EuroAdventures doesn’t actually plan much for its participants beyond a suggested itinerary for the weekend. We opted not to go to Capri and see the Blue Grotto, but instead to try to fit in two places on Friday since we weren’t going to be traveling on Shabbat. Laura, Alana, and I left in the morning to walk to the train station, and boarded a bus to the town of Amalfi. We planned to take the bus all the way to Amalfi, and stop at Positano on the way back, since it was halfway in between Amalfi and Sorrento. The bus was a unique and devastatingly nauseating experience. It’s basically like winding up and down a mountain for an hour and a half, and the roads are ridiculously thin. The bus honks like crazy as it comes around a corner, and at least twice we could almost touch people on another bus because both buses tried to occupy the road at the same time. At one point, we even stopped for about fifteen to twenty minutes since the road up ahead was closed. I never found out why it was closed, but I heard some people say that it’s closed regularly for fifteen minutes at a time so that falling rocks can be cleared away. It was a needed stop, however, because we were all ready to throw up. Once we got moving again, we only had about twenty minutes left on our trip. We were dazzled by the view once we got to Amalfi (just wait until you scroll down to see the pictures), and were relieved to find out that a ferry boat services operates in between Amalfi and Positano and that we wouldn’t have to brave the entire hour and a half rollercoaster ride back. Amalfi was a really cute and charming town, and very picturesque. We walked through the streets on this really nice day (heavy rain had of course been predicted), and stopped into a number of delightful souvenir shops. One shop owner was thrilled to hear me speak to him in Italian despite my being a tourist, and engaged me in conversation for a moment. We sat down to a great lunch of pasta with fresh salmon and traversed the town for about an hour or so. We arrived back to the port early, so we sat for a while and took some great pictures. Below you’ll find snapshots of the odd bus intermission, the town of Amalfi, the super-cool convertible tour bus, the view from the port, and photos from the ferry ride over to Positano.
The ferry ride to Positano was about half the length of the bus ride would have been from Amalfi, which was great, and also lacked the motion sickness. Our first sight upon coming into Positano was of the beach on this wonderfully sunny day. After getting a coffee and a pastry for Alana, we laid down on the beach for a bit, which was absolutely great. We weren’t in Positano for terribly long because the buses only ran ever hour or so, but we did see a lot of Positano on our walk to the bus stop, which everyone seemed to tell us was in different directions. We stopped for some gelato and to purchase some much-needed water bottles, and waited at the bus stop overlooking the coast. I took a lot of pictures, and I hope you’ll agree that these are some incredible views.
We got back to Sorrento at around 6:30pm, and I was excited to find a carton of ACE (the fantastic orange-carrot-lemon drink) at the small market on the way back to our bungalow. We had a relaxed evening with a meal of turkey, turkey-pastrami, pickles, and other side dishes and found ourselves all exhausted from all the sun and the walking. The cabin was a decent place to stay, but it was absolutely freezing every morning. We got up late and grabbed our towels, bathing suits, and suntan lotion and walked down to the town. We found a small but nice beach and laid down on our towels in the sun for a serene fifteen minutes, at which point the Navy came and made us leave, directing us to the free beach. We followed some Italian kids to the very unclean, tiny free beach with not a hint of sun. We set out for greener pastures and found ourselves at the port, where we had a light lunch. We sat for a long time, relocating to a different section of the port no less than three times as huge, threatening boats coming from Naples threatened to take us out as they docked. It was a very relaxing afternoon, and the weather was really perfect. We returned to the free beach, and I made an ill-advised foray into the water for about thirty seconds, during which time I froze completely. I did manage to air dry quickly so that I wouldn’t need to get my towel wet or dirty. We hadn’t brought quite enough water with is, so we went back to our room. Laura and I sat outside on our porch and played several very intense games of Bananagrams. In the early evening, our roommates returned and told us of their adventures in Positano and Amalfi and demonstrated the excessive amounts of sun they got. Laura, Alana, and I “hit the town” for dinner and found some very nice outdoor seating a restaurant near the center called Sodil Dominova. I had a nice ravioli caprese dish, and we enjoyed some music and watched one table get very into the atmosphere, with one couple even getting up and dancing for a moment. We strolled back towards the center, and found a gelateria where Alana purchased her first gelato in Italy and I found a unique flavor which was much better than I could ever have expected: popcorn. It was weird, especially with a few popped kernels inside, but I actually thought it tasted good. We walked back up to our bungalow, and made plans with Lisa and Stephanie for the next day. We got up in the morning and they brought us to a very pleasant café where we all got coffee or hot chocolate, and then we went to the train station for that day’s excursion. But first, some photos of where we stayed, Sorrento at night, and the bar, ending with our row of beverages.
Sunday was reserved for the ancient city of Pompeii, which was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and excavated in recent years. We took a train, not a bus, which was a relief, to Pompeii, and realized we were among a huge number of tourists. The great thing about the specific date of this trip was that it fell on the last Sunday of the month, where museums are free. Instead of the 11 euro entrance free, we went for a tour guide for 10 euro. Michele had a lot to say, and told us a lot about the ruins. We walked for about two hours, stopping often to hear stories about how civilization used to work and what all these remnants used to be. We saw the roads, and even went into a home. Michele ended the tour by showing us where hot wine and other beverages used to be made, and directed us to a former brothel on the way out. It wasn’t terribly exciting, and we waited in line behind people to see some grand sight that turned out just to be an unimpressive toilet seat. I hit my head while leaning it to see it, and worried that the ceiling might do permanent damage. Luckily, it wasn’t a problem. Exiting the ancient city, we found ourselves near a pizzeria where the manager offered to waive the cover and service charge. The pizza was great, and I ran into fellow Florentine study abroad student Cory Weiss. We shopped for a bit in the surrounding area before heading back to catch the return train to Sorrento. I took hundreds of pictures from Pompeii, and I whittled the number down to about fifty below.
We made it back to our bungalow for the last time and, after a long wait, boarded the bus. We left on time but hit a lot of traffic on the way back, making the journey, interrupted again by only one stop, take a little over eight hours. It was great to see this area of Italy that’s a bit farther away, and it was definitely an incredibly beautiful place. For my final week and a half in Italy, I’ll be exploring some restaurants and locations in Florence before returning to the United States this coming Friday. I’ll post some final thoughts in the coming week!
No comments:
Post a Comment