This weekend, I saw some of the most amazing things. In my opinion, studying in Rome is a way to see not only the city of Rome, but also experience other sections of Italy and Europe. We’re already here…why not push it even further? This past weekend we took a trip to the Amalfi Coast with a company called Bus2Alps. It was definitely a trip worth making. During the trip, we stopped at Capri first. Capri was amazing. We took a boat ride around the island and got to see it all the way around. We passed huge cliff faces and saw all different parts of the island. The water was amazingly blue too. One of my favorite parts. I love it when water is clear..especially clear enough to see the enemy. Jellyfish were plentiful. There were a few casualties during the weekend..I’m not ashamed to say I’m happy it wasn’t me. Something about those things lurking below the surface. No thanks, man. Although they are really colorful and nice to look at, those things just aren’t for me.
It’s funny how some things can take you back to childhood. Passing a few of the rock formations I imagined Captain hook running on the top of the water away from the crocodile. I always did like the fairy tales. We passed through a rock that was said to be the arch of love or something and that if you didn’t kiss someone while you were going through it you’d eternally have bad luck in love…why take a chance, right? Right. The colors here are seriously amazing. Everything was bright and intense.
As we got closer to the walls the pink corral would show every time the water decided to sink down a little bit. Rock, water, corral, water. It was a nice little sandwich of color. When we got off of our boat tour, we took a tram up to the top of Capri and we were given time to walk around and get some grub. Good colors…good food. For lunch we decided to not go to the restaurant that Bus2Alps suggested. It makes me wonder how much they’re all getting paid for herding yuppy little tourist students in there all of the time. Someone’s got to be happy about that. Not me. We decided to get herded into another restaurant instead. I was happy about it though. I got calamari and it was amazing. Since we were so close to the ocean, it tasted really fresh and good. The pizza and ravioli that people got was really awesome too…and the best part? Wine and ice cream.
If you decide to go to Capri, it will become pretty obvious that they’re known for their citrus. Limoncello and nice fresh squeezed orange and lemon juices are all over. There are also these lemons there that look like tiny bowling balls. They’re huge. Sadly, I’ve been told that the fruit isn’t actually that big, it’s just the outside part that is used for the zest. While walking around the hilly streets of Ana Capri, we met a lovely little guy that just wanted to hang out with us. Don’t let this cuddly little kitten fool you though, we have it chasing a bird and grabbing some feathers on tape.
Instead of taking the tram down, we decided to walk back down to Capri where we would be leaving and heading back to our hostile for the night in Sorento. This walk, unknown to us at the time, consisted of roughly 1700 steep, uneven, rocky steps. It was interesting and it was completely beautiful. You could see the ocean and a huge section of Capri almost the entire time.
When we got down to the bottom our knees were shaking so fast it looked like we were dancing. So many steps. There were tons of little pit stops along the way. Different little snags of attention like lemon trees and religious shrines. I’ve noticed this in Italy. There are a lot of areas set up that look like they’re dedicated to a saint or to the virgin Mary. I find it interesting how this culture, especially when it has to do with religion, leaves no detail undone.
Hands down…got a few cities or towns to visit while you’re in Italy? I’d say put Capri on the list.