Didn't think it was too bad of deal, but some how I came home with having spent nearly 80 extra euro on I don't even know what! I didn't really care though because the weekend was amazing, and it was worth every penny I spent.
All week I continued to wake up early, trying to make good photographs for my final project. Every time my alarm went off, it proved harder and harder for me to wake up. Usually I am able to wake up in a second, so I am starting to worry about waking up for 6:00am practice next year. Hopefully I can get back into my 9:00 bedtime habits, and 5:30 am won't seem so bad!
Anywho, last week we got dumped with work, so aside from a Gelateria Medici run almost every night we were confined to the home, writing Mauro's paper, writing journal entries and studying up on our Italian. Monday through Wednesday were very relaxing, it was a little sad though because Claudia was away in Rome on business, so Samantha and I ate alone Monday and Tuesday, then Gabri and Claudia returned to the dinner table Wednesday, obviously with something delicious for our plates! We then delivered the sad news that we were going to Amalfi for the weekend and that we would be leaving Thursday at 6:30 and arriving Sunday around midnight, so we wouldn't be at dinner until Monday. They seemed a little sad, but I think they got over it pretty quickly!
Thursday I packed my little suitcase up before I left for class (I had bought it the day before for only 10 euros!). I left the very economical and convenient little suitcase stuffed to the brim at home while I had Italian from 10-12 and photography from 1-4. At the end of class I rushed home, made sure I had everything necessary for a wonderful weekend packed, and then I relaxed until it was time to catch the bus. Once again, the bus left me in extreme state of anxiety. Samantha and I had checked the bus schedule, a bus was to come at 5:57, 6:04, 6:12, 6:17 etc. We went out in time for the 5:57 bus, knowing it takes ten minutes to get to SMN by bus and obviously I wanted to be early for our 6:30 meeting time. Good thing all four of the buses that were scheduled to come, did not come! Talk about me FLIPPING out, even Samantha who is never worried about being late for anything was getting nervous, which was making me 10x more anxious than necessary. We called Anna just to tell her we were going to be late and to not let the trip leave without us, and finally by 6:27, bus numero quattro pulled up to our stop and we piled in with our suitcases and hearts racing. When we arrived at SMN it was nearing 6:45, we were late, but surprisingly we were not the latest of the group! By 6:50 our tour guide Cassandra had us walking to our bus, and by 7:00 we were en route for La Costa Amalfitana!
Bus ride was long, hot and mildly uncomfortable. Stopped at an Autogrill where I got a pretty disappointing salad, and got to not be stuffed in a bus for 45 minutes. By 10:00 we were back on the bus, and by 2:00am we had arrived at Hotel Cavour. By 2:15 I was fast asleep, with my alarm set for 7:10.
At 7:10 my alarm went off, just as I had asked it to. Anna and I went up to the breakfast room at 7:15 in our Pjs, ate some cornflakes and drank some coffee. After we ate we went back to the room to get dressed for Capri. We were supposed to meet in the lobby by 10 of 8:00 so we could walk down as a group to Sorrento's port to catch the ferry for Capri. When we all met it was clear everyone was sick of the rain and ready to catch some rays. All the girls were wearing the sun dresses and guys were in shorts and t shirts, even though it was still a little on the chilly side, but we were praying for it to warm up, and it didn't matter if we were cold just as long as our skin saw some sun on the island of Capri!
On the boat ride over I was beyond tired from the journey the night before, so I fell asleep immediately and was successful at drooling all over myself. But it didn't matter because I felt rejuvinated once I stepped foot on the Island of Capri. Our first activity was a boat tour of the island (10 euro down) which I initially didn't sign up for because I prefered seeing the Grotta Azzurra (entrance fee 11.50), but our tour guide told us it was closed due to weather conditions and choppy water, so I decided I could spend the 10 euro on the boat tour instead. It was worth it! We visited the Grotta Verde and Bianca, and we boated past the Grotta Azzurra, and it was clear why it had been closed. Even if a tiny little row boat had attempted to get through the opening, heads surely would have been knocked against the top of the opening... not my kinda fun! We boated around the entire island, through one of the famed Faraglioni and past the houses, really mansions, of many famous people. We saw the homes of Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, Mussolini's crows nest, and many others. After an hour we returned to Marina Grande and our free time on Capri commenced.
