Naples - Pizzeria da Michele

'You like pizza?' asked our taxi driver as he weaved between the harrowing roads of Naples, never for a moment breaking eye contact to glance at the road ahead, 'Si, it's why we are here' we answered. With that he screeched to a stop in the middle of the road, pointing down a nearby alley. 'Da Michele', he said, 'It is where you must go'. And so we did.

It turns out we had stumbled upon what is widely regarded as one of the best pizzerias in Naples, and the very same one that Julia Roberts eats at in Eat Pray Love. With a crowd of fast talking Italians and wide-eyed tourists outside jostling for a table, I had little doubt that we had found the right place.

As our number was called we were bustled into the restaurant, which seemed all the more authentic for its stark white walls, fluorescent lighting, and throw-away plastic cups. No menus, of course, so we ordered quattro margarita pizzas with extra mozarella, and quattro birra to match.

Of course the wait was excruciating. Just knowing you are about to eat what is possibly one of the best pizzas in the world is a concept that almost completely overwhelmed me.

And there it was; bubbling, gooey, charred, crispy, and traditionally soupy and soggy in the middle. This, this exact moment of pure happiness and gluttony, is why I went traveling.

It's so far off any other pizza I had ever had before. The dough, more like a naan than anything, was so soft there wasn't a chance of eating it in hand like a normal slice, so we hacked at it with our cutlery, using our hands to roll it up and clean the messy juices as we went.

The toppings were simple; a strong sweet tomato sauce, chewy bubbling mozarella and a small sprig of basil in the middle.

To quote Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat Pray Love, who describes it much more aptly than I ever could: "I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return. I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair."

Sitting here writing this, now with a few more Neapolitan pizzas in my stomach, I can barely remember what a 'normal' pizza tastes like, but why would I want to? The days of stiff crusts and dry toppings are behind me (well, at least as long as I stay in Naples).