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| Nicole's birthday celebration before we left for the coast! |
Thursday night, Courtney, Jessica, Lauren and I caught our train to Naples and revisited Rick Steve’s chapter on Amalfi – yikes! We realized we were probably being overambitious in our plans for the weekend… All of us agreed that we would play the weekend by ear, be spontaneous, and fit in everything we possibly could along the way!
Getting into the Naples train station in the middle of the night was a frightening experience. It didn’t help that about fifty people had already told us to watch out when we got there! We stuck with the crowd and huddled around a security officer while he fetched us a cab for the best price possible. I’m exaggerating slightly, but it definitely had more of an “inner-city” type feel to it. We were also preparing for the worst with our hostel – we were only going to be sleeping in Naples for about six hours so we booked a ten person co-ed room-oops! The taxi driver dropped us off and told us to walk down this ally to a tiny piazza (which I’m sure would have looked completely fine during the day), and we got a little freaked. But once inside the gate we realized the hostel was actually very nice. We met some nice Americans who helped us get into the room because the locks were very tricky, and ended up getting a good night’s sleep.
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| Big street in Naples, for you Dad! |
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| Stray dogs in the Naples mall |
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| Palace |
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| Harbor |
Our plan for the day was to spend a few hours in Naples and then head to Sorrento to catch a boat to Capri. This plan assumed Naples didn’t have much of interest to us, but we ended up staying there for the better part of the day. We got our morning espresso, and took Rick Steve’s walking tour of the city, backpacks and all! Starting in the main piazza with Dante’s statue, we made our way down to the harbor. This took us past shops, a gorgeous atrium which served as their “mall” full of cute stray dogs, the oldest opera house in Italy, and the palace! In the huge piazza outside the palace, MTV was setting up a concert stage for stars such as Maroon 5 who were coming through for a summer festival! Once at the harbor, we could see fisherman and cruise ships with Mt. Vesuvius as the backdrop. The backpacks were getting pretty heavy, but we backtracked so we could make it to the old town where pizza was invented (and close to the central station where our train for Sorrento would leave from). L’antica Pizzeria da Michele was AMAZING. There was a line out the door so we took a number and waited. While we were waiting we noticed a tiny sign that showed Julia Roberts eating a slice of pizza in her new movie “Eat, Pray, Love,” and we realized it was at this pizzeria! The pizza was definitely worthy of the big screen. Definitely the best I’ve ever had! They only make two types: margherita and marinara, and they have perfected them. To be able to make something so simple taste so great only using a few ingredients is quite a talent. Anyways, after each of us downed our own pizza, we hopped the train to Sorrento (realizing Capri would have to be the next day).
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| Eat, Pray, Love Pizzeria in old town Naples! |
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| Ipod commercial/train to Sorrento going really fast! |
Our hostel was actually in Piano di Sorrento—a little north of Sorrento—so we took the train too far and had to figure out the bus system. It was well worth it though. Our “hostel” was actually called Costa Alta Resort, and it really was a resort. We had our own little cabin and a gorgeous pool! We laid by the pool for about an hour, then we all showered and headed into town to see the other Santa Clara kids that came down with their program. We had dinner with them, and then went back to their hostel because it had a rooftop lounge with a view of the water and the whole town. Not too shabby! The other Santa Clarans had paid for an all-inclusive tour of Capri for the next day, but we decided to do our own thing and hopefully find them on the island.
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| Our pool in Piano di Sorrento |
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| Sorrento at sunset, trying to find the other Santa Clara kids |
Although we set the alarm for eight the next morning, we didn’t end up getting on the road til nine-thirty, and we were a little worried we were getting too late of a start. Part of our delay was finding a delicious caffe and fruit market in Piano di Sorrento. Since we were out of the main town, we were eating where all the locals go. They had the BEST croissants and cappuccinos! Once we got into Sorrento, we started walking down to the water and we heard a guy come up behind us and say, “hey, do you guys go to Santa Clara?” Surprised, we turned around to see Jimmy with the rest of the other Santa Clara group, heading down to the water with their tour! Talk about timing…clearly we were headed in the right direction of the boats. We ended up getting on the 10:45 boat to Capri, and thought our hopes of seeing the coastal towns were lost…
Capri was absolutely picturesque. Once off the boat we immediately got in line for the chairlift, but we were all dying to get in the water so Courtney went and talked to a guy in a “rent a boat” t-shirt. For thirty euro each (a bit of a splurge) we got a PRIVATE BOAT to take us around the whole island, which is really the way to see Capri. It was the perfect weather. The water was deep blue, and our guide knew all the stories of the rock formations. We went to all the grottos (blue, green, and white), but the waves were way too rough for our liking. If we’d swum through the caves, we would have risked getting beaten up against the rock walls, so we opted out. Instead, we swam in a little bay out in the open, which was lovely (except for the fact that our guide yelled “shark” and I FREAKED OUT - thank you Maui trip). Once back on shore, our guide told us about the only cheap place to get food on Capri (everything costs an arm and a leg on this island). We grabbed delicious sandwiches at this supermarket, and sat by the water to eat them.