We took the Funiculare into the center with all of our stomachs growling. The plan was to grab lunch then walk through town and down to the public beach at Marina Piccola. Hannah and Alison's host family had recommended a restaurant "Gemma" that was somewhere on the Island of Capri and well known because of their pizzas. Their host family told them it was the best pizza one could find in all of italy (in their opinion). So we went off in search of "Gemma". I went to the Informazione and asked the woman "Sai un ristorante si chiama Gemma?" Lei ha detto SI! Then preceded to tell us it was simply up the stairs on the right, so close! So we gathered the troops, Cristi, Hannah, Alison, Katie and Jackie, and we went to go attest to whether or not Gemma had the best pizza in Italy.
They had a gorgeous indoor terrace looking out of Marina Grande which was perfect for us because it still wasn't quite warm enough for us to be wearing our dresses outside for lunch. All 6 of us glared at the menu and ended up each getting the Margherita. I wanted the capriociosa, but it was 11 euro, compared to the 8 euro margherita and there was cover charge to pay so I opted for the cheaper. I don't know what I missed, but I can certainly say that the Margherita was absolutely delcious, and was definitely one of the tastier pizzas I've had in Italy. Cristi splurged for Nonno's Soup along side her Pizza and it was really worthwhile. THE most delicious soup ever! Overall, the recommendation of Gemma was right on, the only strange thing was that there was a cover charge, and service was not included, so I ended up paying half the price of my Pizza in service fees, booo... the food was worth it though!
After lunch we started the excursion down to Marina Piccola. We stopped numerous times taking photographs, trying to figure out where we were actually going and buying GRANITAS! Granitas were our tour guide's favorite thing about the trip to the Amalfi Coast, and I had to agree. Freshly squeezed lemons and oranges in a bitter but sweet icey refreshing drink, the perfect remedy for overheating in the sun, which luckily started happening to us after lunch! Sun was out, we were walking up and down stairs, and the Granita was a perfect cool down solution. nom nom nom.
By 1:30 we made it to Marina Piccola, we laid out our towels on the rocky public beach and soaked up the sun. I immediately fell asleep, once again drooling everywhere, but it was the perfect relaxing afternoon. Around 4 we started the hike back up the cliff to get back to Marina Grande to catch the boat back to Sorrento. The weather ended up being gorgeous, only raining lightly for 20 minutes during our hike back to Marina Grande, and the day was deemed successful.
Upon our return to Hotel Cavour we all showered up and get ready for 8:45 dinner. We were served homemade spaghetti with tomato sauce, bruschetta, insalata, vino and ACQUA! The most amazing part of the meal was getting free unlimited water. It was simply amazing, and it was like we were living the life of high rollers who could afford ACQUA! Amazing! After dinner there were plans to go out but everyone was so pooped they just stayed at the hotel and hung out, I was even too pooped to hang out, I went straight to bed, and probably began the drooling fest again. Luckily, we only had to meet on saturday by 10 to go to Positano, so I was able to sleep until 9:10, grab breakfast and prepare for a wonderful day of nice weather in the town of Positano where Under The Tuscan Sun has given me hope to find a man like Marcello, haha.
By 10:00 Saturday morning we were on our way to beautiful Positano. The entire group ooed and awwed as we drove down the coast, teetering over the cliff edges and looking at the bright blue water and beautiful towns stuck in the side of the mountains. We arrived in Positano a little before 11:00 hiked down hundreds of stairs to get to the beach. Surprisingly painful walk, when we stopped at the bottom I couldn't stop my calves from shaking, it was ridiculous.
We were given 50 minutes to check out the city and grab lunch to bring on the boat tour which started at 12:00. We walked up into the town a little bit, then went to a panini shop that was recommended to us by our tour guides called Vino e Panino. There I had a sandwich made on crusty fresh bread with mortadella, mozzarella, pesto, insalata, and pomodoro. It was chuck full with fresh ingredients and beyond amazing. Better than any Gusta Panino I've ever had... I didn't think it was possible!
We loaded the boat with our paninos in hand and started up the coast. We first boated past Positano to a little are where we could do some cliff jumping... COOL! I was the second person to say I was in, everyone was a little hesitant about it, but numerous people ended up following me, another girl and phil after we reached the shore. We were a little hesitant to start scaling the cliffs, but a group who was already there assured us that it wasn't very difficult and we should be fine, so up we went! Some started at the small, but I was ambitious so I went to the highest ledge first and prepared myself to jump! Took me a few minutes, and the scariest part was climbing up the rock, but I finally got to the top and then was encouraged to jump, it was a lot of fun, and certainly a lot higher than any diving board I have been off, I think it was around 45 feet high, FUN FUN FUN! I jumped off the highest two more times, and off the medium one once and then we all swam back to the boat and continued the tour.
Next stop: Grotto!
