Paradise

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Visiting the Amalfi Coast was the best way that we could have spent our official weekend in Italy. Once again we planned the trip through a company called Bus 2 Alps. When booking a trip through the company, all of the arrangements are made for you which takes care of a lot of hassle. They only thing that you have to do is go to the train station at the designated time to meet the bus. On Thursday afternoon, we all packed our bags and then at 7 p.m. headed for the train station.

Our tour guide for the trip was named Simon. He’s the owner of the company and from Australia. He reminded me of one of those people who never grow up; he’s 37 years old and travels almost every weekend with college students touring them around different parts of Europe. He was really nice and fun to be around, his energy level and excitement for the trip was contagious and made us all excited.

We departed for Sorrento which would act as our home base for the weekend. We stayed in Sorrento every night, but during the day ventured to different parts of the coast. The bus ride there wasn’t terrible, but it was far from enjoyable. Luckily I can fall asleep without hesitation now, after being on the bus for about 20 minutes I was sleeping. I woke up a few times, but the trip there did not seem as if it was 7 hours. When we got off the highway and were driving the last stretch towards Sorrento the road was extremely windy. We drove along the coast for about 25 minutes. Although we couldn’t see much, it was obvious that the surrounding land was gorgeous. We were able to partially see the water from the illumination of the moon and surrounding buildings.

We finally got to our Hostel and unpacked the bus. When some of our roommates came on the trip a couple weeks before they had warned us about the hostel situation. They had stayed in bungalows and said that they were not very pleasurable to stay in. Knowing this, our expectations for the hostel weren’t too high. However, when arriving we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the bungalows were booked for the weekend so we were staying in a brand new hostel that had just opened earlier in the week. The hostel was called Hostel 7 and it was awesome. Everything was brand new and really clean. It was trendy and really nicely decorated. We didn’t really explore around too much because it was 2 am and we were just concerned with going to bed seeing as we had to be out of the hostel by 8 the next morning to travel to Capri. We quickly grabbed our stuff and got into our rooms (which looked like a page out of an Ikea magazine, bed bunks and all).

The next morning we woke up to our alarms bright and early at 7:15. I wasn’t too tired considering that I had slept almost the entire bus ride. The excitement of the upcoming day also made it really easy to wake up. I got out of bed, put on my bathing suit and a sundress and headed downstairs to eat breakfast. Just throwing on a bathing suit reminded me of being home and at the beach, which is something that I really miss being here. After breakfast we met in the lobby for our walk into downtown Sorrento. Simon had planned a visit to Capri for the first day, and we had to go to the port in Sorrento to catch a fairy because Capri is an island. The walk to the port was breathtaking, for a lot of it we were actually walking along the coast, but were higher up than the water so the view was awesome. When we got down to the port we had to wait around for our ferry so I bought a peach from a little vendor. It was honestly the most delicious peach that I have ever eaten in my life I think. It was so fresh and juicy; I actually had the juice running down my elbows as I ate it.

The ferry ride to Capri is not that long, only about 20 minutes and it felt awesome to be on a boat to get a little relief from the heat. The views from the ferry were beautiful and before we knew it we were on Capri. We got off the boat and took a bus ride to Ana Capri which is a town on the island. The bus ride was insane, the roads are not made for cars or buses so the entire time you feel as if you are about to flip over the side of the island. I didn’t really mind it, the views were stunning. When we got to Ana Capri we walked around a little. Then we decided to take a chairlift to the very top of the island.

The chairlifts were similar to a ski lift, except that the seat was a single chair and you rode up the cliff alone. The entire ride up I was mesmerized by the views. You could literally see everything, looking into the ocean you couldn’t even tell where the water stopped and the sky began. The ride was about 15 minutes up, and once we got to the top we were able to walk around and see a 360 degree view of the entire island. After walking around, and taking some pictures we took the lift back down to Ana Capri, and then a bus back down to the beach. When getting back to the harbor, we decided that we wanted to go out a boat and see the island from the water. A friend that had been to Capri before told us to walk around and find someone with a boat and usually they will take you out if you pay them. We walked around and found Tony, who agreed to take us on a 2 hour tour around the entire island. We were really excited, we were going to see the grottos and rocks and Tony was really cute.

The three of us girls hopped onto Tony’s boat and off we went to explore the island of Capri. Being on the boat was awesome; it reminded me of being home and going out on the boat. It was the most relaxing two hours I have had in a while. We all sprawled out on the boat and looked at all of the sites to see as well as Tony. He stopped at the white grotto, octopus cave and some rocks. Then he took us to the green grotto where we were able to jump out of the boat and swim through it. The water was so clear that you could see your feet and all the way to the bottom. When swimming into the green grotto everything looked a brilliant aqua color. After we were done with our swim, Tony picked us up on the boat and we went to see the blue grotto. The blue grotto is a cave with a little, tiny opening. The opening is so small that we couldn’t even take our boat into the cave. We had to get into a different row boat so we would fit in. When passing into the grotto you can’t even sit up straight in the boat, you have to lie down. Once in the grotto it’s absolutely amazing. It is a very dark cave, but everything is illuminated in a brilliant electric blue color. The different shades of blue are so bright and unlike anything I have ever seen before.

