344. Naples - Where Pizza Is Just the Beginning [from the Vault]

Untold Italy travel podcast

In this episode of Untold Italy, host Katie Clarke sits down with travel writer and Glam Italia author Corinna Cooke to explore Naples, challenging its outdated

Key takeaways

• Corinna Cooke reveals that a friend's declaration—'once you've been to Naples, everywhere else is less'—sparked her decade-long dedication to the city and inspired her fifth guidebook.
• The Sanità neighborhood has been transformed by Don Antonio Lofreto and La Paranza, an organization where local youth now run historic sites like the Ippogeo di Cristallina tomb.

Main topics

• Naples travel guidebook & city overview
• Sanità neighborhood revitalization & La Paranza initiative

Notable quotes

"once you've been to Naples, everywhere else is less."

Conclusion

The episode equips listeners with historical context, practical logistics, and cultural

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) For many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore. Because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began. Speaker 3 (0:11) Turning dreams into direction. Speaker 3 (0:17) Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. Speaker 3 (0:23) So, where will your journey take you? Etihad. Beyond Borders. Speaker 2 (0:30) Napoli is a place that can be a bit polarising. In my opinion, that is quite unfair. There is so much to admire about a city that has existed for millennia and rebuilt after the explosion of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The people are proud, resilient and so passionate about their food and enjoying life that you can't help but join in. So let's go to Naples and discover all the things you can do there and why it could be Italy's most exciting city. Speaker 1 (1:01) Ciao a tutti and benvenuti to Untold Italy, the travel podcast where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes, hills and coastlines of bella Italia. Each week your host, Katie Clark, takes you on a journey in search of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato and, of course, a whole lot of pasta. If you're dreaming of Italy and planning future adventures there, you've come to the right place. Speaker 2 (1:38) Ciao friends, welcome to the Untold Italy podcast where we help travellers move beyond the checklist so they really feel part of Italy. This is the Untold Italy way. I'm your host Katie Clark and on today's episode we are exploring one of Italy's most exciting cities, Naples, with my friend, Glam Italia guidebook author Corinna Cook. Both Corinna and I think Naples is one of the coolest cities we know. Many visitors pass through on the way to the Amalfi Coast and maybe stop at Pompeii, but they are missing out on this exciting city with a world-class archaeological museum, grand architecture of the Bourbon dynasty, an underground city and medieval castles. Plus, a vibrant fish market, many different styles of pizza and an abundance of sweet treats. And yes, even beaches. Naples has a fun energy that is very different to Florence, Venice and Rome. It is unmistakably and unapologetically Neapolitan. It is fun for a day trip from Rome because it is just over an hour by fast speed train. Or even better, spend a few days. You will find all the suggestions mentioned in this episode in the episode show notes on our website. And they're also mapped out for you in the premium version of the Untold Italy app. That includes our favourite restaurant recommendations, hotels and other activities, plus transport information and more. It is Italy in your pocket, not just for Naples, but for cities and towns across all of Italy's 20 regions. Andiamo, let's go to Napoli. I can't wait for you to hear all about it. Speaker 2 (3:12) Bentonata, Karina. Welcome back to the Untold Italy podcast. Hi, Speaker 4 (3:16) Katie. Thank you for having me back. Hello, everyone. I hope you're all having a fabulous week. Speaker 2 (3:23) Oh, Corinna, I am so happy to have you back on the pod with me. And I'm so excited to celebrate the publication of your new book with you. Number five. Congratulations, Aguri. Thank you. I'm so excited. And, Speaker 4 (3:37) you know, this was such a passion project. I feel so passionate about Naples. And I really wanted to get the information out to people and get people to see how exciting this place is and why they need Speaker 2 (3:52) it. to go there big time. Well, before we get started talking about Naples, I really did want to say what an achievement. And honestly, I don't know if many of you listening have written a book or contemplated it, but it's an insane amount of work. And to have written five is a testament to your passion for Italy and sharing it with the world. So thank you for doing that, Karina. Thank you. Thank you so much. Speaker 4 (4:15) I really appreciate that. Speaker 2 (4:16) No. So before we jump in and go deeper into Naples, can you give our listeners a little bit of insight into your world? What took you to Italy and how you became the bestselling author of so many original guidebooks about your beloved Italy? Yeah. So my Speaker 4 (4:32) name is Corinna Cook and I write the Glamour Talia How to Travel Italy series. I also do small group tours for women every summer in Italy. And Italy has been my passion for a really, really long time. And the first time I went to Italy, I was, I think, 21 years old, and I was doing a trip around Europe. And when I hit Italy... it felt like the air moved differently. Something different happened. I'd loved everywhere else that I'd been. I thought everywhere was fantastic, but something resonated deep inside of me on day one and it's never gone away. So at some point I decided, you know, because I'm a Sagittarius, I travel the world. That's what I live for. At some point I decided. that rather than keeping on going to new places for three days here and four days there and