Getting to Know Naples

Buon Giorno,
My friends will hardly recognize me when I get back.  I'll have become such a daredevil marching insouciantly into on coming traffic.  But such are the ways of a Neapolitan pedestrian. The vehicles and their drivers (and about half of them are motorcycles) aren't actively trying to kill us.  They simply don't want to stop at all and only grudgingly slow down in order to miss the target.  Now I prefer to have the cover of a traffic light or at least a crosswalk.  Makes no difference, friends.  The cars won't stop, but to be fair I've seen plenty of folks defy their own red lights and run out into the traffic.
I have two tactics that I employ with success.  One I try to cross in a crowd reasoning that they can't get us all.  Two I try to wait until there's a reasonable gap where I can step out and the driver can see me and pretend to slow down before contact is made.
I had some settling in business to take care of.  I walked back to the train station taking a longer but easier route.  I needed a map of the city, more cash, and a real grocery store.  There's Tourist Information Desk at the front of the station.  I got a map--which proved to be singularly useless.  I may have to buy one that works.  There are four sides to Piazza Garibaldi. I found my bank on the fourth side I looked.  Then I went to the big grocery store and got what I wanted.  But I had to cart it back to my apartment.  Oof.
Said apartment has elaborate security arrangements, but that means it's complex getting in and out. It usually takes me numerous tries.
Having dumped off my stuff, I thought it would do me good to get a glimpse of the Med.  I'd already had more than a glimpse of Vesuvius.  You can hardly miss the mountain looming over the countryside.  I found the metro station and bought a ticket to a stop called Toledo. Naples used to be ruled by the Spanish, so I'm guessing that's the reason.
I fetched up in a nice pedestrianized street and I walked, and walked, and walked.  Naples reminds me strongly of Nice, which should come as no surprise given Nice's Italian background and the fact that both are Mediterranean cities.  I walked down to the sea looked around and walked back again.  I licked a few windows and bought something--but you'll have to wait for it.  It was warm and the light became glaring.  I got tired walking and tired being in crowds--just citied out.
Since I can't make walking up and down streets fascinating, let's have some HISTORY!  Naples is a Greek foundation--the new city--Neapolis built next to a colony called Parthenope (dedicated to Athena?)  The Greeks were attracted to the expansive bay and the fertile hinterland and also possibly by the geological activity because it would have had religious significance.  The area became known to the Romans as Magna Grecia.
Like the rest of the peninsula, it was conquered by the Romans and the Bay of Naples became The Place for filthy rich patricians to build luxurious villas with natural geo thermic spas.  I'll be talking more about the history when I tackle Naples's two iconic foodstuffs--pizza and pasta.
In the meantime apero is crostini with a dried beef product called Bresaola della Valtellina. This sounds dull.  It's not.  To accompany we have a glass of Greco di Tufo, grown in volcanic tufa soil and especially recommended as an aperitivo with cold cuts.  It has notes of stone fruit and citrus, and I can actually taste them!
For dinner, I'm reverting to the bucatini but serving it with the classic Neapolitan tomato sauce pomodoro, and many variations on this theme exist in Naples. I added some garlic powder brought from home to the jarred sauce and some parmesano-reggiano cheese. Neapolitans took devotedly to the tomato--eventually.  Although the fruit had been introduced by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, it wasn't popular in the Campania until the late eighteenth.  To drink I have a local red called Aglianico.  Ummm.  Perfect with pasta.  I'm splashing out a bit with wine this time and spending more than usual, but really not that much.
Ciao