When I think about it, sometimes it felt like I was in Italy 2 months but then sometimes it feels like it flew by. Either way I am ready to get home, but just as ready to go back at the drop of a hat.
Today is.... Friday. Ugh. Its been so difficult keeping track of days, dates and time while in a foreign country. But yes, so... Wednesday morning was our last day in Rome. We were told to pack our bags, but to also pack just a separate overnight bag for our night in Sorrento. Once on the bus, Stefania said we would realize really quickly once we arrived to our hotel in Sorrento why we could only bring a small bag.
In between Rome and Sorrento was our afternoon excursion to Pompei. We had a new bus driver, Alessio, who looked like he drove buses during the day and was an Italian model at night.
As we approached Pompei, all of a sudden while driving down a little Italian highway there is Mount Vesuvius. Just hanging out on the side of the highway. You never truly get used to these sights just popping up out on no where when in Italy.
Stefania did her thing and gave us some history while we made our way. Once off the bus, we met our local guide named Roberto. Roberto was an older man (told us his age, want to say he was in his early 70's! He said he was a "senior guide") and had been touring Pompei for years. He said when he was younger he actually worked digging there, so he totally knew his stuff. He actually had a gold ring on (pinky finger, of course) that had a cameo inside that he said he found while digging and was allowed to keep!
He also told us he had mafia connections. Chez loved that.
The Pompei ruins are spectacular. As you walk through and see ruins of these REAL things like bedrooms, bakeries, center squares, even brothels you are honestly able to just imagine it full of life that was suddenly taken away by the looming volcano in the background. Roberto said something like 700,000 people have illegally built homes on/under Vesuvius since it's eruption and it still heats up and gases at least once a week. He said all residents living there must keep gas masks in their homes always... You know, just in case.
We saw all the famous discoveries they have there covered in volcanic ash. The pregnant lady, the dog, the man covering his nose and tons of other items like pottery. It sort of blew my mind how they have all these things stored. They are just behind a gate outside in a narrow covered building. If it rains or gets windy, the items are right there. Some are under glass but some aren't. Strange.
We walked through the main site. Roberto showed us a map and there are so many other places around the area to see but obviously are time was limited since we had to make a dinner reservation in Sorrento. It was so hot that day and we were all starting to look and feel exhausted. After the tour, Roberto showed us to a cafeteria where you can get an all included lunch for 12 euro so pretty much the entire group went and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon for lunch.
I don't think I went into much detail about the other groups we were with, mainly because most of them were not friendly and/or creepy. Along with my group from Kean, there was a group from Florida, Iowa and Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh kids did not do the extention to Sorrento so they left right after Rome. From what we heard, most of that group hated the trip and couldn't wait to get home. Really the only time I talked to a few of them was our group dinner night in Florence because there were no seats for me and Chez at any Kean tables.
The Iowa kids were all pretty standoff-ish and kept to themselves. The only 2 people from that group we bonded with were the cutest ladies, Nancy (Nan for short) and her sister Liz. Nancy was the college leader from Iowa and her younger sister Liz is a special ed teacher from Missouri.
Liz's claim to fame was on our day trip to Verona, she fell and severely cut her hand. Once we got to Florence she had to go to the hospital for stitches. The night of our wine tasting in San Gimignano, Liz and her sister ended up at a table with me, Jill, Mary and Chez. They were so friendly and sweet and we had such a great time with them. They particularly thought it was cute that they were sisters on the trip together and so were me and Chez, just about 20 or so years younger than them. Then when we arrived in Rome, we happened to sit with them again for dinner and talked the entire time. Wonderful ladies.
The Florida group was a melting pot of characters, most we came up with nicknames for. Mark Consuelos, Steve-O, V. Rab and the most hated of all, Creeper... who also goes by Douchebag or Tool, depending on what he was doing. There were a handful of cool people in this group and last night we all exchanged emails/Facebook so we could see pics and stuff.
Lunch in Pompei was pizza. Honestly, I've made a pact to not eat pizza or pasta for at least a month now. I love it, but wow. Its literally all we ate. I miss meat and chicken and vegetables! I have eaten more carbs the past 2 weeks that I have in the past year!
The drive as we arrived in Sorrento was SICK. The Bay of Naples and the cliffs and beaches were simply the greatest eye candy you'll ever see. We parked the bus and retrieved our overnight bags and made our way to the hotel. Remember when Stefania told us only one bag? Well, there was the biggest staircase I have ever seen in front of us which is how we had to get up and down from the hotel. The hotel sits on the very bottom of a cliff right on the water and the staircase scales the cliff. Only pictures can describe this staircase.
We made our way carefully down (not for those scared of heights) and got to the hotel. We were all pretty shellshocked at the close proximity to the beautiful coast. Our room was nice and we settled in and freshened up. Stefania was going to do a small walking tour of the town before dinner so of course we decided to go - though a LOT of people opted out to go to the beach.
The only people on the walking tour were me, Jill, Mary, Chez, Jen (from our Kean group) and a girl Michelle from the Florida. We kind of enjoyed it this way. We got to talk to Stefania a little more personally. Before we started the walk she told us her next tour is in 2 weeks - Italy & Greece in one tour. Love it and love her. Would love to do that one with her in the future!
