Naples in October - Day 3

On Tuesday we are determined to walk less and plan on visiting the three cloisters.

The first entails going back into San Lorenzo Maggiore, a delight with its bare stone and towering gothic columns and there are also some nice frescoes but the cloister is closed and seems to be part of the paid visit to the underground area. We go down the famous street of presepi San Gregorio Armeno although I don't find them particularly fascinating, maybe because they always seem dusty to me, even when they are new.

Once again the cloister of San Gregorio Armeno requires paying an entrance fee so we just go into the church, an extravaganza of heavy gold baroque in dim light but we stop for the mass.

After we go back to the Pignasecca market where the most famous fishmongers has the enormous variety of fresh fish at really cheap prices that we were hoping for. We get two tonnetti quickly reduced into fillets which make an easy and tasty lunch with some boiled fennel.

After lunch we go to visit the Santa Chiara complex, paying this time. The tiled cloister is worth it, a real haven of peace and beauty in the grimy heart of Naples. We look at the museum, the archaeological area, the video about the history of the convent and church, the pictures on the tiles, the frescoes towards the top of the stairs towards the closed area, but eventually just sit and relax in the warm quiet.

On the way home we stop for bread and Napoli sandwiches to add to the rest of the fish, this time with tomato and olives. Oh yes and another Sfogliatella, did I forget to mention I bought some this morning!