L'amore

This is my friend, Joanna.  She's pretty cool.

We lived next door to each other in the dorms at IU.  She is a ton of fun and one of my favorite people.  During college, we spent time hanging out, going out, and eating because we both love food.

At an IU football game in college.

Joanna and her now husband (!!), who is Italian, live in Naples.  I spend a lot of time being jealous of where they live, especially when it's freezing in Chicago and they are on the beach.  Also, the pizza.

When we got the save the date for their wedding, I knew that we were going to do everything in our power to make it.  For one thing, we haven't seen them since our wedding and for another, I wanted to experience an Italian wedding.  And now that I have attended one, let me tell you how awesome they are.  

The ceremony was held in a beautiful church that's older than my country.  When the newlyweds walked out, we got to throw rice at them!  And they had a fun "getaway car" - an old school VW bug.

After the ceremony, we headed to the most beautiful venue I have ever been to in my life.  To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are some pictures:

They got to show up to their reception on a boat.  How cool is that?

And then there was the food.

There were a million courses.  A by a million, I mean about five.  Luckily, we were warned about this beforehand so I didn't really eat anything leading up to the reception.  There was so much good stuff to eat, like pasta and fresh seafood.  And I mean fresh - I picked up a prawn to eat and was told that it was still crudo.  I had no idea what that meant and was willing to shrug it off until Joanna's mother explained to me that it was still raw.  She saved me from a day of being ill, and for that I am forever grateful.

One of the many fun parts of the night included a duo of Neapolitan singers that serenaded us during dinner.  They had beautiful voices and it was a lot of fun having them walking around and singing all sorts of different songs.

Since Joanna is American, there were some American aspects to the wedding - father/daughter and mother/son dance, as well as a speech from the Maid of Honor.  I love going to weddings where different cultural aspects are woven in.  So cool!  And of course we ended the night dancing away under the moonlight. 

It was a beautiful wedding and I'm so happy that we were able to share in the love!  Auguri Fabio e Joanna!

S.S.C. Napoli

On Sunday morning, we took the high speed train an hour south to begin the second, and final, leg of our trip in Naples.  Rome was a good time, but I'm happy to be in Naples now. Being so close to the sea always makes me a happy camper.

We took no time at all diving into the Neapolitan way of life, including going to see S.S.C. Napoli soccer game.  It was the craziest sporting event I have ever been to in my life.  Granted, they were playing for a spot in the Champions League, so emotions were running extra high.  Mike and I agreed that no sporting event in the United States even comes close to this by comparison.

via

Ticketing for the game is a little funny. You are assigned a ticket with your name on it when you purchase it, and you have to bring a photo ID with you in order to get in. Sometimes they are lax about checking IDs at the entrance and you can sneak in with someone else's ticket, but they were checking everything at this game since it was the last one of the season. Once you enter, you just pick a seat. Forget the one printed on your ticket; it's pretty much a free for all. The only place that's off limits is where the hooligans sit. That's probably for the best anyway.

Photo credit: Fabio

Once the whistle blows, you stand up on your seat for the duration of the game. It's a little uncomfortable, but you get used to it.  The only time that gets exciting is when Napoli scores and everyone starts going nuts. People are cheering, jumping up and down, and hugging each other.  I almost fell a few times when they scored.

The game was chock full of drama: Napoli being down 2-0 at half, then evening up the score, red cards, a penalty kick for Napoli to take the lead (they missed), and unfortunately, losing the game.  But man, the atmosphere was something else.  Emotions were running so high that after Napoli tied the game, a guy near us started to cry tears of joy.  Also, anytime Lazio got the ball, the stadium erupted into the loudest whistles (Europe's equivalent of booing) I have ever heard in my life. I have never been somewhere with so many people whistling at once.  It was deafening.  We also ended up losing our voices, even though we didn't know the cheers.  Even though Napoli lost, it was a fantastic way to start our time in Naples!