We've been told about these mystical, make-believe strikes that happen in Italy all the time. Usually with buses and trains, etc. Today, we started our fall break trip at 9:30 am and headed to our train. After a few switches we made it to the Pisa airport where our flight was schedule to depart from at 2:55pm. I run up, excitedly, to the tv screen with departure times to make sure our flight wasn't delayed and to my dismay, I see "CANCELLED" in beautiful flashing letters. We were a bit scared, but decided to get to the bottom of it.
After talking with many different Ryan Air employees, Amanda doing some calling back to the states, some phone calls to people left at the villa, internet searching and more, we find out that Italian Air Traffic has gone and strike from 12-4pm and our flight will not be departing from Pisa today. So, we get in the rebooking line--a super long line in a room that was like 90 degrees. Well, Amanda, Abe, Julian, and Laura got in line and the other Laura and I laid on the ground and watched our stuff (and napped!). The news came that we would be flying out at ten in the morning the next day, so we packed up and got on a train back to Florence. Shoot!
Once we made it back to the Villa we all did some relaxing in our respective rooms, printed out our boarding passes for tomorrow's flight, and then went out to eat. We had made reservations for Tijuana, a Mexican restaurant in Florence for 7pm. At 6:15 we left the Villa, got on a train at 6:29 and arrived in Florence at 7:26 and made it to the restaurant at 7:45ish. But, besides the really long bus trip and being late for super it was great! The food was really delicious and we had "margarita azure" (blue margaritas) that tasted quite a bit like a blue raspberry slushie, so I loved them! :)
The bus ride home went quite rapidly and now it's nearly 11 o'clock and we are all heading to bed early so that we can get up and leave the villa be 5:15 am to try and get to London...again!
I just thought I'd give everyone a quick update on my day that seemed jammed pack...although, in reality, it was completely unproductive...and I didn't make it to London yet! We were out some money for train tickets to and from and back to Pisa, a bus ticket to downtown London from the airport, and possibly some money for our hostel...but I'm determined to make it to London tomorrow, no matter what it takes! :) Peace and love from Florence!
By the way, in Italian Sciopero means strike!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Fall Break--Like Spring Break, In The Fall!
Madison should adopt the fall break plan. It's just like spring break, but in the fall! What a phenomenal idea! I love it. Anway, after the Italian midterm we had supper then some fall break planning. I did my laundry today and I'm proud to say that, for the first time since I got here, all of my clothes are clean at the same time! Of course, they are all sitting in large, clean piles on my bed...darnit! We did some internet searching and tried to find things to do in the different places we're visiting. Here's the itinerary:
Fri Oct. 23-travel from Florence to Pisa to London
Sat Oct. 24-London (probable bike tour of London this day)
Sun Oct. 25-London
Mon Oct. 26-travel by ferry to Dublin
Tues Oct. 27-Dublin (Guinness brewery tour and finding my Irish future-husband this day... also, a chocolate festival)
Wed Oct. 28-travel to Munich
Thurs Oct. 29-Munich (probably going to Dachau concentration camp)
Fri Oct. 30-travel to Stockholm
Sat Oct. 31-Stockholm (No definite plans in stockholm, but our hostel is acutally on/in a boat)
Sun Nov. 1-travel to Milan and back to Florence
We don't spend a ton of time in any one place and the whole week will be go, go, go, but it will be a great taste of what Europe has to offer! Rest assured, I will blog about my experience when I return on the 1st of November. I think I am going to write down 3 fun/funny/exciting things from each day or city to post on here so that the blog posts aren't as long as these last few. This will also force whoever is reading this to email or skype me with more details questions! Muahaha...
Anyway, we are catching a 10 o'clock train out of here tomorrow morning so I'm off to pack since it's quarter to 1. I hope everyone has a wonderfully-spooky halloween as I know I will in Stockholm!
