Moving to Capri

Buono sera! I am genuinely mad at myself for waiting a whole week to blog, since now I have about 30586403 things I need to remember and share considering this was easily one of my favorite weeks ever! I will try to be concise, but who are we kidding, it's me and I am never really short and sweet.

I left off last Monday after class, and Tuesday was the day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano. We got up at the ass crack of dawn and boarded a bus for Sienna, a beautiful ancient town set in the middle of three hills. Interesting fact: Sienna is very steep but no one seemed to think about adding stairs, so all of the roads are just sheer verticle surfaces- serious ankle sprain waiting to happen. What was cool about Sienna is that it is broken up into 17 districts, which are as small as a few blocks, and these districts have their own mascots and saints and traditions. It is basically like living in Hogwarts where you constantly are competing on behalf of your house, except this is real life. There are intense rivalries between the districts, and it even goes so far as if you have a baby with someone from an enemy district you have to raise the baby on neutral ground. Crazy, right? After our tour I had lunch with Professor Christiano, Steve and some AIFS staff, and we picked a delicious local place where you had to just point at bowls and hanging meats to choose your lunch. It was great and a welcome break from pizza! Sienna is great but I thought an afternoon was enough time to see what needs to be seen. We got back on the bus and headed to San Gimignano, home of the best gelato in the world according to the World Gelato Finals! Before I get to the gelato, San Gimignano is a medieval town overlooking perfectly picturesque rolling hills and vineyards. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and I hope I can go back there one day; a little bit for the views, but mostly for the GELATO! This is where I finally had my AHA moment of why people die over the gelato in Italy. I forget the exact name, but this gelato shop is on the top of a hill and very obvious because there are a ton of people crowded around it. I got a large cup, obviously, filled with mango, coconut and nutella gelato. It was nothing short of heavenly. After drooling over the gelato until the last drop was gone, me and the four people I was hanging out with decided hey, if we don't want this gelato to end, why do we have to? So, we got back in line and all got second cones! I got grapefruit champagne and caramel in cone deux, and it was as luscious as the first. Literally, if you ever go to Italy, gelato in San Gimignano is a must. You will get beautiful pictures and a full belly! It was an awesome day and a perfect mini getaway.

Wednesday was just school and such, plus a delicious dinner with my favorite new friends Amanda, Anna and Ashley! After dinner was just packing and getting ready for a fabulous Sorrento adventure. We left at 7:45 am Thursday for Sorrento on the southern coast of Italy. Thankfully, we were taking the bullet train, which goes 170 mph! It still took 3 hours to get to Naples and then an hour (terrifying) bus ride to get to Sorrento. The coast of Italy is out of a movie and breathtaking, because literally when you are driving in a tour bus on the tiny winding roads three inches from the edge of a cliff, you can't breathe. The views were stunning and when we got dropped off at our hotel, I wanted to kiss the cobblestones. Our hotel, called Conca Park, was an-all marble beauty with a great pool and views (that my first floor room did not have).We checked in around 3 and grabbed lunch at a cafe where I had delish hawaiian pizza and the ever-elusive and expensive coca cola. After lunch, the A's, me and my fellow Boca Ratonian and italian speaker Steven went exploring and found the most amazing marina set in the cliffs and hills of Sorrento. I can't explain the views in the late afternoon sun- just look at my pictures! Then we wondered through the streets filled with local artisans and bought some limoncello, a famous lemon liquor made in this region known for its lemons. After a break at the hotel, a bunch of us got together and enjoyed some bellinis and limoncello. All I can say about the rest of the night was- great success. We made friends with a waiter named Mossimo, got happy hour wine deals at 10 pm and laughed our asses off. I could not love my new Italian crew more :)

