At the beginning of the semester I had signed up to go on
two trips offered through AUR Student Life; the day trip to Assisi I have
already blogged about, and a weekend trip to the Amalfi Coast. In January, it
seemed like I had so much time before I went on the tip… and now I can’t
believe I’ve already done it!
Our first stop: Mt. Vesuvius! After a relatively early
morning and a three-hour bus ride from Rome, we drove up the winding roads of
the volcano, and finally hiked our way up a gravel path to the top. Let me tell
you, it was no small task… but the view of Naples Bay is incredible from the
top!
We had lunch, got some pictures, and slid our way back down,
which was almost equally as difficult as going up, believe it or not.
Second stop: Sorrento. I actually really loved this city and
wish I could have stayed there longer! There was a small strip of sand along
the shore – the first time I have seen an actual beach since I’ve been here – so
we just shopped around and enjoyed the beautiful weather along the shore of the
beautifully clear water the entire afternoon and evening. We slept and ate in a
nice hotel in Sorrento the whole weekend, although the food was not as
appealing as the rooms were.
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| Sorrento is known for its use of lemons, especially for Limoncello. So of course I had to try some lemon gelato (the white) and mango and orange (the yellow). |
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| The small beach in Sorrento |
Third stop: Capri. This a beautiful island that is known for
its grottos – particularly the Blue Grotto or Grotta Azzura – and not for its
beaches. After a short ferry ride to the island, we shopped around the harbor
until it was time to get on a boat to travel around the island. This was well
worth the money spent and even the extra money spent on the small row boat that
took us into the Blue Grotto. Even looking back at these pictures myself, the
blue of the water just looks unreal! Afterwards, we got lunch, hung out at the
one beach with a little bit of sand on the island – at which I obtained a
pocketful of beautiful sea glass – and sweated a lot for the second day in a
row when we hiked up to the city center of the island.
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| The clouds resting on the rocks |
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| This water is just unreal |
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| The tiny boat going into the Blue Grotto! |
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| Absolutely unreal. The reason the water is so blue in these grottos is because of the reflection of the sunlight. |
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| #nofilter |
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| My beach full of sea-glass |
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| View from the city center |
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| Paradise? |
Fourth stop: Pompeii. I have heard mixed reviews about
visiting Pompeii, but I have always been really interested in volcanoes and in
the specific case of Pompeii (although the recent movie on this historical
event was terrible, I do not advise watching it ever), so I really enjoyed our
tour of the city! I learned some new things about how the city functioned, such
as the directions of the streets, the types of homes and correlations to social
class, it was built over a city that was 200 years older than it, and how some
shops and saunas worked during the time. And of course I relearned some things
I already knew about the city, such as it’s about five miles, or eight
kilometers, away from Mt. Vesuvius, and the people of Pompeii died from the ash
that buried them during the eruption in 79 AD. They didn’t understand at the
time what the earthquake was a warning of prior to the eruption, and they also
didn’t understand that after the eruption the ash would come and bury their
city. Another interesting thing I learned was that while standing in the Roman
Forum (it was Roman because Pompeii hadn’t resisted their taking over of power
to save lives and money), which is where you get the best view of the volcano,
the mountain they saw before 79 AD is what we see today if we make a triangle
with our hands using the edges of the mountain as an outline. The thing was
huge. It kind of works with the pictures too, so give it a shot!
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| If you stood in one spot in the center of the "stage" you could hear yourself perfectly. The acoustics in the ancient theaters were amazing! |
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| Shared staircase by two families leading up to their bedrooms. They had to walk outside their lower room to get to it. |
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| The summer garden of a wealthy families house. |
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| What was once a house 200 years before this one was destroyed. |
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| Those stones in the middle of the street were used to walk across so people didn't have to step in the waste they discarded into the streets. |
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| An old shop! |
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| Most well preserved mosaic in Pompeii |
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| The Roman Forum, with a view of Mt. Vesuvius in the background. |
Third stop: Naples. For our last few hours of the trip, we
stopped for lunch in the city of Naples so everyone can say they have tried
real Neapolitan pizza and espresso, for those that like espresso. We walked
down some side streets of Naples for a while trying to find a genuine pizzeria,
and finally found one that met all of our expectations! The pizza was
spectacular, and I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture! We explored a
small area of Naples with our remaining time before departure, and I have to
say, this was the first place in Europe that I wasn’t too fond of. It’s
unfortunate, because Naples used to be such a great city, and since the
unification of Italy as a country in 1860, the economy and city itself has
slowly declined into what it is stereotyped to be today.
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| A delicious lemon and strawberry slush |
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| Amazing view of Mt. Vesuvius! |
To end on a positive note, I really enjoyed the whole
weekend and my only regret was not buying the amazing red leather purse I found
in Sorrento!
Observation of the
Day: Natural beauty is the best kind of beauty. Cities can be very
beautiful, but the natural wonders of the world are the most breath-taking
sites to see. Growing up with two parents who are very passionate about
conserving nature has given me more of an appreciation than I was aware of,
even though I still want to live in a city.