Fri Oct. 23-travel from Florence to Pisa to London
Sat Oct. 24-London (probable bike tour of London this day)
Sun Oct. 25-London
Mon Oct. 26-travel by ferry to Dublin
Tues Oct. 27-Dublin (Guinness brewery tour and finding my Irish future-husband this day... also, a chocolate festival)
Wed Oct. 28-travel to Munich
Thurs Oct. 29-Munich (probably going to Dachau concentration camp)
Fri Oct. 30-travel to Stockholm
Sat Oct. 31-Stockholm (No definite plans in stockholm, but our hostel is acutally on/in a boat)
Sun Nov. 1-travel to Milan and back to Florence
We don't spend a ton of time in any one place and the whole week will be go, go, go, but it will be a great taste of what Europe has to offer! Rest assured, I will blog about my experience when I return on the 1st of November. I think I am going to write down 3 fun/funny/exciting things from each day or city to post on here so that the blog posts aren't as long as these last few. This will also force whoever is reading this to email or skype me with more details questions! Muahaha...
Anyway, we are catching a 10 o'clock train out of here tomorrow morning so I'm off to pack since it's quarter to 1. I hope everyone has a wonderfully-spooky halloween as I know I will in Stockholm!
Hold the Phone...We Have Midterms Here?
Yes, this week was midterm week. I had an art history and an Italian midterm today. They both went pretty well..I think. Anway, after my Italian midterm ended today, my fall break began....see next post.
Oslo is Magical
The story of the missing keys continues...three of the girls went back to where we played in the leaves to look for the keys and four of us looked where some kart-wheeling was taking place earlier in the day. Both explorations went without reward and we headed to look by the palace. When we got to the infamous hill that we rolled down, Kelsey found some of the Ashley's eyedrops...we knew the keys had to be there somewhere!!! Sure enough, a few seconds later, Ashley Mac yells, "keys"...and so ends the curious case of the missing keys. This is why we say Oslo is magical, because that would never have happened in Florence.
We were a pit pooped out after all the searching so we caught the tram up the mountain to our cabin. We were also quite excited because we bought the fixings for grilled cheeses the night before--something we all missed quite a bit and had been craving for oh, so long. We made grilled cheese after grilled cheese and kept cutting them in quarters and everyone got their fair share. Let me tell you, mom, everyone was quite impressed with my grilled cheese making skills, so thank you! We also had a pack of dry tomato soup mix with instructions--in Norwegian. Although some words some similar to German, that doesn't cut it with soup making directions. Fortunately it was tomato soup, so we added a little water and a little milk (we were able to decipher the word milk on the package). It was graded by the group a C for eating as soup but an A for dipping your grilled cheese in. Grilled cheeses were followed by ice cream and bed. We put all of the mattresses on the floor of the living room and had a sleepover...whose idea was that, you ask? Of course, it was yours truly. It was a great sleepover.
Sunday morning we woke up and had some more eggs and french toast for breakfast...oh yeah, and leftover ice cream! Then, Diana and I had to jet to get to mass and everyone else was going to meet us in town later in the morning. Mass was so great in Norwegian because it sounds like everything is made up and they aren't actually saying anything! Also, the priest looked like Paul McCartney thirty years ago...weird.
After mass we met up with the other folks and walked by the water's edge. We stumbled upon a castle--only in Europe--and wandered around until we had to catch a bus for the airport at 2ish. We made our flight and got to the Milan airport on time. We then found our rental car and drove home. This time, we stuck two people in the trunk and it worked out quite well!
There are a few things I loved about Oslo:
1) It was super clean.
2) They had big cars--trucks, range rovers, minivans--I know these are not so environmental friendly, but I like big cars.
3) The Norwegian language makes me giggle, a lot. (I learned a great Norwegian phrase: Jeg Elsker Deg...it means "I love you".
4) It was so beautiful
5) Free tap water at the restaurant
6) Toilet seats and soap in bathrooms
The list could go on and on. I think I may have fallen in love with Norway, and when I go to Stockholm soon, I'll see if I can say I've fallen in love with Scandinavia.