doing that thing, that I would just devote my time and energy to exploring more of Italy because no matter how much I saw, I always wanted more. No matter how often I went, I always wanted to go back and do more things and see more things. So that's how it all kind of transpired. And now I live between Italy and the United States. I don't know. It's a pretty great life. Speaker 2 (5:48) I think it's an amazing life and good for you for creating it for yourself. Maybe you should write your next book about that. But we need a little bit of a break first, I'd say. Speaker 1 (5:58) Yeah. So Speaker 4 (5:59) tell me, Karina, why did you choose Naples for your fifth book? Well, Naples is somewhere I feel very passionate about. I do feel it's a little misunderstood and I feel like it is this untapped source. It's this place that people don't know that they're going to absolutely lose their minds over. It's so exciting. There is so much going on there. And, you know, I go to Naples all the time and I'm constantly having my socks knocked off about when I see new things and I'm just like, wait, how can this possibly be? Like, how did I not know about this? But I talk about in the book, in the very beginning of the book, Years ago, it was about 2011, 2012, in my previous career as a makeup artist, I worked with this lady and her husband had been with NATO or one of those kind of military-ish things where you move around the world and they're like three years in each place or something. And so the whole way through this day. She had been telling me all these different places, you know, and where we lived in Morocco and when we lived in, I can't remember where else, like all these places, where we lived in Paris, where we lived in da-da-da-da-da. And she told me about living in Naples and just how fantastic it was. And that wasn't the Naples of today. This was like in the 90s she was living in Naples where it was a little bit of a different scene. But at the end of this day working with her and listening to her stories, I said to her, so, if you had to pick one place of this past 20 something years, what would you say was your favorite place to live? And I didn't even get the sentence finished. And she was like, Naples, of course, Naples. And I'm like, wait, what? And she goes, Corinna, once you've been to Naples, everywhere else is less. And that has actually stuck in my head. Ever since then. So I was, like, my whole world focus suddenly changed to how do I get to Naples? And I started going down there. But I totally get it. I totally get it. And, in fact, when I left Naples, I. In December of last year, I went down to Naples and stayed for 10 days. And oh my gosh, I had such a great time. I did so many things. I didn't do anything twice apart from going to my coffee shop and things like that. But it was just constant doing. And I'm thinking to myself, man, you're at the end of 10 days. You haven't taken the tip off the iceberg of this place. But when the taxi came to get me, I had tears pouring down my face. I was beside myself. I didn't want to leave. And the taxi driver was this young guy. He was like, are you all right? What's happened? And I'm like, see, I'm getting all teared up now. I'm like, what's happened is I don't want to leave Naples. And he's like, I understand that. And he goes, where are you going? And I'm like, well, luckily I'm going to Rome, but it's only for a day or two and then I fly back. So we're sitting there in the car and he's like, so. what train are you on? And I tell him my train and he goes, oh, you've got a lot of time. And I'm like, yeah, you know, I always arrive ridiculously early. And he reaches up and he flicks off the meter and he goes, you and I are going for a little drive. And we drove around Naples for a half hour and he's telling me things that he loves about his city. And I'm telling him things that I love about his city. And he's telling me about soccer and about all these things. Pulls me up to this different entrance to the train station that I've been to before. And he goes, your train's going to go from this platform over here. So here's the closest. And he wouldn't accept any extra money. He would only accept the 15 euros that had originally been quoted. Speaker 3 (9:29) And Speaker 2 (9:29) I thought to myself, yeah, that's Speaker 4 (9:31) Naples right there. Speaker 2 (9:33) Amazing. Yeah. Like I think Naples has got this very undeserved reputation. And I think let's just. Cut to the chase right now. A lot of people think Naples is dirty, too grimy, too busy, too much graffiti. Okay, if you don't like a vibrant city, it's probably not the one for you. If you want a more relaxed, you know, prettified Italy, then I suggest head up to Florence. Naples for me, I totally 100 % agree with you, Karina. It's got a soul that you will feel if you spend any amount of time there. And I think that similar story happened to me. I went to Naples on a day trip actually with a friend and we met an amazing guy, Gianpaolo, who took us around as part of a tour. And you know what? I nearly burst into tears, but I nearly burst into tears when I arrived there because the way he explained the city and the psyche of the people there, like they are a population. Like it's not people that just come and go, that are a collection of it. They identify as Neapolitan and they are living in a very... sort of unstable landscape with obviously we know what happened with Mount Vesuvius, but close by there's other volcanic activity. So he said the reason we're so passionate and so people might say crazy is because we're living in the shadow of this thing that could technically erupt at any time. So we know we have to make the most of our lives and we live with our heart on our sleeve. And, you know, I've never forgotten that actually. Speaker 4 (11:09) Yeah, oh, it's tremendous. And I will say that over the course of the past, say, 10, 15 years, I've