the perfect weekend!

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Well I pretty much just had the best weekend of my life.. literally!

On Friday morning I got up at 6am to get ready to leave for Capri. Our whole group met at the train station and loaded up on three big charter buses and headed for the coast. We were in the bus all day so I finally had a chance to finish my book, The Pact by Jodi Picoult. Such a good read! About 2 oclock, we stopped in Naples for a few hours. We walked around and checked out the scene, took some pictures, got a snack, etc. It was a beautiful city but our tour guide reminded us like 15 times how it was the "only dangerous city in Italy." Regardless, we had a lot of fun there.

We got back on the bus and finally arrived on the Amalfi coast at about 8pm. Our room was AMAZING and had a great view. I had enough time to shower then Amanda, Brooke, Jalissa, and I went downstairs to meet the whole group for dinner in the hotel. Surprisingly we had a GREAT meal, pasta for the first course, fish potatoes and green beans for the second course, then two huge pieces of cake for dessert! We ate everything. We were starved!!!

Since we were so exhausted we went back up to the hotel right after dinner and passed out. The next morning we had to meet at 7:30 then we were off to Capri! It took two boat rides to get to Capri and then we had about 5 hours to do whatever we wanted to on the island. Me, the girls, and our other friend named Jen decided we wanted to go to the top of the mountain first. And this may sound simple, but it wasn't... at all! We had to take a train, a bus, and then get on a lift to take us all the way to the top. The lift was really scary... it was a single seater and it was just like a lift at a ski resort. Except we were really high in the air, by ourselves, for 12 minutes. Obviously I was freaking out but once I started noticing the view I was fine. It was BREATHTAKING.

We spent a lot of time up at the very top of the mountain taking pictures and saying over and over again "this is so beautiful!" But it really was. It was incredible and was very much worth it. And there were also the cutest kittens up there for some reason, so that made me happy. On the way back down the lift, this strange man coming up the other side took pictures of all 5 of us and said some weird things in Italian that none of us understood. Just thought I would throw that out there... it was realllllllllly weirdddd!

After we got off the mountain top, we ate a great lunch and then decided to go to the beach of Capri. We got a little confused about the bus system to get down there so we then had the bright idea to get a taxi. And wait for it... our taxi was a CONVERTIBLE. So we rode down the mountain, in a convertible, in Capri, with the funniest little man driving us who had the funniest music EVER playing. We were laughing the whole time because it was so bizarre/AMAZING! We had so, so much fun.

After we were dropped off at the beach, we walked around and checked out the scene then decided to get some daquiris and lay out, which is exactly what we did. It was very relaxing. The beach was not sand- it was stone, which seems uncomfortable but is actually very comfortable. The sun felt so good and the water was amazingly clear.

We caught the bus back up from the beach and annoyed many an Italian with our silly, loud American behavior (thanks to the drinks!) It was fun for us though!! We hung out for a little longer then caught the boat back to our hotel. It was a long day but a very successful day. The weather was perfect and we had a really nice time.

We got back to the hotel, showered, then went back down again for dinner which was just as good as the first night. We finished eating then went to change for the DISCO which our whole group, teachers included, went to. It was the best/funniest experience of my life. Since open containers are legal here, we bought a few bottles of wine and passed it on around (classy, right?) We kept saying we felt like we were being so illegal. It was just weird walking around with open wine bottles in our hands!

We went into the disco and it was a SCENE. I think everyone got a little carried away, especially our tour guide Francesco. Francesco is probably 60 years old. He provided entertainment for all of us. We had a great time hanging out and meeting other people in our group. And the music was the highlight of the night, including "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, that "tell me more" song from Grease, and the ever popular "I'm not a girl, not yet a woman" by Britney Spears. It was definitely a little trip down memory lane! PS: the italian DJ was VERY cute and yes, i got a picture with him. so something for everyone to look forward to!

This morning we woke up early again, packed up, and ate breakfast at our hotel... then we were on our way to pompeii!
Pompeii was my absolute favorite part of the trip. It was nothing like I had imagined... it was better. It was completely eerie but so impressive. I remember learning about it so long ago and it was so neat to finally see it. My favorite part was seeing the moldings of actual bodies that were killed in the eruption.... very creepy but SO cool. It was 2,000 years ago! Unbelievable. The pictures I got there are great too.

We ate lunch then got back on the bus for the loooooooooong way back. Then when we finally arrived back in Florence around 9pm, Brooke, Amanda, Jalissa, and I went to go get mexican food because we were starved! And now I am here about to go to bed! Class early tomorrow.

But in all honesty, my blog does not do my trip ANY justice. It was an amazing experience and I am beyond pleased with the whole experience. I had a great time with lots of fun girls and saw things that I have always dreamed about seeing. It truly was once in a lifetime! Sorry, I'm done being cheesy.

Well bed time for me..... overall, perfect weekend!

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