After touring around the grotto, we ducked our heads again and exited. Our grotto tour man brought us back to Tony’s boat so we could finish our tour around Capri with Tony. Tony continued to tour us around the island and we began to talk to him. Having a conversation was difficult because his English was not very good, and our Italian is non existent; so we tried the best that we could.

Before we knew it the boat ride was over and it was time to go back to land. It was sad to get off the water because it had been so relaxing, but even sadder to leave our newly found friend Tony. We got off his boat and headed toward the beach. I use the term beach very loosely; because there was no sand at all, rather small rocks. Lying out was nearly impossible and you had to shift the rocks that were underneath you around before getting comfortable. As uncomfortable as it was, somehow I fell asleep for the entire duration of the day. When I woke up it was time to catch the ferry back to Sorrento.

When getting back to Sorrento went to the hostel to get ready and then went out to dinner at a restaurant that Simon made us reservations at. The restaurant was a short tram ride from our hostel. We ordered fried calamari as an appetizer and I had seafood risotto as my entrée. The meal was amazing; seeing as Sorrento is right on the water the seafood was fresh and delicious. After dinner we went out to Daniele’s Pub. The entire day was awesome; in Capri we were able to see gorgeous sites, and at night we had a great dinner and then fun when we went out.

The next morning we departed our hostel at 10 am for Positano. I knew very little about this small coastal town except for the fact that when my roommate Amanda visited the town a few weeks ago she fell in love. Our bus was only able to drive us so far into the town because the roads are extremely narrow and windy. When we got as far as he could take us we all got out and walked for the duration. The walk was awesome; we were along the coast the entire time. The buildings are covered in these magenta flowers that grow as vines do. Some houses are completely engulfed with the flowers. Our walk through the town ended at the beach. Lucky for us, this was more of a beach like back at home. There was sand which was a lot more comfortable than rocks. The sand in Positano is black because it is volcanic rock. We laid on the beach until about 1 and then we rented speed boats to go cliff jumping. Simon rented a boat as well and led the way to the rock we could jump off. I was in my glory when I heard that there was cliff jumping in Positano; it reminded me of cliff jumping in Branford near my uncle’s cottage. It was really hard to get up to jump off the cliff because it was actually a huge rock. To get to the top you had to pull yourself up the base of it and then climb to where you wanted to jump off. We went out and I was the first one to jump off the cliff, we stayed there for about an hour and then took the boats back to the beach. When getting back to the beach we decided to grab lunch and then explore the town. We needed a break from the sun because it was ridiculously hot out. We grabbed lunch at a little deli and then walked in and out of shops. The town is adorable and very quaint.

We took the last ferry back to Sorrento at 7 p.m. At this point I was exhausted from being in the sun all day. The ferry ride back was unbelievable, the views were stunning and the breeze from being on the water was a nice relief after being in the sun all day. The sun was setting on our way back which only added to the beauty of everything. We were on the back deck of the ferry so we were able to see everything perfectly. When getting back to Sorrento we grabbed dinner quickly and then hung out at our hostel. The hostel had a ton of great patios, one being on the roof. It was a perfect way to relax and unwind after the long day.

The next morning we woke up in Sorrento for the last time and packed our bags. We were going to Pompeii for the day and leaving for Florence from Pompeii. Originally I was really excited to go to Pompeii to see the ruins; but when the time actually came to do it my excitement decreased a lot. When waking up it was already about 85 degrees and there were no clouds to break up the sun. When we got to Pompeii we entered the ruins. The ruins were interesting, but the site is enormous. The space is about 1 by 4 miles which makes it impossible to see everything. We wandered around for about an hour and a half seeing excavated houses and baths. My favorite part was seeing the people. It was really interesting how they were covered in rock in the weirdest shapes. There was also a dog that was on its back with all its paws intertwined. It was pretty interesting to see, but the sun made it hard to fully enjoy it. At this point I was so physically drained from the weekend I just wanted to be back on the air conditioned bus. Finally we all decided that we had enough of the sun and the ruins, so we called it quits and got lunch. Right after lunch it was time to head back to Florence.

Being on the coast for the weekend was awesome. It is hard for me to say it was my favorite trip because all of my trips have been so different. In Switzerland I was outdoors the entire time, and I was physically engaged in activity. Paris was gorgeous, but it was very fast paced and there was so much to see. Amalfi was the perfect last trip because it gave us all a chance to unwind. Since coming to Florence I have been on the move the entire time trying to see and do everything. In Amalfi there is not a whole lot to do, so we were able to just relax, reflect, and take in the gorgeous landscape.

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Photos

Sorrento
We stopped on the way to take in this stunning view of Sorrento

Capri
From the chairlift, we could see the entire coast.

Capri
View from the chairlift

Chairlift
Our single seater chairlift

View from the Top
At the top of Ana Capri

Ana Capri
Some of the roomies at the top of Ana Capri

White Grotto
View of the top of the white grotto

Our Boat
Last picture on our boat with Tony

De Rosas
When we were in Sorrento we found a small shop named DeRosa

Positano
Where the bus dropped us off in Positano

Flowers
These purple flowers were everywhere

Cliff Jumping
We jumped off the small rock to the side of the cliff. The highest jump was about 35 ft.

Comments

[Donna]

Sorrento
Hi Dan, I am a little dismayed to know that the morning temps in Sorrento are a blazing 85 degress. Do I really need to see the ruins of Pompeii? I think I can live without it...