We were a pit pooped out after all the searching so we caught the tram up the mountain to our cabin. We were also quite excited because we bought the fixings for grilled cheeses the night before--something we all missed quite a bit and had been craving for oh, so long. We made grilled cheese after grilled cheese and kept cutting them in quarters and everyone got their fair share. Let me tell you, mom, everyone was quite impressed with my grilled cheese making skills, so thank you! We also had a pack of dry tomato soup mix with instructions--in Norwegian. Although some words some similar to German, that doesn't cut it with soup making directions. Fortunately it was tomato soup, so we added a little water and a little milk (we were able to decipher the word milk on the package). It was graded by the group a C for eating as soup but an A for dipping your grilled cheese in. Grilled cheeses were followed by ice cream and bed. We put all of the mattresses on the floor of the living room and had a sleepover...whose idea was that, you ask? Of course, it was yours truly. It was a great sleepover.
Sunday morning we woke up and had some more eggs and french toast for breakfast...oh yeah, and leftover ice cream! Then, Diana and I had to jet to get to mass and everyone else was going to meet us in town later in the morning. Mass was so great in Norwegian because it sounds like everything is made up and they aren't actually saying anything! Also, the priest looked like Paul McCartney thirty years ago...weird.
After mass we met up with the other folks and walked by the water's edge. We stumbled upon a castle--only in Europe--and wandered around until we had to catch a bus for the airport at 2ish. We made our flight and got to the Milan airport on time. We then found our rental car and drove home. This time, we stuck two people in the trunk and it worked out quite well!
There are a few things I loved about Oslo:
1) It was super clean.
2) They had big cars--trucks, range rovers, minivans--I know these are not so environmental friendly, but I like big cars.
3) The Norwegian language makes me giggle, a lot. (I learned a great Norwegian phrase: Jeg Elsker Deg...it means "I love you".
4) It was so beautiful
5) Free tap water at the restaurant
6) Toilet seats and soap in bathrooms
The list could go on and on. I think I may have fallen in love with Norway, and when I go to Stockholm soon, I'll see if I can say I've fallen in love with Scandinavia.
There are tickets to Oslo for 15 Euro, who wants to go?
One day, after fall break trips had been planned, and we were in the trip-planning mood, we decided to make a weekend trip somewhere and started looking for cheap plane tickets. Ashley found one for 15 Euro, round trip to Oslo, Norway. Seven of us raised our hands and the tickets were booked. And then we realized that we should find a hostel there...the hostels were all booked...I guess we should have checked ahead. But, things worked out and we found a cute cabin in a campsite that slept 5. We then realized it was kind of expensive to take the train to Milan so looked into other options--like renting a car.
Well, the day finally came and we were off to Oslo. It ended up being 7 girls total: Kelsey, Laura, Ashley Mac, Ashley S., Yunha, Diana, and me. We rented a car because that was going to be the cheapest way to get to Milan. The only problem was that the car only fit five. We originally had a little 2 door car, but when Ashley and I went to the Florence airport to pick up the car, we sweet talked our way into a four door sedan--still small for American standards. But, after putting one girl in the trunk and four in the back seat we all fit. (My quick wit and I had already "shotgunned" navigating so I got the front seat! haha...and Ashley S. was the only one who could drive stickshift.) It was a three hour drive that went without a hitch! Ashley Mac, who was in the trunk, slept like a baby the whole way! We ate our packed lunch in the airport then boarded the plane for Oslo.
When we got to Oslo, we had an hour and a half bus ride into the city. When we got to the city we checked out the city map and how to get to the campsite. Since we were only supposed to have 5 people in the cabin and three of us were hugnry, we split up. Diana, Yunha, and I went to this huge establishment, Egon. Diana and I got a huge Tex-Mex burger with fries...and yummy alternative to the usual pasta and pasta. We also got a pitcher of tap water with ice. And refilled it, twice. This is such a rare commodity to find in Europe. We definitely take that for granted in the US. It was so delicious. Then we made our way to the campground and found the cabin. The other girls had gone out and gotten an American style pizza. They also had the heat on for us when we got back and some hot water ready for tea. We warmed up (the weather was probably in the 50s, I think) and watched some TV...oh yeah, there was a plasma TV in our cabin. We went to bed pretty early. We then all woke up in the middle of the night in a huge sweat because we forgot to turn the heat down...yuck! It was so warm and we did some window and door opening. I moved off the top bunk and settled in on the tile floor of the living room which was much more bearable than that top bunk! Besides the heating problem, we made it through the night unscathed.
