Saturday morning, we woke up, ate a quick breakfast, then walked down to the dock to catch our ferry to the island of Capri.
Port at Sorrento
Sorrento dock
When we first arrived in Capri, we had about 30 minutes of free time before our scheduled boat tour. A few of us from KU sat outside a restaurant right on the water and sipped on limoncello slushies.. So refreshing! We boarded the private boat and Madeline and I were lucky enough to get seats on the top deck. Perfect for taking pictures on our tour around the island.
Sailing into Capri
About 10 minutes into the boat tour of the island, we arrived at La Grotta Azzurra, aka the Blue Grotto. This was my absolute favorite part of the entire weekend! We split into groups of four then climbed from our boat to much smaller row boats to enter the grotto. The entrance into the grotto is a tiny opening only 3 feet above the water level. Whenever the tide is too high, the grotto is off limits, so we were lucky that this wasn't the case. We had to crouch in the bottom of the row boat to get inside the grotto without bumping our heads. Once we were inside, it was incredible! The grotto is like a small, dark cave, but the water glows a beautiful, light blue color. While we were in there, the boat guides sang "Volare," and their voices echoed off the walls of the grotto, which sounded really cool. For the low, low bargain price of 5 euro a piece, we were allowed to swim in the grotto! I was the first one from my group to get in... The water was pretty cold at first, but that discomfort was nothing compared to the terror that came when one of the guides yelled, "Shark!" and pointed in my direction. Luckily, he was kidding (I think...), but I may or may not have almost tipped over the entire row boat, freaking out trying to get back in... We found out later that there are actually many jellyfish that swim around in the grotto, so we were pretty lucky we didn't get stung while we were in there!
Tiny opening into La Grotta Azzurra
After our quick swim, we climbed back into the row boat and headed back to our larger boat for the rest of the tour. The rest of the island was absolutely beautiful. It's no wonder that it's the vacation destination of many celebrities and wealthy Italians... Our guide pointed out Giorgio Armani's summer home! In addition to the Blue Grotto, Capri also has a Green Grotto and White Grotto. Who knew grottoes came in every color of the rainbow?! There was even a shrine for Mary in the White Grotto, which I thought was pretty neat. We saw the Lighthouse of Punta Carena, which is the tallest lighthouse in Italy, right behind the one in Genoa. Another landmark we saw was the Lovers Arch... As you sail under it, you're supposed to share a kiss with the one you love!
After our tour, we rode the funicular (fun new word, right? It's basically a trolley-like thing that carries you up the massive hills of Capri) up to the top of the island and found one of the prettiest views I've ever seen.
We had some free time to explore the village and eat lunch. We stopped at a small cafe and grabbed a quick lunch. I had un panino Caprese (Caprese-Capri... Embarrassed to say I didn't connect the two in my mind until this day... Caprese salad. Capri Sun. Capri pants. It all makes sense now! You really do learn something new every day). This region of Italy is famous for their dolci (sweets!), so obviously I had to sample a couple of different desserts while I was there. I tried un cannolo and un caprilu limone (a lemon-almond cookie; Capri is famous for their lemons!), which were both excellent.
After lunch, we explored the village. There were so many cute (and also very expensive!) shops and restaurants, but as we ventured further, we came across a more residential area. I was amazed by all of the beautiful flowers scattered along the path. While we were walking along, we found a furry friend--a cute dog named Buzz just lying on the sidewalk. We spent awhile petting and playing with him, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Once we started heading back to meet the Florence for Fun group, Buzz decided he wanted to come with us too! It took about 30 minutes until he finally realized we couldn't bring him along with us.
La Basilica di San Michele
Buzz
The beach--la spiaggia
We met up with the FFF group for our scheduled limoncello tasting. I wish I could say that I liked it, but it was absolutely disgusting. For those of you who I promised to bring a bottle of limoncello... I did you an immense favor by not buying it!
Our next stop was the town of Positano. We took a ferry back to the mainland to get there, and it was such a fun, cute town. Our FFF guide brought Madeline, Kaylin, and me to her favorite sandal shop; the owner makes all of the shoes by hand specifically for you! Naturally, each of us bought a pair. After we looked around for a bit, we hit up the beach to lay out and swim. The beach was very different than what I expected--much more pebbly than the soft, powdery Gulf sand I'm used to--but it was a gorgeous day, so we still had a great time.
We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the beach. It was so beautiful and relaxing to eat while watching the sun set on the water. I had risotto with asparagus and shrimp--sooooo good!
After dinner, I wasn't feeling so well, probably because I got so much sun that day; I'm bummed because I didn't take pictures of Positano at night. We sat on the pier and watched the sun set on the water while eating gelato (I didn't have any, which just goes to show how sick I was feeling!). There was a huge parade/procession that came through the city. None of us were really certain what it was for, but it involved a soccer team of eight-year-olds, a large group of tweens wearing altar server robes, a priest. several monks, a golden statue of some type, a marching band, and a few members of the Italian military. It was quite a procession, to say the least! There was a live band playing in the town square and a short fireworks display. All of these things would have been very exciting and neat, had I been feeling well. Oh well!
Sunday morning, we visited Pompeii. It was so cool to see the city in person, after learning all about it freshman year in Mr. Wilson's Latin class. If he hadn't been so passionate about teaching the city's history, I don't think I would have appreciated visiting it quite as much as I did. It was incredible to see the remains of the city exactly as they were in the year 79 when Mount Vesuvius erupted. The volcanic ash that fell on the city after the eruption is what preserved everything so well. I was amazed by the affreschi (decorative wall paintings) that still had such vibrant colors. The volcanic ash also preserved the skeletons of the Pompeiians--probably the most somber, morbid thing we saw on our tour. It's incredible to think that archaeologists began removing the volcanic ash from Pompeii in the 1700s, and they still are only 2/3 of the way finished with uncovering everything.
Theater for musical performances
Stepping stone to get across the street
Pompeii had a very advanced water system for their time
Original affreschi
Water-collecting basin
Original ceiling mosaic decorations
Exactly what it looks like...
Public fountain
Original mosaic detailing on the sidewalk
Town square
Courtyard at the fish market
Plaster around preserved Pompeiian skeleton..
Public bathroom
Pottery and statues
Temple with Mount Vesuvius in the distance
After visiting Pompeii, we headed to climb Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that erupted and caused the destruction of Pompeii. It is still an active volcano located about 5 miles west of Naples. The last known eruption was in 1944. The volcano and surrounding area is constantly monitored for activity, so it is safe for tourists to climb, unless officials say otherwise. Our bus drove us the majority of the way up the mountain, but we hiked the final mile up to the top. It was super hot and the path was steep, but the view was totally worth it. The inside of the volcano looks like a massive crater with a little bit of vegetation. There is one spot in the volcano where a small curl of smoke rises out!
Today after class, we visited the Baptistry, or il Battistero di San Giovanni, which is located right across from the Duomo. It was absolutely beautiful on the inside. All of the affreschi decorating the interior is so intricate and detailed.
That's all for now! Abbracci e baci :)
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