We boated near a grotto further up the coast than the cliffs. We were pretty cold from jumping in the water and being on the boat because the sun went away, but they gave us the option of swimming through the cave. How could I say no? Despite the fact I was already shivering, Hannah and Alison dove right in (they didn't cliff jump), and then I followed. SHortly after me, Anna, Phil and Dan were on there way in and it was totally worth it. We swam through a cave with crystal clear water and cool rock formations. Hung out in there for a little while then swam back to the boat. It was so beautiful, and only made me wonder how much more beautiful the Grotta Azzurra of Capri could be.
After our Grotto experience we got back on the boat, and wolfed down our sandwiches. We were hungry after fighting against the waves to enter the cave. It was totally worth it! The sandwich tasted so good, and was the perfect thing for a boat lunch, and the driver began to bring us back to Positano where we would have the rest of the day FREE!
When we arrived back, we went to the bathroom, then went to the beach because the sun finally came back out and it was HOT! We layed out for a few hours relaxing, then around 4:30 we headed up through the town to find Granitas and the bus stop so we could get back to our meeting place to return to Sorrento (without walking up ALL the hundreds of stairs).
We returned to the hotel by 6:15 and dinner was set for 8:00. We showered and got ready, because after dinner we were going out on the town, woop woop. For dinner we had individual homemade pizzas (they were a little weird), salmon, roasted potatoes and rum cake. And of course WATER! Delcious dinner, and afterwords Cassandra led us into town to a bar that they always go to that has a large outdoor section with a dance floor, bar and tables. It was early when we first arrived so a few of us walked down the road to a gelateria names Primavera that is supposedly famous, and lots of famous people love it there. I thought it was pretty good (obv. medici is better). We strolled down the main drag of Sorrento with our Gelato then headed back to the bar. It was a lot of fun, we all danced, had a great time, and talked with some italians. All in all great night!
Sunday we checked out of the hotel at 10, loaded the bus and headed to Pompeii! Pompeii was great. We had an Italian tour guide who made our visit to Pompeii 100% better, and there was no complaining, because everyone was fascinated with Pompeii and its ruins. For lunch we ate at one of the places outside Pompeii, we had 6 euro pizzas from a dumpy little place, and surprisingly most of the group said that the pizza was the best they have had. Worth the 6 euro I guess!
After lunch, the bus drove us up Vesuvio as high as we could, until we had to get up and hike to the tippity top. When we got out of the bus it was much cooler than it had been down in Pompeii, and there was a crazy thunderstorm happening just over the top of another near by mountain. It was pretty cool. We got our tickets for the hike up, then started it ASAP because we didn't want to get stuck in a huge storm. The hike was pretty difficult, my calves were certainly burning, but we made it to the top within 25 minutes, walked the perimeter of the crater, looked at the gorgeous coast line below, attempted to find the city of Pompeii and only got a little bit wet because it just began to sprinkle.
The view were gorgeous, and it was definitely worth the hike. I can say I've hiked mount Vesuvio now! After we hiked back down, we loaded the bus, I was pysched to be sitting, and pretty excited that my own bed was in my future. It had been a long long long weekend filled with lots of things, and I was ready to do nothing! We pulled into SMN around 11:00pm, and I was safely drooling again in my bed by 11:45, successful weekend! I'd do it again!
Monday we had Italian class, photo class and then cooking class. We had a lesson with Claudia to make Gnocchi con sugo di noci. She made us do the majority of the work. I had to hammer the walnuts apart and Sam had to take the nuts out. She made us mash the potatoes, add all the right ingredients and start rolling out the gnocchi. I'd say we did 75% of the work with her guidance, and it was clear that we were working too slow for her liking but it was okay, she was patient! THe end result was fantastic. A few mishapen Gnocchi, but like Claudia says about her healthy 8 grain biscotti, "Brutti ma Buoni!". Great cooking lesson, and I think I remember all the ingredients so I am looking forward to making walnut sauce when I return home.
Our last weekend in Firenze is ahead of us. So crazy! Gelato Festival and Italian Food Festival this weekend and possibly a day trip to the Cinque Terre! Can't wait!
A dopo!
Was all the free water from the rubinetto?? By now, it sounds like you probably agree with Aunt Toni that Water is a constitutional and more important, God-given right that our entire civilization relies on.
ReplyDeleteSounded like an amazing weekend! I think Dad and I ate at da Gemma. I now have to look forward to a granita on Capri!
I definately remember Gemma ... it was right up the stairs from the main piazza. But I recall not liking it so much becausee it was indoors ... nice view ... but it was through dirty windows.
ReplyDeleteAh ... memories!
Daddio