I can't the time has actually come for our final weekend trip. Going away every weekend has just become the norm! But if we had to end on any trip, I am so happy it was the Amalfi coast. After all of the incredible places we have traveled this semester you might not believe me, but this was by far my favorite trip of all!
Before we headed off, I had two very important guests come to visit me - My two Aunts, Caryn and Buba! It was so much fun to have them there, especially since both of them studied in Florence while they were in College! It is still so crazy to me that Aunt Caryn studied abroad in Florence when she was a Junior at Michigan also - and it was so much fun to take them back to all of their favorite places and show them some of mine! Aunt Caryn was even more excited to take a bite of her Antico Noe sandwich than she was to take a bite of her Chipati at Pizza house! And I of course had to take them to the secret bakery before they left too! It was so special to have them there, and I am so glad they got to come visit me.
After surviving Notte Bianco and having our friends Julie and Melissa come to Florence for a visit, it was time to head to the Amalfi Coast. The Amalfi Coast is made up of several towns that line the souther coast of Italy. And even though it was a 7 hour bus ride to get there, it was well worth the trip. We stayed at a hotel in Sorrento and then took day trips to Capri, Positono, and Pompeii. And we got to be there with our friend Sara from Michigan who was visiting from Prague for the weekend!
Here's how we did Amalfi:
Capri: We started off our trip on a pretty exhausted note since our bus got into the hotel at 3 am and we hopped on a ferry to Capri at 6:30 am. But we all woke right up when we saw Capri in the distance! When we arrived, we took a boat ride around the island of Capri to see all of the famous Grottos, sights, and even some celebrity houses. The views from the boat ride were absolutely magnificent. I have never seen water that it so blue, and with the sunlight shining down it was so gorgeous. We even got to take a tiny rowboat into the Blue Grotto - one of the Seven Wonders of the World! We learned that since the cave that encloses the grotto does not reach all the way to the ocean floor, the sunlight is able to come in from below and create the mystical glowing blue water. The man driving the row boat had to crouch all the way down while we all laid down in the boat and pull on a rope to propel us into the grotto (while we all screamed, of course) and then he serenaded us as we rowed around it!
After the boat ride, we had a chance to explore the island of Capri. We had a pretty intense walk up a lot of stairs into Anacapri, but luckily there were some delicious granitas waiting to cool us down. We then walked around the town and got to have Sandals handmade for us at a famous sandal shop!
After that, we got to take a chairlift up to the top of the mountain. It was a single-person chairlift ride with the most gorgeous views I have ever seen in my life. It was slightly terrifying being alone in a swinging chair hovering above the water and the mountain, but the trip was well worth it. The views from the top of the mountain were even more incredible. I have never seen anything like it - we truly felt like we were on top of the world. I really can't even begin to put into words how what it felt like standing up there - the water was so blue that it blended right into the sky, and combined with the cliffs, rocks, trees, and flowers it was honestly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We even got to lay in a lounge area at the top and tan for a few minutes before heading down. At that point, we had pretty much peaked (literally and figuratively). It was very hard to get us to leave, but we cheered up on the ride down when every single person on their way up the chairlift that we passed was part of an asian tour group. Their outfits were absolutely fabulous, and watching them attempt to take selfies without dropping their cameras off of the chairlift was one of the highlights of my abroad experience.
Positono: After Capri, I really thought that it couldn't possibly get any better - but then we went to Positono. After a pretty terrifying winding bus ride up the mountain on the side of cliffs, we somehow made it safely to the town of Positono.
We started off the day with some tanning on the gorgeous black sand beach, before heading out on a small motorboat for our adventure of the day: cliff jumping. Yes, that is correct everyone...I jumped off of a cliff. I am still in shock myself...but I figured when else am I going to be 20 years old in the amalfi coast with a cliff to jump of, ya know? After an extremely terrifying hike up the cliff (including a section where we literally had to scale the cliff with no where to put our feet - this is about the point where I almost broke down and turned back, but somehow my friend Sara convinced me to keep going), we reached the jumping point. I was of course panicked when we looked down at the water and never thought I could do it, but before I knew it I heard "3!" and had no choice but to close my eyes and jump! I am so glad I did it and it is an experience I will never forget!
We even got to go swimming in a cave after! The water was so blue that we actually felt like we were swimming in the blue grotto! It was so much fun being on the boat and getting to explore the coast and get to see everything from the water!
We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and enjoying the beautiful weather. It was the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life, I never wanted to leave! We all decided that we are having our honeymoons there and buying a beach house on the coast, so everyone will be invited to spend the summers there with us when we do!
Pompeii: Our final stop was Pompeii, and although it wasn't as gorgeous as the other towns in the same way - it was still pretty incredible. Pompeii is an ancient Roman town near Naples that was almost completely destroyed and covered in ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Vesuvias in 79 AD. It was remarkable to see how much was preserved of the town from the eruption - our tour guide was able to show us main streets, buildings, restaurants, a theater, brothels, and even got a tour of a wealthy politician's mansion! There were also bodies of people that were completely frozen in time by the ash after the eruption, and you can see them in their original positions taking cover or shielding their eyes. It was unbelievable to see all of the ruins. We also got our final granitas from a stand outside that were compltely delciious - have I mentioned that there were giant lemons everywhere here?!
This was the absolute perfect trip to end our adventures on. It was by far my favorite trip, and the most beautiful place I have ever been! I already want to go back.
Italian word of the day: Beach - Spiagga!
Stay tuned to hear about our final adventures in Florence!
Arrivederci,
Jordan
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