Ancient places.

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So I spent the last weekend in September touring Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, and Naples. It was interesting going to such a different place, well different from Florence anyway.

It is so therapeutic to ride on the trains in Italy. Crossing fields of grapes and cutting through the hills going through tunnels that make your ears pop. People watching and seeing who else is also riding with you. Small casas pass at lightning speed, like they were never there to begin with. The old blending with the new in the form of power lines next to ancient battle sites. This small country that is only 70 miles across at one point, full of history that would make any writer excited. Passion is not an emotion that Italians are short on either they definitely have it in abundance. Making perfect sense in a place with active Mafia in the south, famous fashion houses in the north, and brilliant wine in the center, working and passion go hand and hand creating a beautiful country full of life and possibility.

Reds, yellows, and browns melt together here in Southern Italy creating a new color palette that is wonderful and a break from the sometimes dreary sites of Florence where Nuns in habits, old women eating gelato are normal things to see.

It was so crazy riding on the train through the lemon orchards of Sorrento. It was like a pine-sol commercial, even smelled like the cleaner as well. The first day we were in Sorrento, Molly, Zoe, Daisy, and I went out with our group to dinner on the beach. A small family run restaurant on the waterfront that our professor loves to go to when he is visiting. After our seafood dinner the four of us stopped at a bar that boasted Karaoke as a selling point, so of course we had to go and try it out. Only to be one of the few people there. So Molly and Daisy decided to get the night started off right with a rendition of Britney Spears' song 'Oops I Did it Again', they were actually better than the actual singer. Dancing and drinking a few capriosca di fragola was just what was needed after a five-hour train ride. It did however make it difficult to wake up with enough time to get ready for Pompeii and Capri in the morning however.

Once we were on our way to Pompeii, the adventure into a new world began. Wearing jean shorts and a tank top, I got stared down by almost everyone that we walked past. What the guidebooks say about shorts is completely true in the south, but not in Florence. I felt like I was getting death threats with their eyes.

Pompeii was interesting in that it felt like I had been there before, after seeing so many pictures about the area. The whole place was packed with tourists. Outside all the entrances there were vendors selling everything from oranges to books. It felt like Disneyland in the parking lot except instead of small children running around it was old women and men fresh off the cruise ships. The train we took from Sorrento was stuffed with people in the morning but most of them got off at Pompeii like our group. Everything in the city was made out of pumice stones and marble, most of which came from Mt. Vesuvius, that killed everyone in 79 AD. The ampatheatre was small but could still hold up to 30,000 citizens at one time. We needed up taking a pizza break inside Pompeii close to where the entombed bodies are. I think I was the only person there to not like how hot the weather was even in the shade. Since I'm so pale I have to use the strongest sunscreen and I will still probably burn my skin. Although it was still nice to be in hotter weather since Florence had been so cold.

After walking around Pompeii, counting the number of bars the place had and taking a trip to the brothel a few of the girls and myself left to go to the island of Capri. A fabulous place that was the inspiration for Pucci's famous capri pant. The roundtrip tickets to Capri were a little pricey for the 30-minute ride, about 25 Euros each. On the boat however I forgot everything except my anticipation to be on the water, so I had to stand at the railing the whole time getting sea salt in my face and loving every second. We were some of the last tourists to land on the island for the day, when we got off the boat there were hundreds of people waiting to get back to the mainland. We had to chop our way through the crowds since nobody would move to let us pass. As soon as we got into town we went to find the boats that would take us to the Blue Grotto. Of course as luck would have it the last boat left at 3pm so we were already almost two hours to late. Instead of calling it a day however, Daisy managed to find a place where we could rent boat (the size of bathtubs) and go to the Grotto ourselves. It only cost 70 Euros to rent the boat for two hours which was more than enough time to see the inside of the grotto and swim around. Molly, Zoe, and I were in one of the boats while Daisy, Emma, and Tatiana were in another. The boat was a small craft with no dials or gauges, so I had no idea how fast we were going or how much fuel was in the tank. Completely Italian style, the boats were basically dinghy’s barely fit to go in the open water let alone the Mediterranean. They were very easy to drive however, with the flat water and bright sun overhead I felt like we were in a James Bond movie as I was driving. We made it to the grotto quickly, tying it to a buoy outside the entrance; we jumped in and went for a swim ignoring the threat of jellyfish completely.

The light inside the grotto is how it gets its name, because it reflects light from the outside into the cave making the bottom a bright blue color. I have never seen anything like in the world. The water was very pleasant to swim in especially with my underwater camera.

Since going to the grotto didn't take very long our group decided to take the boat around the island. Skipping across the water next to the sharp drop of the cliffs that have forts on each corner. You could even see the caves that were carved into the rock face from the winds that plague the island. We made it over halfway around the island before turning back. Although it ended up taking must longer because of the change in tides, so the waves were huge compared to our tiny boat. It was a little scary at times and Zoe had to take over towards the end since she has more experience sailing in the ocean.

After getting back on the mainland our journey was at an end, we left the next morning for Naples. Luckily we were there after the garbage strike had ended, so it wasn't too smelly. However my overall impression of the city was that Naples is a largely populated area with little Italian charm in the city center and has a dirty feel to it. I will probably not be going back to Naples anytime soon for this reason. The pizza wasn't too bad, since this is the birthplace of the food, just don't go to the chain restaurants and expect it to be any better than their other locations.

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Photos

Sorrento in the Morning
View from were we were staying.

Sorrento in the Evening
View walking back from dinner.

Pompeii.
First view of the ancient city.

Memorial at Pompeii
Where the wealthy families would bury their family members.

Again Memorial/burial sites
Located just outside the city walls

Courtyard.
This is where the gladiators would train, it is located next to the Amphitheater.

The Amphitheater
The main place, just next to the city walls, since everyone could go to it, but only the citizens of Pompeii could go into the city.

Amphitheater Entrance
One of two main entrances.

Under the Amphitheater
This is where people could walk under the Amphitheater. It would have different entrances for each level inside.

Door to the Gladiators
Where the gladiators would come out to the arena.

Acting out.
Pretending to be a gladiator.

House of Venus.
This fresco is located inside one to the larger homes. It is still perfectly preserved along the wall.

Greenery in Venus.
Garden in House of Venus.

Sidewalk?!
This is a roman sidewalk. The raised steps are used so that the carriages will slow down. Sort of like a modern day speed bump.

Bar.
This is a roman bar inside Pompeii. Needless to say I was very excited to see it.

Break.
Taking our lunch break inside Pompeii.

Napoli
One of the churches in Naples. It also happens to be the church where the word Mafia came from in the 13th century. From the phrase my "my Family".