Naples is a grittier, noisier, and rougher-around-the-edges city in Italy, and is famous for pizza and the ruins of Pompeii.

And I was determined to check both of them off my list on my trip.

Now, the very famous place to have pizza in Naples is at Da Michele. Since 1870, this place has been selling the original forms of pizza – Margherita, Bianca, and Marinara. Sun ripe tomatos, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and a perfect crust.

I did not go to Da Michele.

I went to a random pizzeria on a street corner with red and white checkered tablecloths on the tables. And it was STILL the greatest pizza I have ever had.

It’s been said that Naples makes the best pizzas because they use fresh ingredients and the magic ingredient of the water in Naples, which is what helps the dough to create its wondrous properties of being crisp on the outside but still chewy on the inside of an impressively thin crust.

Having fueled myself up on delicious Pizza Margherita and Marinara, I headed by train to the ruins of Pompeii.

Quick history lesson in case you aren’t as big a history nerd as I am: Pompeii is an old Roman city that froze in time after catastrophe struck in 79 AD. Mount Vesuvius erupted and Pompeii was buried under piles of ashes until 1599. Today, you can walk around the excavated ruins of the town to see what life was like for a Roman in the first century AD, complete with the Maritime Gate, the Temple of Apollo, the storehouses, the Forum, the Baths, the House of the Poet, the House of the Faun, the amphitheater, the training ground, the taverns and the arena.

Many of the remains of those who died during the disaster have been removed to the Archeological Museum in Naples. After seeing one of the bodies remaining on site in Pompeii, I found it to be a little too morbid for my taste and opted not to visit the museum. You can see Mount Vesuvius from all over the town and I imagine the unfortunate residents of Pompeii would have had clear views of the eruption as it happened. It would have been a terrifying day.

A real eye opener for me in Pompeii was seeing was how people lived hundreds of years ago. There was a trendy main street district with all the good bars and best shops. There was a central marketplace, with bakeries with bread still in the ovens. The laundromat was conveniently located near entertainment venues, such as the brothel. People spent more than they could afford on interior decor. People went to shows at the arena. People painted graffiti on public spaces to complain about politicians.