A Castle and a Palace

Buon Giorno
Excuse me while I dive into the pizza I brought home.  I did a lot of walking today, and I'm tired and hungry.
It's the same Margherita from the same pizzaria as before.  It's the perfect size for me--bigger folk might find it inadequate--it's also cheap and it's So Good.  Keep in mind that to Italians the quality of the pizza depends largely on the crust.  This is also true for the best pizza al taglio that you find other places in Italy.  It's not that toppings are unimportant, it's just that they are garnish--just like sauce is for pasta. I walked extra because this evening there's desert, but you and I are just going to have to wait for it.
Readers of my blog and in fact most people who know me know my love of climbing around castles.  Naples has a nice one built originally to guard the harbor.  Its official name is Castel Nuovo, but the signs will say Maschio Angionio because it was built when the Angevin French ruled Naples having taken over during the Crusades in the Thirteenth Century from the previous dynasty.  The Aragonese in their turn conquered Naples and Sicily from the French and left their mark on the fortress as well.  The most authentic part of the castle is the Baron's Hall where the Kings of the Two Sicilies would meet their restless nobles.  Also of note are some pretty chapels.  Most of the castle is now an art gallery with works from the Late Middle Ages to the Late Nineteenth Century.  The views of the bay and harbor from the third floor balcony are spectacular!
Sometimes when an obvious foreigner, i.e. me, buys a ticket the person at the desk asks where she is from. I said, "The United States."  The guy did not understand or believe. "The United States."  "Oh. America?" "Yes. The United States."  Because America is a geographical expression that can apply to the whole Western Hemisphere.  The country I am from is the United States.
A short walk takes us to the palace of another time and dynasty.  The Bourbons same family, separate kingdoms ruled both France and Spain, and one lucky side branch got Naples and Sicily.  The Palazzo Reale was the dynasty's town house as opposed to that shack up on Capo di Monte.  An official function was on when I was there, and we tourists got a bit of the side eye. but there was plenty to see, and all of it was magnificent.  I love period rooms because one can see the art--of whatever kind it happens to be--in a context.  Not to be missed is the grand marble staircase, and when you enter the rooms, don't forget to look up and appreciate the ceiling paintings and frescos along with the fancy furniture, tapestries, paintings and objets d' art.  The visitor gets a real sense of how royalty lived--at least in public.
Naples is such an incredibly rich destination, that I truly cannot comprehend why most people just stay two or three days.  I guess they just want to see Pompeii and eat pizza?  Those things are worthy, but there is so much more here and in the area, too.  I feel I'm barely scratching the surface.
Dessert is a chocolate cannoli.  I'd never seen such a thing before, and it is about three times the size of the traditional cannoli, but could I resist it?  Probably, but I didn't try.  I'm having with a cup of tea.  The crust is a bit thick, but this one is big, and the crust is covered in chocolate.  The filling is rich and chocolatey.  Chopped nuts adorn the ends of the cannoli.  It's rich and glorious--just like Naples, and like Naples a bit too much at once.
Ciao