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I did this trip with a student, travel group: Bus2Alps. So, we went with a bunch of students, and it was pretty much awesome.
Let me start from the beginning. The plan is to meet at Termini (the central station in Rome) at about 8.00 PM on Thursday night. For most of the day, I was pretty bummed because I was going to this paradise place and Catherine wasn't going to be with me. But, arriving to Cipro (the nearest Metro station to us), I ran into Catherine and her friends. She, literally 20 minutes before she left, managed to sign up for the trip. So, that was a good start: great surprise!
We--Catherine, Liz, Morgan, Annabelle, Stefan, and Cory--loaded up on the Bus2Alps. We arrived at Sorrento at about midnight and got situated in our hostel, and went to bed.
Friday: Wake up early, and get on the bus for Capri. Listen up, Capri is incredible. So, so, so beautiful. I cannot even begin to say how pretty it was. When we got to Capri, we loaded onto a boat, and drove toward the island. Wow... writing about it makes me want to go back. The first thing to do, after drooling over the prettyness, was the Blue Grotto. So, for this, in groups of 4, we get into these small little row boats. Then, we have to fit through this way-too-small opening. It was scarier than sky-diving, not going to lie. The Blue Grotto is a cave, but the bottom of it is white marble so the light that gets into the cave has a beautiful blue reflection. It was so beautiful.
Friday also consisted of, in Capri, free Limoncello and chocolate tasting (yummy), a walk through of the Giordiono Augustus--a gorgeous garden, with a stunning view of the island--and a lap of the island on boat--again, beautiful. Sorry that I keep using "beautiful" to describe it, but I can't think of another word. It really was beautiful. Truly, the loving creativity of God shines within all the spheres of creation!
Oh and before we returned on the boat, I was sucked into the temptation of others and jumped into the water with my gray boxers on. I had to do it. I don't regret it. I mean, it was cold on the way back, and I felt maybe a little bit awkward walking onto the boat with just my wet boxers on... hehe.
At night: dinner, got lost on the way home, and bed.
Saturday was a beach day. We took a 40 minute, scenic bus ride to Positano. Getting off the bus, we walked a good what-felt-like 300 miles to the beach. I'm totally exaggerating; I'm super lazy. Positano was, again excuse me for the repetition, beautiful. I played beach volleyball with an invisible net (it was actually quite hilarious arguing whether or not the volleyball hit the invisible net), and then a bunch of us got on a boat for some exciting activities. A.K.A, jumping off a 35-40 foot cliff into the sea. Scary and awesome. Catherine fell kinda not good, and hurt herself. I jumped twice, successfully swallowing a gallon of water each time because I think upon impact every pore of your body sucks in the water from falling 50 meters per second. Regardless: the points is that this was freaking sweet. I went cliff jumping into the Mediterranean Sea! After cliff jumping, we boated to some caves. A bunch of us jumped in and swam in the caves. I think my heart stopped beating because the water was so cold. That's okay, I don't regret this either. :)
And I ate really tasty gelato, too.
In a sentence: Saturday was beautiful and awesomely sweet.
Saturday night, Cory and I took a 1.5 hour break and walked into town to buy some kebabs because we didn't want to eat the poopy Mexican-Italian hostel food. Okay, so something you should know about my time in Italy. Kebabs rule. They are these Middle Eastern type of burrito thingys, and they are super tasty. You can probably compare them to a gyro. Anyway, they're cheap and soooo good. I swear every study-abroad student I've met is in love with them.
Played some cards, went to bed.
Sunday: This morning, Catherine, Liz, Morgan, Cory and I went to Mass. It was a very touching liturgy. It was clearly filled with many pious, traditional Italian Catholics. When we arrived at the Church and sat down, an older Italian lady came up to me and asked if I would read one of the petitions. I explained that I couldn't really speak Italian that well, but she insisted. I can't say no to a cute Italian old lady, so I said the only other option: "yes". Again, I don't regret it. I loved reading a petition in Mass in Italian! O yeah. And the priest gave a two hour homily. Not really, but it was really long. Anyway, Mass was great.
After Mass, we went to Pompeii: incredible. Pompeii cannot be described with words. You walk through an ancient Roman city: houses, stores, fast-food, bakeries (I saw the oven that they used), rich houses, fountains, temples, streets, red-light district, baths, water pipes... It was so cool! All I wanted to do was see the city in action. I cannot get over how advanced the Romans were. They had running water! A sewage system, too! It was incredible. They even had "welcome" mats (i.e., mosaics) outside of some houses. Just like we do now. They also had political propaganda, just like we do now, too! I don't know how to explain it. I saw, also, people that were preserved from the volcanic dust. They were in positions trying to cover up their nose from breathing in the smoke. Wow... If I have time, I promise to put up some pictures. It was absolutely incredible.
Then we came home.
Now I'm writing this. Next week is my last week of classes. Then I have exams, and am totally finished April 28th. I'm so sad. I really don't want to return. I can't wait to see everyone, but I'm so sad about leaving here. Nonetheless, this has been a truly magnificent experience, and I am thankful that I have been able to enjoy it and take advantage of it.
Pax et bonum!
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