Capri, Positano, Sorrento, and Pompeii all in one weekend, what more could a girl ask for? Not much. Over the past two weekends a significant number of Temple Rome students embarked on an organized weekend trip to the Amalfi Coast. On the trip, we visited the island of Capri on Friday, relaxed on the Positano beach on Saturday, and toured Pompeii on Sunday. It was so relaxing to be under the Mediterranean sun with friends during one of my last weekends in Italy. Here are the highlights from our weekend trip!
Taking a Boat Ride around the Island of Capri: Swimming in a forbidden place and the Lovers Arch
We had to wake up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning in order to catch a ferry to Capri and hop on another boat for an island tour. With half open eyes and only a few hours of sleep, I just wanted to climb back into bed, but as soon as we set sail around the island and I felt the Capri air, I was wide awake!
Beautiful clear blue water!
The tall, rocky cliffs and bright blue water was so beautiful. As we cruised around our guides talked about the history of the island and the famous landmarks. Our first actual stop on the boat tour was the blue grotto. As I am told, sunlight passes through an underwater cavity and illuminates the water so that it appears bright blue; hence, the sea cave is called the blue grotto. The grotto is also considered one of the seven natural wonders of Europe.
The entrance and exit of The Blue Grotto
I thought the blue grotto was pretty, but there wasn’t a lot to do or see in the cave…until you jumped off the boat.
Yup, that’s me swimming in the Blue Grotto!
Once we got our fill of the Blue Grotto, we all climbed back into the boat and continued our cruise around the island. We passed the famous light house..
the orange mansion that Michael Jackson attempted to buy for $17 million, but his offer was too low…
and we even sailed through the famed lovers arch.
After the boat tour, we spent the rest of the day on the Capri where we shopped, sampled the local limoncello, and took a chair lift to the top of the island.
Taking a chairlift to the top of Capri
I am not able to do justice to the views we experienced going to the top of the island, so here is a photo story of my experience.
Cliff Jumping in Positano
When we were told that we had the option to jump of cliffs in Positano, I envisioned a 40 foot cliff that was going to be pretty high up. However, when we got to the cliff it was not that high.
It was fun to jump off the ledge, but for me the scariest part was climbing up the rock. Can you see in the picture in the center, right above the boats, there is a guy helping the girl get down off the rocks onto the ledge? Well, when my friends and I climbed up the ledge the male helper had to leave and we were on our own. At one point, I was hanging just by my arms on the rock and couldn’t reach the platform with my feet, so I had to just drop and pray that I landed on rock and didn’t fall. I survived, no worries, but the climb up the ledge was more of a thrill for me than jumping off the rock.
The weekend trips to the Amalfi Coast were perfect because it was either our second to last or last weekend in the program and it was a great way to gather together for one last hurrah before finals. As we sailed past the famed statue on Capri, I waved to indicate that I will back in this paradise one day!!