Hey everyone! Its been awhile since I last posted- Ive had the craziest two weeks of my life! I will explain further in posts to come, however I would like to talk about my weekend in Capri, Positano, and Pompeii (the Amalfi coast). I traveled with a company called Bus2Alps, and if you study abroad in Florence or Rome you will most definitely become familiar with them. They run trips for college students literally everywhere in Europe, organizing activities, transportation, hostels, and nightlife. We all met Thursday evening at Termini train station, then took a bus 4 hours to Sorrento. I stayed in hostel Seven, it was very nice and clean and best of all had AIR CONDITIONING!!! I was sold from night one. I stayed in the room Sunflower with my 3 of my roommates from Rome, and then 5 other girls on our trip. We fell right asleep on Thursday night after our bus ride through the cliffs. On Friday morning we were up by 7 am to explore Capri. We walked from our hostel, down a cliffside and took a ferry over. The ferry rides of this weekend were the most beautiful thing I have every experienced. The mountains and cliff sides were so high that some even had their own little hazy clouds in them with birds flying around like Jurassic Park. Once we got to Capri, we hopped off the ferry and onto another boat for an island tour. We passed through the Faraglioni rocks, got to go on canoes into the Blue Grotto, and again got to look up the entire time at the cliffs. Once our tour was over, we climbed a half hour literally up the cliff. The signs for the path did not point left or right, they pointed straight up! It was exhausting in the 90 degree heat but well worth the view and drinks once we reached our meeting point. We took some pictures, had a few drinks then took a bus to Anacapri, which is just the very top of the mountain that Capri sits on. The bus ride was breathtaking- it literally had us all holding our breath as we winded through the cliff sides trying not to hit another car or slide off the edge of the road. I calmed myself by thinking this driver does this every day. Once we got to the top, my roommates and I had lunch. We had to climb a little further up the cliff for this, but all along the way were authentic shops and restaurants. After lunch was my favorite part of the entire day. We walked down the road to the ski lift area and took chair lifts to the very top of the mountain, overlooking the entire island. The lift was about a 20 minute ride each way, and it was a single chair so you were alone. I think being alone made the trip that much better- I was able to take in everything around me and fully appreciate where I was. At the top you saw beaches, houses, the three rocks, boats, cliffs, birds, and everything beautiful. There aren't enough words to describe the beauty at the top. This ended our day, however, and after taking the lift back down we took a taxi back to the waterfront and spent the rest of our day on the beach. Fun fact- to be a taxi driver in Capri your father had to have been a taxi driver. Everyone knows everyone- so if there is an accident there is no hiding it! We hopped on the ferry back to Sorrento, went into town for dinner and drinks, then went back to sleep for another early wakeup call.
Saturday- Positano
Positano is a dream. There is no preparing yourself for seeing the houses on the cliffside in person- and pictures can never do this justice. We walked back to the port from the hostel and took a ferry for an hour. Once we got to Positano, we ran to the nearest boat stand to book a boat excursion before it all filled up. We got one luckily- a lot of people did not, then went to a famous little sand which shop called Panino&Vino. Our trip leaders didn't lie- I don't like sandwiches but would most definitely recommend this place. I got pesto, turkey, fresh mozzarella and a bottle of prosecco for lunch! I brought it down to the beach and just enjoyed my view. Then, my group and I went to the port for our boat excursion. We were with 8 people total, and had a super cool captain who owned the entire business. Our first stop was the side of a cliff to cliff jump. I was so excited and not scared at all- something that doesn't always happen! We swam from the boat to shore and climbed the rocks (I wish I got it on my gopro) and then jumped from various heights. I had so much fun that I jumped at least 6 or 7 times before our captain told me it was time to go. Next we took the boat to another location to go swimming through a cave wall. This part was a little scary.. we jumped off the boat and into the water. I thought it was going to be a relaxing swim.. well the waved were a lot stronger in the cave than they were outside. Still it was a life changing experience. Where there was no light in the cave there were blue illuminations and crystal clear water. The cave wall was high but not high enough for the boat to pass through. Once we swam completely through we had a little bit of a problem. The waves were getting really strong and there were a ton of rocks in our way. There was a clear path to swim through, however the waves made it tough and we were already exhausted. We ended up climbing the rocks/ side of the cave wall, however later found out we could have gotten seriously hurt by sea urchins. I had to laugh it off- I was already exhausted from the swim. After the cave swimming we toured the island a little and made our way back to Positano and spent the rest of our time at the beach and walking through the town shops and hidden places. We took the ferry back and sat on the top for the most breathtaking views! Once back at our hostel, we took a 20 minute nap, showered, and went into town.
Sunday- Pompeii
By the time we had made it to Pompeii, after checking out of our hostel- we were exhausted. It had been such a long weekend! We had our own private tour of the City of Ruins, and our guide was great. We spent about an hour and a half on our tour- then went to a famous pizza place to eat lunch and walk around. It was amazing to see Mount Vesuvius- the most active volcano in Italy or Europe Im not even sure. Our bus ride back to Rome was about 4 and a half hours with traffic- we got back at around 8 pm. It was overall the most picturesque weekend I have ever experienced. Few things will ever be able to amaze me more than the Amalfi Coast did!
Thanks for reading :)
Christina
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