We spend a few memorable days and nights here as spring begins to settle over the Bay of Naples, and the city’s pride, SSC Napoli, welcomes one of the other teams of the highest Italian division Serie A at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The stadium, formerly known as San Paolo, is named after the city’s eternal hero, who led Napoli to its first league title in the 1980s. The memory of Maradona lives on in the hearts of the Neapolitans and can be seen throughout the city – in streets, squares, and everyday life.

Here, in the heart of the south, the salty breeze from the sea blends with the scent of wood-fired pizza ovens, Italian opera and modern electronica, Renaissance art and graffiti. Inland and along the coast, the land is rich with lemon groves, olive trees, and the Falanghina grape, which gives rise to some of Campania’s well-known wines. Another regional delicacy we naturally encounter is the remarkable Mozzarella di Bufala.

During a few intense days together in Naples, we experience il calcio – soccer, la primavera – spring, and perhaps even clarify, once and for all, the meanings of gelato, carbonara, macchiato, la pasta and la pizza.

Here, food, drink, and soccer are not a matter of life and death – they are far more important than that.

The Sorrentine Peninsula, the Amalfi Coast, Montecassino, and Capri all lie within easy reach of the city, and can be woven into a more immersive Southern Italian journey.