noticed an extraordinary change in Naples. Whereas it used to be that you'd look down a little side street or an alleyway and it would be like piled up with trash. Now I think Naples is cleaner than Rome. It's modernized in all kinds of really cool ways. You know, when I was there in December, I was walking around at night by myself, not a care in the world. I was riding the Metra by myself at night. You felt safe. It was tremendous. Now, there's certain areas I wouldn't be pulling that kind of number off on, but it's a great city that has just made this gigantic leap forward on so many levels. And we'll talk about some of them today on the pod, but wow, what a place. And, you know, I think Naples changes you. You're not the same after you've been to Naples. You know, I have this quote here from Alexandre Dumas, and he says, Naples is the flower of paradise, the adventure of my life. And I'm like, when I read that, I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Naples is the adventure of my Speaker 2 (12:22) life. I love it. Because one minute you can have these grand, you know, historic buildings and the theatre and that huge piazza and you have that real sense that it was a royal city and then like just a few streets away you have the crazy Spanish Quarter and then you can go into the old town and visit the Archaeological Museum. I mean, you can't stop there. Like there is so much going on and we haven't even talked about pizza. Like that's the reason why most people go. Speaker 4 (12:53) Exactly. And, you know, in Naples, in the space of 100 meters, you can tangibly see and touch 3,000 years of history. Speaker 3 (13:03) So, Speaker 4 (13:03) you know, if you start at Piazza Bellini, you've got right there in front of you the Greek ruins that are, I mean, they're, you know, not quite 3,000 years ago, but it's easier to think 3,000 years Greeks, 2,000 years Romans, like give it a little bit of wiggle room there. But you see the... And then suddenly there's Roman ruins, there's Baroque, there's Middle Ages, there's Renaissance, there's modern, there's just everything. And it's right there. And you've only walked 100 meters. And I think it's just astounding. There's just so much on offer there. And these wild, fun, gregarious people, like, you know, they're so friendly. And then the food, good Lord. I Speaker 2 (13:45) know. And you think, I'm going to go to Naples and have pizza. And yes, you definitely need to try all the different kinds of pizza that you can try there. But they are experts at so many things. And if you've got a sweet tooth. It's one of the culinary capitals Speaker 4 (14:00) of Italy. People from all over Italy come to Naples to eat. And then one of my favorite things is I love port cities. So Genoa, Palermo, Catania, Napoli, because port cities have this whole street food identity, which you don't find elsewhere. And port city street food is always really interesting. It's centuries of... ships of people coming in from all over the world, you know, all the different merchants bringing their flavours and their cuisines in, and you wind up with these fantastic Speaker 2 (14:32) foods. I know, I can just remember the life-changing buffalo mozzarella that we had walking down. They sell it in these little tubs down, I think it's, it might even be Spackanapoli. I think it's, anyway, it's one of those streets near Spackanapoli, and it's... an incredible little treat. We didn't even know. You just walk in and you just buy yourself a little bowl of boccaccini, little mini mozzarella's and sit there and have your mind blown. It's unbelievable. Yeah. Oh, it's great. Naples is just great. It's so great. I can't wait to Speaker 4 (15:04) get back. I'll be back there in a couple of weeks. Like every time I go back to Italy, I work in trips to Naples. So most of the time I'm going as a day trip. which is one of the things I want to talk about today, because I think for a lot of people, the thought of going to Naples and, you know, they've got a 14-day vacation or 10-day vacation to try and convince them to go spend three or four days in Naples when they haven't been before, it's probably a bit much of a mental leap. So I know when I started going to Naples, I was going as a day trip. I have since spent time, you know, where I go and I stay there and stay there. But I would say a good portion of the time that I spend in Naples is me jumping on a train and buzzing down there for the day and then coming back in time for bed, you know, so. Train from Rome, right? Train from Rome is an hour and 15 minutes. So I can get to Naples. I mean, I can get to Naples from Rome more quickly than I can drive from my house in Phoenix across Phoenix to my friend Jennifer's house. So she and I do dinners and stuff all together. And I'm like, how? is this? But from where I live in Tuscany, one of the first things when I was planning getting a home in Tuscany was how do I get to Naples? And it just so happens I can get on a train at 6.30 in the morning and I can be sipping my first Neapolitan coffee at 9.15 in the morning. So I actually do this all the time. And my friend Pina, who's a tour guide down there. We always work it so that I go on a day when she can meet me for a drink at the end of her tours. Oh, my gosh. The fun. Lots of fun to be had in Naples. How Speaker 2 (16:42) good Speaker 4 (16:42) is the Speaker 2 (16:42) train system, though, that you can do that, really? Speaker 4 (16:45) And it costs nothing. I couldn't park in downtown Phoenix for what it costs me to go down there on a Speaker 2 (16:52) train. I mean, it's brilliant. So easy, so easy. And you're right in the heart of it then as well. You just need to jump on a metro, but we'll talk about that in a second. So Corina, we had a chat about what we could talk about with people and there are so many obvious things to see in Naples, like I mentioned the Archaeological Museum, which is insanely good. And