Weekend Trip #1-The Amalfi Coast: Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii

This map shows Vesuvius, Pompeii at the base,
and Sorrento, where our hotel was located.

This was our first weekend adventure with API, the study abroad program I'm here with. We met on Friday morning and took a bus partially up Mt. Vesuvius. [One word on the roads in Italy: they weren't built for cars. This means they definitely weren't built for busses, which makes for some interestingly tight squeezes and terrifying moments. The road winding up Vesuvius was no different.] The bus dropped us off at a trail, which lead to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. The hike was about 45 minutes. I don't think it was actually a difficult hike, but between just getting of a bus for a few hours and the altitude change we were getting pretty tired on the way up. However, the view was worth it. We could see part of the way down the middle of the volcano, the clouds, and the surrounding cities.
After the hike, we took the bus down to our hotel in Sorrento. We stayed at Hotel Klein Wien,  [One word on this hotel: the lobby is on the 5th floor. And there is only one key per room. This means that you have to drop your key off on the 5th floor upon leaving, and pick your key up on the 5th floor upon entering. Why this seems to make sense to anyone is beyond me.] which was a ten or fifteen minute drive from the "downtown" of Sorrento. After quick showers, we were driven downtown, where we had a group dinner complete with giant plate of appetizers, gnocchi, and cake for dessert. After dinner we were free to walk around the city. There were lots of little shops that were open fairly late, as well as karaoke bars, limoncello factories, and benches near the water. I bought a Sorrento apron, which I'm super excited to use in my ceramics and painting studios once I return to UC!


Saturday morning we had an early wake up call so that we could take the boat to Capri! When I took a short trip to Italy and Greece in high school, we also went to Capri and I was so excited to go back. It was the most beautiful day for it! First we had a two hour boat tour completely around the island. Then we were free to explore. There are three basic levels of cities on Capri: Marina Grande at the bottom, Capri, and Anacapri towards the top. The first task was getting up to Anacapri. We decided to take a convertible taxi. The roads on the island were no wider or less treacherous. Once we made it to the top alive, my roommates and I went to lunch, then took a chair lift to the very top of the mountain. Here was another beautiful view. Much like on top of Vesuvius, I felt like I could see the entire world stretching out in front of me. I love seeing boats the size of ants and enormous cliffs the size of my pinky finger.
I kept my eyes open for the famous celebs that live in Capri, but I didn't see any. After a lovely day, we went back to town in Sorrento.


We got to Pompeii Sunday morning, and had a tour around the ruins. It's amazing to see how big the excavated area is (although only a third of the entire city has even been excavated). We saw streets that were once full of shops, buildings that were once home to families, and plaster casts that were once real people, suffocated in the thirty feet of ash that covered the city when Vesuvius erupted. We also saw the penises in the streets and the brothels (Pompeii was one of the most openly sexual ancient cities), as well as the forum and the stray dogs that were everywhere!


These trips, and any time we're with our entire API group (about 80 students I believe), it is stressful and a little bit crazy. Sometimes it feels like I've known these people forever, sometimes it seems like I've never met half of them; sometimes it feels like high school, sometimes people don't know how to control themselves. Sometimes it's not fun traveling in packs of American students.
So it was nice to be home*.
*That's the strange phenomenon that this trip brought about: this "weekend away from my Italian vacation," as Peter put it, made me feel relieved to be back in Rome, as if I'm returning home. While I was away from this new place for a few days, it was becoming more like home to me.