very practical when the pantry is empty. She showed me some Italian rock bands (and I learned that cool people do listen to Tiziano Ferro and not just romantic Latin-American women). But most of all, she was kind enough to invite us to her place in Milan and to visit her uncle who lives in Naples. We stayed in Milan for just a few hours in which we ate with her family a full Italian lunch, with pasta as appetizer, meat, salad and fruit. I tasted the mozzarella di bufala, which is absolutely delicious. We also walked a little around town and since we were in the middle of Fashion Week the Arco de la Pace was invaded by what I guess were models, bloggers and journalists. We were even given some magazines which we read during the long journey by train to Naples.
There are some cities that have so many historical buildings and important monuments that make you feel out of place, like you were in a big museum where you’re not allowed to touch anything. Naples is not like that: everything is old and beautiful, but it’s not a delicate or fragile city. On the contrary, it is rough, overfamiliar, noisy, dirty and filled with graffitis. I felt at home, maybe because it resembles Latin America, with clothes hanging from the balconies, merchants everywhere and with the paranoia that I could get robbed.
Eleonora’s uncle gave us a super complete tour of the city. We walked in the center, we visited underground Naples, he took us to some viewpoints to contemplate the panoramic views and he was very patient while we shopped for souvenirs. I was heartbroken when we couldn’t eat in the Pizzeria da Michele (the memory from “Eat, Pray, Love” was still fresh and this is the world’s best pizza place according to the author) because of the bunch of people waiting in line to get in. But we went to another place where I had a Margherita pizza so good that made me wonder why the hell we ruin our pizzas with meat and vegetables. One of my favorite visits was to the Santa Chiara convent, where the cloisters have mural paintings and ceramics which are absolutely gorgeous. We also visited the Sansevero chapel, where there are beautiful paintings in the ground floor and in the underground level there is a museum dedicated to the chapel’s owner scientific interests. It’s a strange contrast to see a marble veiled Christ in one story and in the other a corpse with petrified veins.
Let me save you some bucks and tell you that the pasta and risotto that you find in the traditional stores are completely normal and therefore their only use is to trick tourists. The worst part is that I spent many weeks eating kilos of spaghettis for which I paid ten times the normal price and those “Just add water” risottos are just disgusting. And I thought I would finish my Italian series tonight but Pompey deserves its own post. So we shall have to wait until this Sunday for it.

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