The most beautiful place on earth

Ciao!

I just returned from my very last weekend trip of the semester :( The Amalfi Coast was definitely the best way to end it though. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been, and by far my favorite in this wonderful country. We left Thursday evening and took a bus there through a student travel agency, arrived in a small town called Sant'Agnello at 3:30 a.m. and headed straight to bed. Our hostel was really nice, and it was such a relief having the entire trip booked for us through this company. I got a break from playing travel agent and Mom to my fellow travelers.

Day 1 - CAPRI
We left our hostel at 7:25 a.m. (yes, after arriving that night at 3:30 a.m.) and walked down to the small marina in Sant'Agnello. There, we boarded a public ferry to the beautiful island of Capri. When we arrived we split up into smaller groups and boarded smaller boats to head to the Blue Grotto. The weather was perfect and the water was crystal clear.

To get into the Blue Grotto we had to board even tinier boats that only fit four people and our nice Italian rower man. Then we went under a tiny hole in the side of a rock and all had to lay down flat in the boat to keep from hitting our heads. The inside was so cool. The water was glowing blue and our rower man sang in Italian to us as he rowed us around. I love this country. After the Blue Grotto we got back on the medium sized boat and got a full circle tour of the Island of Capri. The scenery was unreal...I felt like I was imagining it all. The water was really choppy and our relaxing boat ride eventually turned into a roller coaster, but I didn't mind. We finally went back to the Marina Grande in Capri and headed up to the town's Centro. We wandered through the ritzy shopping areas and went inside this beautiful garden overlooking the ocean.

We then headed up to the town of Anacapri where we ate lunch and bought a few souvenirs. Unfortunately the only places to eat up there were incredibly touristy (pictures of food, obnoxious men telling you you get a special student deal with a drink and gelato, etc.) but we were so hungry that we didn't care. After shopping for a while we decided to head up to the "top of the world." We were told that a ski lift took you up there to see some amazing views. I don't know about you, but when I think ski lift I think two or three people on a chair, or a gondola that fits a ton. Apparently I am spoiled by Mountain Creek, because these were one person ski lifts. I'm not the biggest fan of heights unless I'm strapped into a roller coaster that goes too fast for me to notice how high up I am. This was going to be interesting. We got in line and before you knew it some Italian guy was pushing us down into a single person chair, throwing a very unreliable looking metal bar over us and sending us on our was up an enormous mountain. Minor panic attack ensues. I managed to distract myself from the sketchy looking ski chairs by taking a million pictures and talking to my friends on either side of me. We all traded cameras, and Meg took a few really cool shots for me:

The view was definitely worth the slow, rickety ride up the ski lift from the 1800's. We sat on the terrace and had a few beers while we basked in the sun and repeatedly asked ourselves if this was real life. America is going to pail in comparison.

After hanging out on the top of the world, we had to get all the way back down to the Marina Grande in Capri. We skipped the crowded public buses and opted for a CONVERTIBLE TAXI. Yep. And it was only 5 euro a person. We cruised down these cliffside windy roads with the top down. The driver even let us plug in Mindy's iPhone so we could blast Britney Spears and make completely American fools out of ourselves. Who can say they've ridden down the island of Capri in a convertible taxi singing Britney? We can.

We had a long journey back to Sant'Agnello where we opted to head out to dinner on our own. The big group was going into Sorrento for a group dinner, but we were too exhausted for that kind of wild socializing. Self-proclaimed grandmas right here. We found the only restaurant in Sant'Agnello, so it seemed. Luckily, this place was a not-so-hidden gem. Delicious and cheap. I have legitimately never seen food this cheap in my life. We feasted for less than fifteen euro each including drinks! While we were eating we watched a number of adorable Italian people come in to grab take out pizzas, something you never see in Florence. We also sat next to a couple from Australia who were road tripping through Europe for 3 months in a rental car. They were awesome and instantly became our best friends. After dinner we headed back to our hostel for a good night's sleep. More grandma time!

Day 2 - Positano
We got to sleep in a bit more today, and after breakfast we got on the bus and headed for the tiny town of Positano. It was a longer bus ride on these incredible winding roads, legitimately on the edge of a cliff. Cliffside driving in a charter bus. Check that one off the bucket list. We then walked approximately thirty minutes from the top of the town down to the beach, since the buses could not even fit on these tiny little streets. We headed straight for the beach and made ourselves comfy with panini, coronas, and Breezers. I hate when I fall in love with European delicacies so late in the game. Bacardi Breezers fall under this category. They make me feel like I'm reconnecting with the "sixteen year old not-so-stealthly drinking Smirnoff Ices" in me. I also bought a floppy hat because I forgot my 80spf sunblock and felt like 30 wouldn't do the trick. I may look silly but when you're 40 and have a lot of wrinkles you'll be jealous of me.

After a long day of drinking, napping, swimming, people watching, speedo spotting, sea glass collecting, and life-loving, we did a little bit of shopping before boarding the bus back to the hostel. I got a pair of sandals that were hand made from an adorable old man. He weaved the leather around and attached it to the sandal right in front of me, custom to my feet! So cool. We left this beautiful city all feeling like it's a place we'll surely return to...

That night, the hostel was hosting an overpriced pasta buffet for Bus2Alps, so we decided to venture off on our own again. Naturally, we landed at our new favorite restaurant for the second night in a row. If you are ever for some very odd reason in Sant'Agnello, Italy, you must eat here. While eating we ran into (guess who!?) our Australian best friends from the night before! They were just as guilty as we were. Pizzeria di Peppino two nights in a row! We chatted with them for a while and wished them well on their three month adventure. Meeting people like this is one of my favorite parts of traveling.

Day 3 - Pompei
We got up early on our last day in Southern Italy to check out of our hostel and head to the ancient (yet touristy) city of Pompei. As you probably know, it was covered with volcanic ash in 79AD from Mount Vesuvius and not discovered until over 1700 years later. Pretty crazy. We had quite the adventure wandering through the ruins of Pompei taking obnoxious pictures and trying to guess what things were. We found cool things like a giant bath (the ancient Romans liked to hottub too!) and an oven. It's insane that these things survived 6 meters of volcanic ash. This is what delirious American girls look like when they visit really serious, historically significant ancient cities:

 We departed Pompei after lunch for a very long bus ride back to Florence. Luckily the bus was nice and it gave us a lot of time to get some studying done for final exams. I didn't think those really existed in Italy! The Amalfi Coast is by far my favorite place in Italy that I had the opportunity to visit. I can't imagine myself not going back there. Looking back on my pictures a part of me really thinks I dreamt it.