We had to go UP the crazy staircase (which only gets difficult on the last flight and makes you feel okay that you ate pasta for lunch and dinner the day before) went to an included dinner at the hotel (pasta - what do you know!).
Sorrento is another charming town, reminded me a lot of Verona, just on the water. There are only a few main streets, tons of shops and an amazing view. She pointed out a few spots (churches, a look out point where we took pics, Limoncello shops where we got so many free samples and a cute senior club patio where all these old Italian men were playing cards) then she let us free to shop. I got a pair of sandals in a shop where an old Italian lady was making them right there! And a few gifts.
We also met the cutest and oldest dog we've all ever seen. In Sorrento there are a lot of random town dogs sitting around. Non bother you and according to the shop owners, they are harmless. This one we met a shop owner old us was 19 years old! He was SOOO old! He got up to walk around and was hobbling around like an old man. He didn't have a name so we named him Lione (Lion in Italian because his hair was crazy and he looked like one).
After shopping we had to make it for an included dinner at the hotel, pasta again! We decided to go back up to the town after dinner which was awesome. Jen's sister Jo joined us. We went back to the lookout and saw the coast at night and had our last gelato of the trip. Tear tear! I think I made it to 10. It was White Chocolate.
I love gelato. I will miss making it an essential part of my daily food intake.
After that we went back to the hotel. Jill got a cough/sniffley so she got tea with Chez at a restaurant next to the hotel. Mary and I went up to Linda's room where a bunch of the girls from our group and Linda's husband were on the balcony talking and having wine and cheese. We stayed and hung out for a bit but were so exhausted, so went back to our room to shower and pass out.
The next morning we had breakfast and then boarded a ferry to our day trip to Capri. We had a new local guide for that, her name was Francesca. I slept with my head in my hand on the boat ride, as did everyone else.
Capri is out of a postcard. The port is so picturesque. The water is teal blue. The sailboats are so classy. The cliffs are so perfectly scattered with houses and hotels dotting them. Once off the boat we boarded a smaller boat for a cruise around the islands to see exclusive homes and hotels atop the cliffs and all the famous grottos.
The water was extreeeemely choppy and our little boat was swaying like crazy. I was super surprised no one got sick.
We drove right into the grottos and through the famous "love" grotto which you make a wish when you go under. After the cruise, we board the Furicolare, which is like a tram car/trolley that scales the hills of Capri to take you to the top of the town.
Once at the top, you could literally die at the views.
Francesca took us through town - so many high end exclusive designer shops. At the end of the shops was a famous garden overlooking the water. The name of it escapes me, but we took lots of pics.
Afterwards we had lunch (they had chicken! So I got that instead of pasta or pizza) and then we had free time to walk around town. We all did some shopping and realized it was our last real day so we had to spend all our Euro cash. Wasn't hard to do that!
We said ciao to Capri and boarded a ferry to Naples. Again, we all passed out on the boat ride. We had no time for anything in Naples which was a bummer since that's where my family is from, just had to get off the boat and board our bus back to Rome. A reason to go back!
On the bus ride back to Rome, Stafania played the old Sophia Loren movie that took place in Naples & Capri ("It All Started in Naples"? I think it was called) I didn't stay awake for a lot of it, but it took place at all the spots we had been to that day. The port, the streets, they even took the same Funicolare!
We arrived in Rome and had our last dinner in Italy included at our hotel - a different hotel than we had previously stayed in Rome. This one was right next to Termini, which is the main bus station.
Our last dinner was nice. But it sort of ended weirdly. A father from the Florida group thought it was a good idea to get up and roast Stefania, which quickly got inappropriate and awkward. I won't go into detail, but let's just say several people cut the guy off and made him end it. Linda and basically everyone from our group apologized to her on his behalf and she said not to worry. I guess she deals with rude people all the time so she knows how to let it roll off her back, but we were all embarrased to say the least.
After dinner we went up to our room to back our bags to go home. Like I said, we had a 4:30am wake up call and had to get right on the bus to the airport. Its going to be a rugged few days getting back to our time, but I am thankful it is Memorial Day weekend and I am off Monday!
So that's that! I can't believe its over but like I said, so happy to go home. I miss my parents so much, I miss my home, my bed, American toilets and showers, not having to use electricity converters, my Chi hair straightener, not being exhausted, having clean feet, not living out of a suitcase, vegetables and fruits, driving in a car, television and Internet...
But I will miss gelato, Stefania and Gianluca, the Italian language, the amazing history and sights of the most beautiful country in the world, spending time with Chez, Jill, Mary and all the other wonderful people I got to know and laughing and making amazing memories and much more! I'm so lucky to be Italian and have experienced its wonder at such a young age. I can't wait to go back. I will go back.
My favorite city of all the main cities we went to was Venice. It had the most charm mixed with history. Least fav was Rome. Favorite excursion was wine tasting in San Gimignano. :)
Yes! Only 2 hours left until JFK! Then we have a bus ride to Kean. I am crossing my fingers Memorial Day traffic is nice to us. Then its off to the shore house to relax all weekend. I am so excited to share my goodies, pictures and stories with friends and family.
This will not be the last of me. I plan to post pictures and probably update with more memories as I go through all my souveniers and pictures, so continue to check this. Thanks to everyone who followed me as I blogged from my tony Blackberry for 11 days. :)
Ciao, and goodbye Italia! Thank you.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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