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| Our private boat in Capri |
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| The town |
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| "We're going in there?" |
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| Swim time! |
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| "SHARK!!!" |
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| The famous arch |
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| Four person crew |
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| Our guide |
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| Nautical! |
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| Gorgeous... |
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| Little goat |
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| Blue grotto |
Still wanting to see the coastal towns, we decided to catch a boat to Amalfi since it was only midday! We all napped on the boat, so we were refreshed getting to Amalfi. We immediately took a bus up to a town above Amalfi called Ravello. The bus of course was super late (its Italy let’s be honest), and it was a death ride up the cliff going WAY TOO FAST. Once in Ravello, we realized why we’d been told to go up there. It was this adorable little town with a cute church and great views. We stopped in what we thought was a typical southern Italy ceramics shop, but realized the works inside were extraordinary. The owner actually told us she ships to homes like Ralph Lauren’s in Denver – wow! It was getting late so we figured we better check when the last bus down to Amalfi comes, and sure enough it was in about 10 minutes…so much for dinner in Ravello! On our way out of the main piazza, we saw the most amazing wedding at the little church! The bride and groom had to be rich and famous because they looked like models, as did the rest of the guests. Perfectly tailored suits and stunning dresses in such a gorgeous hilltop setting! They basically had the whole town to themselves! Anyways, the bus ride back down the hill was possibly more frightening then on the way up, but we survived. Back in Amalfi, we checked when the final bus to Sorrento left because otherwise it was a one hundred euro taxi ride…no thanks! We opted to try and make the 9:00 rather then the latest one at 10:00. We had dinner outside, and our table was pretty much in the middle of the street. The mopeds and smartcars pulling up next to us allowed for some great people watching. Our waiter pointed us in the direction of the gelato shop the restaurant owned, and we were content! Although I still got chocolate, duh, the lemon gelato (they are known for their lemons) was superb. I also got a chance to grab some of the beautifully painted tiny little bottles of lemon, melon and chocolate liquor that Amalfi is famous for (time to bring Jill back a little present like the one she got me when she studied here)! We made our bus, and it was quite the journey. I was so happy we got to see the coast by water in the daylight, and by bus at night. The whole coast lights up at night and it is quite gorgeous. The only thing was our bus driver was the same guy who drove us up to Ravello. He is crazy! Barreling around corners, honking, swiping cars, slamming on breaks, reversing over ravines – eeek! Mind you this road along the coast is SUPER high above the water. Oh well, we made it back in one piece and slept very well back in Sorrento.
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| Amalfi |
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| Cathedral |
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| Ravello views |
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| The famous store in Ravello |
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| Amalfi at dusk |
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| The little liqueur bottles! |
On our last day, we cruised around the main parts of Sorrento, which were bustling on Sunday morning around church-going time. Then we grabbed lunch and headed back up the coast to Pompei. I had no idea how MASSIVE Pompei was going to be! They had everything we do and more! What a city! Mt. Vesuvius was visible, and it was quite eerie seeing the volcano that destroyed it all – and could do it again! We got to see the famous bath houses, the theatres, homes, temples, and the amphitheatre (which is the best preserved Roman one). Pompei is also a doggy sanctuary, so when looking at these ancient buildings, one can expect to find a little puppy sleeping on the ground next to you. Probably the coolest/scariest part of my visit to these ruins was seeing the preserved bodies. The reason the city is so well preserved is because of the ash from the eruption covering it – and this includes the people living there. So we got to see two of these bodies close-up. You can still see their facial expressions, body position, and folds of their clothes, preserved from the moment the eruption of Vesuvius reached them!!! Insane.
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| Last day in Sorrento |
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| Pompei...Mt. Vesuvius in background |
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| Ruins |
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| Little dog sleeping by ruins - Pompei is a dog sanctuary |
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| Body preserved |
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| UNREAL |
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| Inside one bath house |
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| Preserved fresco |
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| Main bath house |
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| Me with my audio guide |
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| Ancient residential street |
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| Theatre |
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| Inside the best preserved Roman amphitheater we have...gladiator fights occurred in Pompei too! |
We were exhausted after Pompei, and once we got back to Naples we had a three hour-long dinner just so we could sit down and relax. We split a piece of Tiramisu and ran to make our train back to Rome. The train ride was very entertaining as we were singing to ourselves, playing cards, and joking around. About an hour in though we all passed out until we had to get off.
All in all, we were very impressed we made it to the six different places we had hoped we’d get to! I can’t believe we did it, but my body can! I’m still exhausted and it’s Wednesday! So we’re going to stay in Rome this weekend to rest up before Oktoberfest! We’re planning on going to some museums and new neighborhoods! Should be fun (and hopefully somewhat relaxing)…
Hope all is going well with you guys! Sending lots of love your way!
