For my last weekend trip out of Rome, my roommates and I went to Amalfi Coast, which is in the Southern part of Italy, about an hour below Naples. We went with a student program so the whole thing was completely planned out for us which was nice since we were able to relax. Seeing the Amalfi Coast totally changed my thoughts on Southern Italy and I think I liked the area even more than Tuscany. All the Italian people were so friendly and welcoming. We stayed in Sorrento which was nice but since most of the time was spent outside the city, I didn't get to see too much of it. The first day we took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri, which is an island right off the coast. Capri was beautiful. It was mostly really steep cliffs along the shoreline with a small port called Marina Piccola. We got a boat tour around the island for a few hours and we were able to go into the Blue Grotto, which is one of Europe's seven wonders. For the Blue Grotto, we had to get into these tiny row boats because the entrance hole was only a couple feet tall and wide. The guys made us all lie down in the tiny boat and they basically had to lie on top of us for the boat to fit through the cave entrance. It was kind of scary but once we were in the Blue Grotto the space opened up a lot and the water was glowing blue.
Sorrento
Marina Piccola
Blue Grotto
The rest of the boat tour was really amazing. We got to go into the Green grotto as well, which isn't a cave but a little inlet where the water is really green. We also saw a lot of famous caves that the Roman emperors used, usually for killing people, and a lot of famous rock formations.
After the tour we hiked up a really steep hill to Capri Town which was really cute. We were taken to Augustus's Gardens which had a lot of views of the Island as well. After that, we continued up to Anacapri where we did a Limoncello tasting. Limoncello is an Italian dessert drink. It is really lemony and strong but the south is famous for lemons so they have a lot of different types. We also went to a little store where they make custom-made sandals. I decided to get a pair and I got to choose the size for my foot, the kind of straps I wanted, and the color. And old man was sitting and making all the sandals and I got to watch him make mine which was really exciting! For the afternoon, we just sat on the beach and relaxed.
The next morning we took a bus to Positano, which is a little town that is part of the Amalfi Coast. On the bus ride there, we went along the cliffs. The road was so narrow and the driver had to beep every time he went around the corner so other people would know a bus was coming. The cliff drive had really amazing views though. In Positano we had a lot of free time so we did a boat tour of the shoreline cliffs. Some of my roommates went cliff jumping off 30 foot cliffs but I am afraid of heights so I just watched. After the boat tour we spent the rest of the day on the beach. Positano is known for its black sand beaches which were really cool because I had never seen anything like it before. Basically, it is just sand made out of volcanic rock so it is black.
The last day, we went to Pompeii, which is an ancient city that was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted, I think in the 1st century A.D. Since it was covered in volcanic ash, most of the city is pretty well preserved and apparently a lot is still un-excavated. Our tour guide in Pompeii was really good because he had a lot of information without being really boring. We visited the ancient temples, markets, and baths and a lot of the frescoes and mosaics were still intact which was amazing. We also saw a rich man's house, lots of bakeries, and a prostitution house. There were also petrefied bodies of people and animals on display. Since they were buried in ash, they were still really well preserved. Pompeii was a lot different than I expected it to be because it was so big and well preserved. The ancient roads were still there and the guide pointed out the groves in the road where the chariot wheels went. I could have spent all day there looking around!
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