A Religious Experience

Her face says it all.  But for those of not practiced in the art of reading people's faces, let me give you a  few moments of back ground.  Shawn loves pizza, and that may be the understatement of the year.  She may even love pizza more than me.  So when we began planning our trip to Italy, she insisted we eat a lot of pizza.  When she discovered that pizza was invinted in Naples and we were going to be in Naples, well it was either eat pizza in Naples or lose my wife forever.  

So that morning we awoke in Sorrento, jumped the local train to Pompeii to explore the ruins.  This is what I had been waiting for, ancient history is almost as important to me as food.  Shawn, was looking forward to the ruins, but more importantly, Pompeii is outside Naples.   As we departed what I think was one of the highlights of my Italian experience, I could see in Shawn's eyes that she was ready for what she thought was going to be the highlight of her life.

For those of us who don't know the story of the pizza, the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned the Neapolitan Raffaele Esposito to create something in honor of Queen Margherita's visit to Naples.  He came up with three versions, of which the Queen prefered the one that reminded her of the Italian flag: tomato (red), basil (green), and mozzerella (white).  So they named it the Pizza Margherita.

To be honest, a fresh from the brick oven Pizza Margherita in Naples, was an amazing experience.  The flavors, atmosphere, and general historical significance has become a cherished foodie memory.  As you can tell from the picture, it has become something quite more in line with a religious experience for Shawn.  I have always been a meat lovers pizza kind of guy, but now I will order the Pizza Margherita; and embrace it.  So for dinner tonight, I suggest you order one up from your local pizza shop and share the history with your family.