Saturday morning brought with it beautiful fall weather! It was the perfect weather for jeans, a fleece, and a scarf. We made some eggs for breakfast than walked up a hill to try and find the metro train. It was a long walk up...but so beautiful! We ended up finding a little visitor center in a little part of the mountain where the world ski championship (or something along those lines) will be happening in 2011 and they were building a ski jump of sorts for it. There were also some fantastic houses and great views of the city. Near the visitor center there was also a great grassy hill...and I had the urge to do some rolling down hills. So, I did. It was so much fun. We finally found the tram to take us into town and did some walking around in town. For lunch, we split up again. 4 of the girls were going to the Grand Cafe which had lots of semi-expensive sea food--not exactly up my alley. Laura wanted to go to Burger King. So, Diana and I went with to Burger King...in Oslo. It turns out Oslo doesn't have a lot of their "own" food; more of a mash of all other foods...so we weren't really missing out on a lot. And their main specialty is seafood which I don't like, and there's lutefisk and since dad doesn't eat that, I'm sure I won't like it!
After lunch we got some American coffee from the 7-11...you know, coffee in a large cup that you can drink for a while and it keeps your hands warm, instead of the Italian espresso. We also wandered until we found a church for me to go to Sunday Morning. Then we made our way toward the royal palace and a sculpture garden. Behind the royal palace was a pretty decent grassy hill and Ashley S. wanted to do some hill rolling; so we did! Then we went on to the sculpture park and walked around and took pictures. On the way back toward the palace and downtown we found a wonderful open area with sooooooo many leaves! We stopped and sat down and played in the leaves for an hour and a half. It was so fantastic! Then, we made our way to the entrance of the park--just so you know, this place is huge--and Ashley realized the keys to the cabin weren't in her pocket...
the saga will continue in the next post.....
Well, the day finally came and we were off to Oslo. It ended up being 7 girls total: Kelsey, Laura, Ashley Mac, Ashley S., Yunha, Diana, and me. We rented a car because that was going to be the cheapest way to get to Milan. The only problem was that the car only fit five. We originally had a little 2 door car, but when Ashley and I went to the Florence airport to pick up the car, we sweet talked our way into a four door sedan--still small for American standards. But, after putting one girl in the trunk and four in the back seat we all fit. (My quick wit and I had already "shotgunned" navigating so I got the front seat! haha...and Ashley S. was the only one who could drive stickshift.) It was a three hour drive that went without a hitch! Ashley Mac, who was in the trunk, slept like a baby the whole way! We ate our packed lunch in the airport then boarded the plane for Oslo.
When we got to Oslo, we had an hour and a half bus ride into the city. When we got to the city we checked out the city map and how to get to the campsite. Since we were only supposed to have 5 people in the cabin and three of us were hugnry, we split up. Diana, Yunha, and I went to this huge establishment, Egon. Diana and I got a huge Tex-Mex burger with fries...and yummy alternative to the usual pasta and pasta. We also got a pitcher of tap water with ice. And refilled it, twice. This is such a rare commodity to find in Europe. We definitely take that for granted in the US. It was so delicious. Then we made our way to the campground and found the cabin. The other girls had gone out and gotten an American style pizza. They also had the heat on for us when we got back and some hot water ready for tea. We warmed up (the weather was probably in the 50s, I think) and watched some TV...oh yeah, there was a plasma TV in our cabin. We went to bed pretty early. We then all woke up in the middle of the night in a huge sweat because we forgot to turn the heat down...yuck! It was so warm and we did some window and door opening. I moved off the top bunk and settled in on the tile floor of the living room which was much more bearable than that top bunk! Besides the heating problem, we made it through the night unscathed.
