It was my 3rd trip and final trip with Bus2Alps (I also went with them to Interlaken and on my Spring Break adventure). We stayed in a hotel in Sorrento and visited different coastal towns each day.
Capri
Our Friday excursion was to the island of Capri. We took a ferry from Sorrento and, when we arrived, we boarded private boats for a tour around the island and a rowboat voyage into the Blue Grotto.
The entrance to the Blue Grotto is just big enough to get a tiny rowboat through. Even then, the four of us in the boat had to lay on top of each other. When we glided through the hole, the driver laid on top of us and pulled us through using a rope. Inside the Grotto, it was pitch black and all of the drivers were singing in Italian (but we still didn't tip them!). Our boat turned and we gazed at the blue water that was illuminated by the light shining through holes of the cave. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, cameras tend to dislike dark caves and my shutter spazzed out. Regardless, you should get some sense of the grotto's beauty.
When we arrived back at Marina Grande, we hiked about 20 minutes up some stairs to the town of Anacapri. If you're unfamiliar with the products of this region, Capri and Anacapri are famous for lemons and custom, handmade leather sandals. In just one little shop, you could sample lemon-infused chocolates, sip some limoncello (an Italian lemon liqueur), and have a cute, old Italian man make your sandals right in front of you. Unfortunately, the simplest of sandals were about €60. No thanks.
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| I erroneously choose to believe that old Italian men like this make the shoes that I buy at Target. Ignorance is bliss. |
Positano
On Saturday, we visited the town of Positano. It's mostly a beach town but has many cute, handmade dress shops. We were supposed to take a private boat to a secluded beach to do some 40-foot cliff jumping but, much to my disappointment, the waters were too rough for safety. Apparently, you only land about 5 feet from the rocks and the Mediterranean is just too strong for its own good.
It was partly cloudy all day so we laid on the beach for a bit but, by mid-afternoon, we were freezing and decided to go exploring the dress and ceramics shops of Positano. I didn't fulfill my goal of swimming in the Mediterranean this weekend but there's still time. Just putting my feet in the water nearly gave me hypothermia!
Pompeii
On the way back to Florence on Sunday, we stopped in Pompeii. Last week was Culture Week in Italy so all museums (including the ruins of Pompeii) were free! It was interesting but, after about an hour of walking through the park, my roommate Ella and I were ready to get out of there. Being the morbid person that I tend to be, all I really wanted to see were the dead people. It's insane to look at the frozen figures and wonder what was going through their minds right before they died of suffocation. I thought, "How scared would I be if I saw Vesuvius erupting? How would it feel, knowing that my death is imminent and that there's nothing I can do about it?". Pretty profound to think about...
Southern Italia (Generally)
-Something you notice when traveling through Southern Italy is the fruit trees. There are lemon and orange trees EVERYWHERE! Moreover, all of the towns we visited had these GARGANTUAN lemons at the markets. We called them "Mutant lemons" and they were about as big as the average human head. I have never seen anything like them!
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| To put things into perspective, to the left are avocados and to the right are normal sized lemons. |
-Southern Italy (more specifically, eastern Sicily) is known for a frozen fruit drink called Granita. It's just fruit, fruit juice and ice and they are delicious! A typical combo is lemon granita topped with fresh squeezed blood orange juice. You haven't lived until you've eaten a blood orange. I'm planning on smuggling some through customs when I leave Italy and I PRAY that I can find them in the states.
-Southern Italians are MUCH more friendly than Northern Italians. The relationship of Southerners and Northerners in Italy is almost a mirror image of the relationship between these 2 groups in the US. People in the North see themselves as more refined, intelligent, and mature. They are a bit rude and see those in the South as lesser Italians. Southern Italians tend to be more religious than in the North and they are also much more hospitable. Yeah, the southern men are more forward towards women, but it's nice to walk down the street and have people say "Buon Giorno" to you. You don't get that in the North of Italy. If I ever moved to Italy permanently, I'd definitely stay in the South.
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| Il Capitano! Looks like a Luigi to me! |
Dad and Lin come to visit this weekend and I will be playing the role of tour guide! I could not be more stoked to see them! Dad is bringing gum and that is a VERY good thing...I'm going through withdrawals.
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| I can't wait to see this goofy lookin' guy! Just kidding, Dad. You're a stud. |
Baci!
~Britt
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