Friday was a rough start at 6:45 am to go to the island of Capri. Limoncello was a much better idea Thursday night then it was Friday morning on a boat ride. After a choppy, bumpy and freezing boat tour of Capri, we got on dry land and boarded mini busses to go to the top of the island. This may have been the closest brush I've had with death to my recollection. The roads are teeny and basically one way, but cars use them in both directions so that when cars going in different directions approach each other, one has to pull over on the side of the road to let the other pass. So, driving is basically a big game of chicken and I had a window seat, so when I looked away from the cars coming head on, I saw us precariously dangling inches from a plunge of death. The pictures people took of the bus tour are priceless- they look like the faces you make when on the Hulk at Universal. When we made it to the highest point busses can go, I was thrilled to be alive and was rewarded with the most stunning views on the planet. It is pure blue sea that blends with the cloudless sky and bright green mountainside dotted with brown cliffs and terra cotta colored homes. It is amazing to me that people live so high up all the time! I can barely carry my publix bags up to my third floor apartment in Gainesville and these people have 400 steps to get from their driveway to their front door. Our tour guide then told us about a cable car to get all the way to the very top of the island. I decided to be brave and take the journey up to the top, and it was one of my favorite experiences of the trip so far. The views were crazy amazing and we actually went through clouds and then ended up in the middle of a cloud at the top. It felt like we were in heaven, just totally removed from any civilization or cares. Check out the pictures! After the trip down, we walked around, took pictures and shopped before taking the boat back to Sorrento. I am so in love with Capri and I WILL go back there- vacation villa anyone? Back at the hotel we had our second group dinner and it was as good as the first! We had delicious zucchini pasta, roasted turkey and potatoes and gelato. After dinner I needed some quiet time so I watched some tv on my computer and passed out after only getting three hours of sleep the night before.

Saturday was a desperately needed free day, and I didn't feel guilty one bit for sleeping until nearly 10:30. I met up with my friends, and we had leisurely day of lunch, shopping and pool time. It was nice to finally take a breather and just enjoy the town. We had a delicious dinner of pasta with chicken and shrimp and then a dessert of banana nutella crepes! I didn't do anything too crazy that night because we had to be up again at 6:45 the next morning to go to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius!

6:45 am just never gets easier, but we shuffled all of our stuff back onto the busses and, again, all passed out until we got to Pompeii. We had a great tour guide who really understood the English nuances of sarcasm, so the slightly too-long tour in the blazing sun wasn't awful. We saw the ancient bathhouses, main streets and even brothels of this town that was buried when Vesuvius errupted in 79 A.D. The town literally just was frozen in time under tons of ash and lava. Pompeii is definitely cool, but it was packed even first thing in the morning and there is no hiding from the sun. After our tour we ate a little lunch and wandered back to the bus for the ride up Vesuvius. We were all beat from the sun and slept the whole ride, so when I got off the bus and looked up at the remaining hike to the summit, I was not prepared. It is steep and long and hello, it's me, so the idea of a mile long hike up a mountain did not seem appealing. I just kept telling myself how lucky I am to be on this trip and how I should try everything, so I huffed and puffed my way up that damn mountain and made it to the summit! It was cold and gorgeous- you could see the whole south coast from a birds eye view. I even wrote Josh a little note and left it at the top of the world :) I am feeling the burn today but I am so proud of myself for not giving up and experiencing everything I can here in Italy. After the bus and train ride home, half of our program decided to eat at the American diner in Florence, and I had yet another absurdly good cheeseburger and fries- they even serve FREE water! Oh the small joys.

Today was another day of class, errands and some sightseeing. I had two gelatos (normal) and had my favorite sandwich at this local hole in the wall sandwich place (roast turkey, spicy marinara, roasted onion and meltied brie cheese on fresh bread! cannot describe the pure joy that sandwich brings me). Now I am just catching up on laundry, blogging, homework (those damn classes keep sneaking up on me) and chatting with family! Tomorrow is another class day, Wednesday is a wine tour in Chianti and this weekend is a free weekend where I will be exploring Florence and Cinque Terre. I am truly loving every minute here and feel like every day is a whole new adventure. I love the people, the sights, the food and just the feel of being here. I can't believe I am at the halfway point; so much has happened and there is so much more to do! Much love to everyone back at home- see all of you before you know it <3