Saturday morning brought with it beautiful fall weather! It was the perfect weather for jeans, a fleece, and a scarf. We made some eggs for breakfast than walked up a hill to try and find the metro train. It was a long walk up...but so beautiful! We ended up finding a little visitor center in a little part of the mountain where the world ski championship (or something along those lines) will be happening in 2011 and they were building a ski jump of sorts for it. There were also some fantastic houses and great views of the city. Near the visitor center there was also a great grassy hill...and I had the urge to do some rolling down hills. So, I did. It was so much fun. We finally found the tram to take us into town and did some walking around in town. For lunch, we split up again. 4 of the girls were going to the Grand Cafe which had lots of semi-expensive sea food--not exactly up my alley. Laura wanted to go to Burger King. So, Diana and I went with to Burger King...in Oslo. It turns out Oslo doesn't have a lot of their "own" food; more of a mash of all other foods...so we weren't really missing out on a lot. And their main specialty is seafood which I don't like, and there's lutefisk and since dad doesn't eat that, I'm sure I won't like it!
After lunch we got some American coffee from the 7-11...you know, coffee in a large cup that you can drink for a while and it keeps your hands warm, instead of the Italian espresso. We also wandered until we found a church for me to go to Sunday Morning. Then we made our way toward the royal palace and a sculpture garden. Behind the royal palace was a pretty decent grassy hill and Ashley S. wanted to do some hill rolling; so we did! Then we went on to the sculpture park and walked around and took pictures. On the way back toward the palace and downtown we found a wonderful open area with sooooooo many leaves! We stopped and sat down and played in the leaves for an hour and a half. It was so fantastic! Then, we made our way to the entrance of the park--just so you know, this place is huge--and Ashley realized the keys to the cabin weren't in her pocket...
the saga will continue in the next post.....
Lucca, Lucca, Lucca, I love Lucca
The weekend after Amalfi, my roommate Amanda's friend Erinn was visiting Florence. She goes to school at Madison and is studying in Copenhagen. She's a cool person and was fun to hang out with. On Friday, I went into Florence to buy a dress for the Opera that we were going to the next week. At night, my roommate Kristine and I went and met up with Erinn and Amanda who had gone out to eat. We had a little wine and then went to get gelato. When we got back to the villa, we hung out in our room and had a little photo shoot. That day was actually the first time we got a picture with all three roommates together--how precious! :) Then we went to bed some what early with the intention of going to bologna in the morning.
In the morning Kristine decided not to come and Laura said she needed to study all day so it was just Amanda, Erinn and me. When we got to Santa Maria Novella--the main train station--and went to buy tickets to Bologna, they wanted 20 Euro a ticket...we weren't having that so we picked a new destination. We decided to go to Lucca, a small city with its ancient walls still standing. There was a bit of a fiasco with me getting stuck in the train doors and a little public embarassment, but we got over it. Once we got to Lucca, we walked around and it was great--everything seemed to move in slow motion, unlike Florence. We found a little cafe for lunch and I had some pesto pasta. The best part of that was an English translation on the menu: instead of "coffee with ginseng" it said, "coffee to the ginseng"...menu translations are usually pretty funny.
Then, we went into the beautiful cathedral in Lucca where Amanda and I recognized some artwork and artists that we had been studying in Art History. We had an (intelligent) conversation about it...something I could never have done two months ago!
We decided to rent bikes after our visit to the church. You can ride on top of the walls of the city and go all the way around. It's a pretty crowded walking/biking path filled with the cutest old men. We took so many pictures of people and Lucca and the beautiful mountains in the background. We tried biking in the city, but there was a lot of traffic and it wasn't as fun as biking on the path. We went back to the path and eventually stopped to play in the grass a while. After biking for two hours it started to rain a bit. I got my umbrella out and rode my bike with the umbrella--not as dangerous as it sounds, mom! Anyway, lots of people thought it was pretty funny and many strangers were taking my picture.
After we returned the bikes (which only cost 5 Euro for two and a half hours--what a steal!) we wanted to get some supper. We decided on Chinese food, Lucca Chinese food. It was quite a learning experience. I don't know that I would repeat it...but it was fun nonetheless.
