Amalfi Is Beautiful

---

Amalfi Is Beautiful

I must lie. I am not currently in Amalfi. I was never in 'Amalfi' ... just on the Amalfi Coast! I'm in Salerno. It was not on the list, and I forget how to add to the list.

I've had a pretty good few days. I met some great people in Florence - Kate, Mike, and Mark - and partied the last two nights I had in Florence with them. Kate is originally from Hawaii, but is studying in upper New York State, so not too far from me. Mike and Mark are from Northern California, so farther. We went out for dinner the first night we met, and then to a bar. It was a Monday night, so apparantly, no clubs were on as they had closed the bottom level that contained the actual club. So, no dancing for us. It's okay, we made up for it the night after, mixing with a bit of a drinking game (which contained dares such as: start a random dance party in a crowd - done by Mark twice; run around the Duomo - done by all of us, but we skipped instead of ran!; and start a conversation with a random person) There were more but I can't remember them!

The next morning, after getting in at 4am and sleeping for 2 hours, I was off to Rome. Kate was leaving on a train to Venice, so we went to the station with two Canadian girls from Saskatchewan. Sad to say bye to Kate, but she was emphatically inviting me to visit her in New York anytime I want - after she's back from Europe of course! I may just take her up on that offer!

I got to Rome, and found my hostel without any problems. I wandered around the area and went to a park my first day in Rome. The next day I walked around for 5 hours, seeing the Colosseum, Piazza Navona, and several other sights on the way. It's a great way to discover the city. Rome has a metro, but it's not all that great of a system, so I only took it to the Vatican the next day. Mike and Mark met me for dinner as they arrived in Rome that night, and we went to the restaurant just down the street from my hostel, with 5 euro pizzas ... Mark and my pizzas were cold in the middle - they clearly just heated it up and added random toppings. This was NOT the Italian food I wanted, but it was cheap and I can't complain about that. We went to a bar after and got a drink, but we were all exhausted, so we called it a night and I was back at my hostel by 12am.

We went to the Vatican the next day, waiting in line for 1.5 hrs. But I think the Sistine Chapel was worth it alone. SO amazing. I literally stared at the ceiling and walls for 25 minutes! After slowly making me way out of the very crowded chapel, I waited for the guys for an hour ... couldn't find them. I finally found Mike as he was coming from the museum, but Mark was no where to be found. And the search continued with the two of us for an hour!! He was outside the whole time. Oops.

We headed to St. Peter's Square after that, took a few pictures, got some dinner on the street, then headed back to the hostel. Had a quiet night and went to bed early. The next morning, I met the guys again and we headed to a beach about an hour from Rome. Had a great day relaxing and chatting - I got burnt as I always do. After that, we headed back to Rome, said our goodbyes and headed back to hostels. Definitely miss them. 😞 But ... I can go to California and have friends!!

I headed on my train the next morning to Salerno, and arrived at 2:30 to rain. I got disoriented in the city and ended up asking a woman (who had an umbrella) for directions, and she ended up walking me right to the doorstep. She had to ask a few people as we went around, and shared her umbrella. I've been so amazed by all of the wonderful people I've come across so far in Italy and Spain. People who will literally walk me to where I have to be. I can't complain about the Italian and Spanish people - the customer service people and normal people on the street.

I just hung out at the hostel last night, with a bit of exploration of Salerno of course after the rain stopped. This morning, I woke up at 8:30, and headed to the port to get a boat to Positano. And whoa did I!! I can't even explain how great of a place it is, and how great of a boat ride it was. I didn't even need my graval!! I'm sure I'll add pictures to all of these blogs I've been writing once I get them on to discs off the film, so you'll eventually be able to see how beautiful it is. But ... just visit it yourself!!!

Alrighty, I'm gonna do some more chatting on MSN since I wasn't asked for the ticket for how long I've been on here, so haha. I can just keep on talking for as long as I want!! Bye bye.

---

Comments

[Matt]

Next stop, Greece!
I'm glad that you're having a good time and enjoying yourself :)

[Allison]

I loved the Amalfi coast! We stayed in Sorrento for three days and did a day trip along the coast to Positano, Amalfi and Ravello - it reminded me of Nice, but in Italy. haha. Glad to hear your travels are still going pretty well. I must get ready for work now. (read: I am jealous that you are still in Europe). Love, Nives