towards the heel of the boot!

This past weekend was my first overnight trip since I've been in Florence, and I spent it at the Amalfi Coast! It's located in, as my roommate Laura so helpfully described, towards the heel of the boot on the west side of Italy.

I went with a Florence for Fun tour group, so on Thursday night my two roommates Laura and Kodia, another girl from downstairs named Vero, Olivia, Grace and I ventured down to the train station to meet up with the 39 other people we would be traveling with, boarded the bus, and left at promptly 7pm. The bus ride down there was around 7 hours, and after dinner I passed out and slept through the whole thing. So the entire experience was relatively painless. We got to the hotel, which was called Spicy Sorrento and had a chili pepper as a mascot, at around 2am and promptly passed out.

Grace in her obviously comfortable sleeping position

We woke up at 7am on Friday to begin our day. Breakfast was provided at the hotel and it was a scrumptious buffet of carbs, meat and cheese– and of course Nutella. Then we left the hotel and walked along a road for a good long while to the port of Sorento to take a ferry to Capri. I was super nervous about the ferry, following my lovely Ireland boat experience for anyone who knows that story, so I popped some anti-nausea pills at breakfast and everything went very smoothly! When we got to Capri we had some time to gather ourselves and then we boarded a much smaller boat for a tour around the island. It was one of the most gorgeous landscapes I've ever seen.

There are grottos, or caves, all over the island. The most famous one, the Blue Grotto, has an opening that's only 3 feet tall, so it's not open when the tide is too high, and unfortunately it was closed when we were there. But when it's open the only way to get inside is to rent a rowboat and take that in, and it's officially a museum so they charge entry. I was so bummed to miss out on it!

one of the grottos

I survived the boat!

After the tour we all gathered and took a tram up to the top of the island, which is essentially a mountain. From there we walked down the other side of it in search of the restaurant that our tour guides suggested to us, and we were not disappointed. I had a green salad (which was in fact, just green lettace... two years ago that might have been just what I wanted but now this was a slight let down) but then I had my main dish of linguine with seafood (oysters and clams). It was delicious! It was definitely the best seafood I had ever had. We washed our lunch down with a couple bottles of wine, and then headed to the beach (which was conveniently right next to the restaurant).

Olivia with our delicious pasta dishes!

We swam and lounged on the beach for an hour. Laura and I swam and mini-cliff jumped off a rock near the shore. The water was so salty and sooooo deep, but I loved it because guess what... it was seaweed free!

beachin' it

After that we went back to the top of the island for a complimentary Limoncello tasting, which originates in the region. I am not a personal fan of this beverage, but it was a fun time nonetheless. After that we headed back down to the port to catch our ferry back home, and while we waited Olivia and I promptly fell asleep at the table. No shame.

We got to try 3 flavors of Limoncello: regular, lemon cream and orange cream

Olivia and I, hardcore napping

On Saturday we woke up a bit later, and were ready to leave by 10am. Our bus got there late, so we didn't get to Positano until around noon. I thought Capri was the prettiest place I had ever been but Postiano gave it a run for its money. We drove on a famous winding road called Nastro Azzurro, or blue ribbon, and it provided an amazing lookout over the ocean. (Fun fact: there's a beer brewed in Italy called Nastro Azzurro and we enjoyed some later in the day).

Positano

When we got to the beach in Positano, we decided to rent a boat which you can take out by the hour for 10 euros per person. We joined forces with another group of 7 girls who were traveling together and set out to sea! Our driver took us to a cove where we could swim, and then another rock to jump off, which was slightly bigger than the one in Capri. We enjoyed some Nastro Azzurros and lounging on the boat before heading back in and enjoying more of the same on the beach.

zoo group!

Olivia and I

Olivia, Laura, Grace and I

Laura and I (mini) cliff jumping

We beached it for the rest of the afternoon, had some sandwiches the size of our heads, and then I had white chocolate with Nutella gelato. Then we rubbed elbows with the locals to catch a cramped local bus to take us to the top of the mountain back to our bus to take us home. I spent the evening playing cards and drinking wine with Laura, Grace, Vero, and Kodia in the hotel bar.

mi e le mie panino con pomodoro, insalata, provolone e pesto!

my favorite dog I've met so far

cards at da bar, I learned how to play Presidents!

Sunday was our most productive day, ie no beaches or day drinking. We went to Pompeii! I've read a bit about Pompeii in some of my readings for Metropolitan studies, so it was totally unreal to actually see it. It's literally a dead city, perfectly preserved in the volcanic ash. We saw 5 people, who were literally mummified when the volcanic eruption destroyed the city, but it's estimated that approximately 16,000 people died when Mount Vesuvius erupted.

one of the mummified remains found

I decided I didn't want to take a formal tour– I've learned I hate them, they're much too restricting, and I had already spent way too much time being a sheep that weekend. I don't regret opting out of it, but it was an overwhelming undertaking to do alone. There is so much to see and the signage was very limited and rather unhelpful. But I still enjoyed myself, and liked wandering aimlessly, just taking everything in and hearing snippets from various tour guides along the way.

a fresco in the Villa dei Misteri (Villa of Mysteries)

We ended the day by climbing Mount Vesuvius. It took about 20 minutes from where the bus dropped us off near the mouth of the volcano, and it provided an amazing view of the surrounding area. You could see Pompeii in the distance, and it really looks like ruins in the middle of so much developed area.

the empty area in the middle is Pompeii

ya know, stretching in front of Mt Vesuvius

the mouth of the volcano

Laura and I, lady date style

"do hiking poses!"

After an hour at Vesuvius, we clambered hot and sweaty back on the bus for the lovely 7 hour ride home, and arrived in Florence at a lovely time of 10:30. All in all, a mighty successful and enjoyable weekend! We missed Hannah though, who couldn't come, but she was there in spirit :)


New thing: riding a boat without getting seasick, panna cotta, lemon chocolate, and the card game Presidents!