We took the train back to Sesto and called it a night. Sunday I got up went to church with Erinn, who I happened to run into on the street; she really had no way of getting a hold of Amanda after a phone situation, so this worked out well! Sunday during the day, I did some homework and probably napped...yes, I'm pretty certain I napped most of the day! haha
It was a great weekend! The next week was pretty relaxing. I had a required movie for my literature class on Tuesday night and we went to the Opera on Wednesday. It was so fun to get all dressed up. I had watched the movie version of the opera we saw (La Traviata) with English subtitles so I knew what was going on...sort of. Overall, it was a great night and a good week of classes.
Again, check facebook soon for photos and I'll try to put some on here after fall break.
In the morning Kristine decided not to come and Laura said she needed to study all day so it was just Amanda, Erinn and me. When we got to Santa Maria Novella--the main train station--and went to buy tickets to Bologna, they wanted 20 Euro a ticket...we weren't having that so we picked a new destination. We decided to go to Lucca, a small city with its ancient walls still standing. There was a bit of a fiasco with me getting stuck in the train doors and a little public embarassment, but we got over it. Once we got to Lucca, we walked around and it was great--everything seemed to move in slow motion, unlike Florence. We found a little cafe for lunch and I had some pesto pasta. The best part of that was an English translation on the menu: instead of "coffee with ginseng" it said, "coffee to the ginseng"...menu translations are usually pretty funny.
Then, we went into the beautiful cathedral in Lucca where Amanda and I recognized some artwork and artists that we had been studying in Art History. We had an (intelligent) conversation about it...something I could never have done two months ago!
We decided to rent bikes after our visit to the church. You can ride on top of the walls of the city and go all the way around. It's a pretty crowded walking/biking path filled with the cutest old men. We took so many pictures of people and Lucca and the beautiful mountains in the background. We tried biking in the city, but there was a lot of traffic and it wasn't as fun as biking on the path. We went back to the path and eventually stopped to play in the grass a while. After biking for two hours it started to rain a bit. I got my umbrella out and rode my bike with the umbrella--not as dangerous as it sounds, mom! Anyway, lots of people thought it was pretty funny and many strangers were taking my picture.
After we returned the bikes (which only cost 5 Euro for two and a half hours--what a steal!) we wanted to get some supper. We decided on Chinese food, Lucca Chinese food. It was quite a learning experience. I don't know that I would repeat it...but it was fun nonetheless.
We took the train back to Sesto and called it a night. Sunday I got up went to church with Erinn, who I happened to run into on the street; she really had no way of getting a hold of Amanda after a phone situation, so this worked out well! Sunday during the day, I did some homework and probably napped...yes, I'm pretty certain I napped most of the day! haha
It was a great weekend! The next week was pretty relaxing. I had a required movie for my literature class on Tuesday night and we went to the Opera on Wednesday. It was so fun to get all dressed up. I had watched the movie version of the opera we saw (La Traviata) with English subtitles so I knew what was going on...sort of. Overall, it was a great night and a good week of classes.
Again, check facebook soon for photos and I'll try to put some on here after fall break.
Wow, I stink at this! Amalfi Coast Oct. 2-4
I know, I stink at blogging; I was doing so well for a while! Oh well, enough dreading on the past. The first weekend in October was amazing!!! Twelve of us from the Villa went on a trip to the Amalfi coast of Italy. It was so beautiful. This was also the weekend that it got real cold in Wisconsin--haha. We took a night train to Salerno...what a journey! When we bought our tickets ahead of time on a little computer kiosk in the main train station of Florence, we were under the impression the train would be like a normal train...you know, two seats next to each other, etc. Well, it was actually little cars of 6 people. And we could have filled two cars perfectly and been super comfortable...but we didn't get tickets next to each other...shoot! Anyway, there were four of us in our car and we were okay because the seats laid down and my friend Laura and I kind of cuddled all night. I got plenty of sleep...some people got none! In Rome, they turned the air conditioner off and everyone got so warm and gross. Anyway, we arrived in Salerno at 5:30 and were greated by rain! yay! I was in a great mood because I got so much sleep! haha We eventually found a bus to take us to the town of Amalfi.
