I thought I would start out my summary of my September adventures with the first trip I took, which was a fantastic tour of the Amalfi Coast! This trip was, by far, the most beautiful experience I've had since being in Europe. It was absolutely breathtaking. While words can't do it any type of justice, I'll do my best!
The trip began with a 6-hour bus ride on Thursday, September 11th, out of Florence to our hostel in Sorrento. Even though it was nighttime while were driving, seeing the mountains lit up by the little towns on the side was super cool. When we arrived in Sorrento, you could see the entire side of the mountain lit up, reflecting out over the sea. It was then that I realized I wasn't in Florence anymore! We arrived at our hostel and checked in; it was a cute outdoorsy place with separate little cabins. We got some sleep there and prepared for the next day!
In the morning, we took an absolutely stunning bus ride to Positano, perhaps THE poster child for the Amalfi coast. If you're wondering if you've seen it, Google it and I guarantee you'll have seen at least one girl you know share something related to it on social media (for us ladies, it's all over Pinterest). There we spent the day relaxing on the beach, swimming in the Mediterranean, and taking boat rides in the sun. The only down side of my day was mastering the art of running out of the sea before the waves hit the beach, an art that took me a hot minute to figure out. The beaches where made of small rocks, which are sometimes hard to get your balance on in the wavy water. One instance involved me stumbling in knee-deep water just in time for a massive wave to literally flatten me across the rocks. If it hadn't happened to numerous other people already, I would've been embarrassed, but I just owned it and crawled the rest of the way up. I also had a brief case of seasickness on the choppy boat trip, but kept it together and enjoyed the stunning views around me. Then, I ate Pringles and thanked God that the ground beneath me wasn't moving.
We finished out the first day with the bus trip back to Sorrento, where we showered the salt off our skin (there was literally salt all up in our arm hair) and rallied for a night on the town. On a brief side note, I now know why there are virtually no overweight Italians on the Amalfi Coast…I think I climbed around 700,000 stairs throughout the course of the weekend. The villages are actually built into the sides of the cliffs. So, if I had any guilt about anything I ate, I sweated it out in matter of the 30 minute walk back to the bus. But no amount of sun-and-stair-related-tiredness could keep us from enjoying our night out in the precious seaside town of Sorrento. We went as a group to an all-you-can-eat dinner for 20 euro at this awesome restaurant overlooking the coast. Let me just say, when Italians tell you "all you can eat", do not question that they mean it (this includes wine). Our meal included salad, bread, pasta, and pizza. The minute we finished one plate of pasta, they brought out another…and another…and another…and then 5 pizzas, and then another bottle of wine. By 11 o'clock, we had gained two pants sizes and were decently tipsy, and happily headed out to a local bar for awhile before crawling into bed.
Here are pics from the day Positano:
The next day, it was off to Capri, the birthplace of Capri pants and Capri Sun juice pouches. I stuffed my pasta-bloated body into my high-waisted swimsuit (a lifesaver) and boarded the ferry to the island. Arriving in the harbor was absolutely stunning, and I was instantly ready for another day in the sun. The guides offered the option between some beach time and a boat ride or a hike around the island, so naturally we all opted for the beach time. After exploring for a little and trying to find some sunscreen, we hopped back on two nice boats they had for us. We spent the day circling the island, stopping to jump in the sea, and even a quick snorkel! I was in absolute heaven. I remember looking around and having one of those moments where you can't believe that what you're looking at is real because it's so beautiful and perfect. I am so thankful to have had those experiences. I finished out the afternoon by getting off the boat and heading to the beach, laying out my towel and just napping in the Mediterranean sun for a few hours before we headed back to Sorrento. That evening, a lot of us were so tired that we stayed in and went to bed early, but not before going to the BEST kabob stand EVER. Here's the link to the website, literally just go gaze at the pics and envision my experience: http://www.kebabsorrento.com/gallery/ . Here are some pics from my day in Capri:
Our final day was one of my favs, being a huge history nerd. Behold, we went to Pompeii!! We boarded a train there with lots of old British people who were equally excited as I was, which made me question my idea of fun a little…but hey, it's POMPEII, guys. We spent the day touring the site, which was mind boggling and awesome. To be in something that old and historically relevant was unbelievably cool, and if you ever have the chance to see it, I would 100% recommend it. We saw everything from residential houses, the forum, bath houses, to casts of people frozen in time exactly how they died in the eruption. I bought a cute little mini urn from a street vendor, ate a sandwich and lemon ice, and caught the train back, where I happened to sit by another girl from Minnesota. She talked my ear off about the Gopher hockey team, so our friendship was short-lived (hometown pride, sorry, sister). Once I arrived back in Sorrento, it was time for all of us to pick our backpacks up from the hostel and return to Florence, with awesome tans. It was a fabulous way to start out the month, and was for sure a trip I will remember as long as I live! Here are some pictures from Pompeii to wrap up the post!
No comments:
Post a Comment