When you think of the country of Italy I am sure you picture the rolling hills in Tuscany, the Colosseum in Rome, and maybe even the art in Florence. I am sure a beautiful paradise doesn't even enter your mind. If you are like me you would never ever picture a tropical paradise in Italy. But this past weekend I was able to experience 3 days in paradise.
On Friday a group of Umbra students and I set off at 6 am for the Amalfi Coast! After about 4 1/2 hours on the bus we finally arrived at our first stop: Pompei! As soon as we got off the bus we entered the ruins of an old Roman town. The ruins were pretty intact considering all they have been through over the years including more than one eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. We had a tour guide take us through the ruins for almost two hours showing us everything from an old Roman amphitheater to an ancient Roman spa. It was all so interesting to me considering I don't remember learning about Pompei in high school.
After the tour we had some free time in Pompei then we traveled to our hotel in our second stop: Sorrento. We stayed at a four star hotel in Sorrento and it was so awesome. We all enjoyed the showers in our rooms which were about three times the size of my shower in Perugia. And our hotel was right in downtown Sorrento which is an absolutely beautiful town. It reminded me of Florida or Hawaii with all of the palm trees and colorful buildings. We didn't stay up too long after dinner because we had to be up early to leave for Capri!
We left our hotel at 9 am on Saturday to take the ferry to our third stop of the trip: the island of Capri! When we got on the ferry it had started to rain and we were all very worried that we wouldn't be able to see the crystal blue water and amazing views Capri has to offer. By the time we arrived in Capri (after a very rough ferry ride) the rain had slowed and we got in a cable car to the very top of the island. When we got to the top the view was incredible despite the fog and mist. In a way I was thankful for the fog because it made for some great pictures like this one....
Right after we took our pictures the rain had started up again and it down poured! So a group of us took cover in a cafe and enjoyed some paninos and cappuccino. Luckily, after we finished our meal the rain had stopped and the sun started to come out! We took advantage of this and went to find these gardens some girls in our trip had told us about. We found the Augusta Gardens and my breath was taken away! In these gardens there is a lookout point that has some incredible views. I almost started crying because this is the view I had yearned for. We spent about an hour here just taking as many pictures as possible and my favorite picture was taken at this lookout. I did edit this picture slightly but it takes my breath away every time I look at it and it is now the wallpaper on my laptop. And as my friend says it looks like it should be an inspirational picture..thanks Sam! I have entered this picture into Umbra's photo of the month contest so wish me luck! So here is my favorite picture I have ever taken....
Around 4 pm we had to take a ferry back to Sorrento. Our original plan was to take a ferry at 5:15 but the ferry company informed us the waves were too dangerous to stay any later than 4 pm. So now I must tell you all about our ferry ride from you know where. It started off ok with our whole group on the top deck of the ferry boat. But as we got farther into the sea we could see the waves were about 5-6 feet tall and our boat started rocking. At one point the side I was on was much higher than the other side and the people on the lower side said they could have put their hands in the water if they wanted to..very scary! It was the longest half hour of my life. After we got back on land we heard it is not uncommon for the sea to be so wild. Hence the reason our leaders loved our laughter and screaming as the boat was rocking so violently. We all slept well Saturday night.
On Sunday morning we said goodbye to our wonderful hotel and took a bus tour of Sorrento and Naples. Our tour guide was hilarious giving us so many interesting facts including "cows cannot be let out to graze in Sorrento because they would roll down the hills". She even sang opera to us and played a popular song in Italy right now (I will find the name I promise).
After the tour we had about five hours of free time in the city of Naples. But before letting us roam around our tour guide told us where to eat for lunch. We were about a five minute walk from the oldest pizzeria in all of Italy. It is called Brandi's pizzeria and it is supposedly the place where the Queen Margherita came and she loved the pizza so much they decided to name the pizza after her. Hence the margherita pizza we have today! So a group of us went right when they opened at 12:30 and enjoyed the margherita pizza. It was the best pizza I have ever eaten!
After we stuffed ourselves with pizza we walked around exploring the city of Naples. I'm sure you have heard negative things about the city but we were in a very safe portion of the city so no worries. But we heard the mafia is still alive on the outskirts of Naples. While exploring we came upon an old palace and we decided to visit. We went inside and found out it was not only free entry but we could take as many pictures as we wanted as long as we didn't use a flash..what a deal! So we took about an hour and walked around this beautiful palace snapping pictures left and right. Here are some pictures of the inside and the view the palace deck had to offer of the Queen Mary 2 which happened to be docked in Naples for the day!
I am back to reality right now preparing myself for my appointment with the Italian police tomorrow morning to finish my permit of stay requirements to live in Perugia. I am going to be finger printed by the police which should be a cultural experience to say the very least. I will let you all know how it goes :)
I hope everyone has a wonderful week and if you have nice weather I hope you enjoy it! Here is the link to my Facebook page with all of my pictures from this past weekend so check them out!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=235573&id=604955888&l=8267f74537
Italian word of the post:
isola - island
Have a great week and if you ever find yourself in Italy please please go to the Amalfi Coast!! You won't regret it!!
Molto amore (lots of love)
Morgan :)
Love the pics!
ReplyDeleteHave a question for you- I have a layout I want to use for my own study abroad blog, but since it was made for Blogger but isn't just a "choose this one!" thing on the Blogger site, I'm not sure how to apply it. Do you know?