Amalfi was so beautiful and right on the coast. Everyone headed toward the middle of town except my roommate Amanda and I bolted toward the pier to check out of awesome water! Eventually, we met up with everyone at the cafe they found. We watched hoards of children head up a hill to school--it was so cute! Then we headed back towards the water and relaxed on the pier in the cool 7am drizzle. We were trying to kill some time in the little cities on the way to Sorrento because we couldn't get into our hostel until 4pm. We eventually boarded a coach bus towards Sorrento with the intention of stopping in a picturesque little town called Positano. Well, this was a packed coach bus trip on the crazy windy hills of the Italian coast. We ended up missing the stop in Positano...and a few of us nearly got sick. I don't know that I've ever felt so car sick before. Maggie would have died for sure! It didn't help that people were standing filling up the aisles, our backpacks were on our laps, and it was stuffy. Anyway, an hour and a half later we made it to Sorrento and had to then find our hostel. I explained my car sickness feeling as someone had taken my brain out of my head, spun it in 100 circles and put it back in my head, upside down, and my stomach was in my throat. The fresh air helped and we made it to the hostel.
At that point, we had to wait an hour or so until our room was ready. The hostel restaurant opened back up for us and we had pretty darn good hamburgers. Then, we got our room and it was shower and nap time. Later, people decided to go out to eat for supper. Laura, Amanda and I weren't really hungry so we got a gatorade from the grocery store and found a park to hang out in. We all met back up at the hostel that evening and had a couple drinks on the beautiful rooftop lounge.
Early Saturday morning we were scheduled for an all day Capri boat tour. We thought we were going to get to hand out on the island of Capri all day--this wasn't the case..it was even better! We were sad when we first saw the boat...it looked like a little dinghy that would barely hold us all (the 12 of us, 2 Aussies, the captain and 2 of his friends). But, we started by boating to a little bay with a waterfall and jumped into the beautiful blue water. Then we drove to a nice rock where we "cliff dived"--not exactly a cliff, but it was probably 20 feet high or so. Then we drove around and saw some little caves where the bright water reflects onto the rocks. We eventually had lunch--the standard tomato, mozzerella, basil sandwich of Italy--and then headed on our tour again. We went to the champagne rock, the green grotto and many other picture perfect spots.
The highlight of the day was probably swimming in the blue grotto. Usually, there are rowboats hanging outside of the grotto and you pay to sit in one and row into the grotto. The seas were too rough and not the right conditions so it was closed. When we pulled up, our captain Andrea told us to swim in and be careful to swim flat at one part because there was a shallow rock. We said, "okay" and hopped right in. Inside was absolutely beautiful, everything was so blue. You have to google image search the blue grotto and check it out. I think it's kind of undescribable. Anyway, when we finally emerged from the grotto, we were told that it was quite illegal to swim in there...but it didn't matter--it was so great!
We continued on the boat tour and got some good views of Capri and Mount Vesuvius. Our tour ended at like 6:30 at night and when we got back to the hostel we showered and got ready for supper. We went out to eat with our new Aussie friends (yes, Libby, Aussies!). Amanda and I shared a quarter or half of chicken and some pasta...it was delicious and cheap. After supper we went back to the hostel and hung out on the roof there again.
Sunday, most of the group wanted to go to Pompeii. Two people were going back to Florence early to save a little money and get home earlier to get work done. While I wanted to go to Pompeii, I decided I had to head back to Florence so that I could get to church that weekend. Andy, Diana and my trip home ended up taking quite a while. Our trip from Rome to Florence took four hours and we were expecting it to take and hour and a half...i guess that's what we get for taking a regional train instead of a Eurostar.
Anyway, we made it home at 5ish and mass was at 6 at the Duomo (Cathedral). Diana and Andy went home and I hung out on the steps of the Duomo until mass. Then, I went home and got some supper and tried to absorb all of the wonderful events of that weekend. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've had.
Check out facebook so some pictures from it...I'll try and add pictures to this when I get back from fall break in a week.
Amalfi was so beautiful and right on the coast. Everyone headed toward the middle of town except my roommate Amanda and I bolted toward the pier to check out of awesome water! Eventually, we met up with everyone at the cafe they found. We watched hoards of children head up a hill to school--it was so cute! Then we headed back towards the water and relaxed on the pier in the cool 7am drizzle. We were trying to kill some time in the little cities on the way to Sorrento because we couldn't get into our hostel until 4pm. We eventually boarded a coach bus towards Sorrento with the intention of stopping in a picturesque little town called Positano. Well, this was a packed coach bus trip on the crazy windy hills of the Italian coast. We ended up missing the stop in Positano...and a few of us nearly got sick. I don't know that I've ever felt so car sick before. Maggie would have died for sure! It didn't help that people were standing filling up the aisles, our backpacks were on our laps, and it was stuffy. Anyway, an hour and a half later we made it to Sorrento and had to then find our hostel. I explained my car sickness feeling as someone had taken my brain out of my head, spun it in 100 circles and put it back in my head, upside down, and my stomach was in my throat. The fresh air helped and we made it to the hostel.
At that point, we had to wait an hour or so until our room was ready. The hostel restaurant opened back up for us and we had pretty darn good hamburgers. Then, we got our room and it was shower and nap time. Later, people decided to go out to eat for supper. Laura, Amanda and I weren't really hungry so we got a gatorade from the grocery store and found a park to hang out in. We all met back up at the hostel that evening and had a couple drinks on the beautiful rooftop lounge.
Early Saturday morning we were scheduled for an all day Capri boat tour. We thought we were going to get to hand out on the island of Capri all day--this wasn't the case..it was even better! We were sad when we first saw the boat...it looked like a little dinghy that would barely hold us all (the 12 of us, 2 Aussies, the captain and 2 of his friends). But, we started by boating to a little bay with a waterfall and jumped into the beautiful blue water. Then we drove to a nice rock where we "cliff dived"--not exactly a cliff, but it was probably 20 feet high or so. Then we drove around and saw some little caves where the bright water reflects onto the rocks. We eventually had lunch--the standard tomato, mozzerella, basil sandwich of Italy--and then headed on our tour again. We went to the champagne rock, the green grotto and many other picture perfect spots.
The highlight of the day was probably swimming in the blue grotto. Usually, there are rowboats hanging outside of the grotto and you pay to sit in one and row into the grotto. The seas were too rough and not the right conditions so it was closed. When we pulled up, our captain Andrea told us to swim in and be careful to swim flat at one part because there was a shallow rock. We said, "okay" and hopped right in. Inside was absolutely beautiful, everything was so blue. You have to google image search the blue grotto and check it out. I think it's kind of undescribable. Anyway, when we finally emerged from the grotto, we were told that it was quite illegal to swim in there...but it didn't matter--it was so great!
We continued on the boat tour and got some good views of Capri and Mount Vesuvius. Our tour ended at like 6:30 at night and when we got back to the hostel we showered and got ready for supper. We went out to eat with our new Aussie friends (yes, Libby, Aussies!). Amanda and I shared a quarter or half of chicken and some pasta...it was delicious and cheap. After supper we went back to the hostel and hung out on the roof there again.
Sunday, most of the group wanted to go to Pompeii. Two people were going back to Florence early to save a little money and get home earlier to get work done. While I wanted to go to Pompeii, I decided I had to head back to Florence so that I could get to church that weekend. Andy, Diana and my trip home ended up taking quite a while. Our trip from Rome to Florence took four hours and we were expecting it to take and hour and a half...i guess that's what we get for taking a regional train instead of a Eurostar.
Anyway, we made it home at 5ish and mass was at 6 at the Duomo (Cathedral). Diana and Andy went home and I hung out on the steps of the Duomo until mass. Then, I went home and got some supper and tried to absorb all of the wonderful events of that weekend. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've had.
Check out facebook so some pictures from it...I'll try and add pictures to this when I get back from fall break in a week.
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