Bella Notte

Friday we slept in for a little but we were planning on visiting Marymount so we couldn't sleep for too long. I never got a response back from my teacher if we could come visit the class so we ended up not going. Instead we do what we do best, shop!

First we went back to the same restaurant I had my very first meal in Rome. I got the caprese pizza again and it was just as good as the first time I'd had it. I really felt like I came full circle throughout these past 5 weeks! We walked down to the river where there are vendors selling all sorts of things. We picked up some gifts and knick knacks and lemon granita, which is like an icey. After walking around there for a bit we headed towards another shopping street near Risorgimento. After all of my self control avoiding buying things from the clothing vendors, my mom convinced me to buy a maxi dress and skirt and flowy top. Now I know where I get it from.

We stopped at 200 degrees, the sandwich shop with fantastic paninis, we also grabbed some Old Bridge. I specifically treasured these last few gelatos. We went back to the Residence to take a nap before we headed out again later that night. We went back to Piazza Navona but on the way I got a bit turned around but we ended up on some really bumping street. There were tons of people going out and we stopped at this cute little restaurant. I can count on one hand the amount of meals I've actually eaten inside on this trip. I'll miss sitting at all the outdoor cafes facing piazzas and cobblestone streets. I finally had some steak, which I've been craving throughout this trip. It was beef strips with rosemary and it was delicious. The dinner was so entertaining because we were sitting outside on what seemed to be just a street for walking, but before we knew it there were cabs and vespas coming through the entire time. Poor Gigi was sitting on the side closest to the road and we thought she was gonna get hit a few times.

Close call haha

After dinner we walked over to Piazza Navona and admired the view at night. We sat down at a little place so the ladies could get some cappuccinos. A creepy man started talking to us after I was complaining about the toilet inside. The seat wouldn't stay down, it was automatic and popped back up as soon as you stood up so hit smacked my butt when I stood up. He leaned over to our table and said, "Haven't gotten a hang of the toilets yet have you?" and then proceeded to tell us how he was an industrial "spy". Whatever. He had the crazy eyes as I told my mom, but she's so friendly to strangers she continued to have a conversation with him haha. We walked over to where they were doing the cool spray paint paintings where they make things look like the night sky and what not, Gigi bought one of the colosseum for her son it looked so cool!

Piazza after dark

Spray paint art

Saturday we had an early start because we needed to stop by the office to check out and pay for the room. We also asked Frederica (Max's sister who works at the Residence as well) where we could take the train for a day trip. She gave us instructions, including two train transfers, to get to Ostia, a beach south of Rome. And we were off! The first train ride was a breeze from the San Pietro train station near the Residence, then we had to walk down a street to another train station leading to the Ostia area. It was completely packed. There were tons of young people and tourists hopping on the train to the beach. We stood on the train for about 20 minutes and it wasn't leaving. Then everyone ran off to get to the next train over which was leaving in like 30 seconds. We made it in time but now it was even more crowded and hotter. There was absolutely no air flow and we were on the train from the first stop to the very last. We finally made it and hopped off the train to feel the ocean breeze. It was about 11:30 at this point so we stopped to grab a quick light lunch then rent some chairs and an umbrella. Silly me didn't even wear a bathing suit, I thought we were going to walk around the town more than just lay on the beach. It was beautiful weather though, and I don't think I got too bad of a shorts/tank top tan line. I had so much fun people watching. Italian beaches are extremely entertaining. Again so many speedos, enough to last me a lifetime. And some boobies, but even more tushys as the ladies were rocking the thong bikini's. I would've been overdressed in a regular bikini let alone shorts and a tank top!

Ostia lido beach!

Sitting in front of us was the cutest dad and daughter. It was just the two of them and he was the most tender father I've ever seen. The little girl couldn't have even been 2 yet, and she was so well behaved. We kept making eye contact and I would try smiling and making faces at her. It was rare for the Italian babies but she actually smiled back. We stayed at the beach for at least 4 hours and it was so relaxing. We hopped on the train back and didn't get back till 8 or so. We went straight to Hosteria Pizzeria, my favorite. This would be my 5th time there this trip! Of course I ordered the carbonara and a rice ball, called suppli. We also got a free appetizer from our waiter. There was entertainment yet again as we had a violinist, 3 accordion players, and a guitarist serenade us. And being friendly Americans we gave each of them a little change. After dinner we walked over to Dolce Maniera, the bakery and I got one last napoleon and Mom and Gigi picked out some cookies.

Then came what I've been dreading. The final Old Bridge gelato. As I turned the corner sullen and downtrodden, I could see the line. Wait...the line was alllll the way around the corner of the building. It was the longest I've ever seen it. Of course my very last gelato needed to include a 20 minute wait. Oh but it's worth every minute. I stood there holding strong slowly progressing through the line deciding what 4 flavors I would get in my 3 euro cone, I was stepping it up for the last gelato. This little girl, no older than 3 marched up the line getting in front of me. She turned around and looked at me and shook  her finger as if to say "No no no, no gelato for you" She was like the gelato nazi. I laughed and her older brother came and grabbed her and pulled her back to her family in line. But she wasn't done...she marched back up again and cut the entire line trying to get gelato haha. Her brother and mother came this time to pull her back. Even she knew how good this darn gelato was. I settled on mint, nutella, caramel, and bacio which ended up being a delicious combination.

As we strolled back to the Residence I took my time. I was walking slowly to try and absorb all the last views of the city I would see. When I got to St. Peter's square I actually started tearing up a bit. It was so sad to say bye to the place I've been living in, loving, and learning about for the past 5 weeks. It was truly a beautiful night though, "bella notte" and a wonderful ending to a wonderful experience.

Lost Cities and Climbing Volcanoes!

My alarm went off at 7 in the morning (I was trying to enjoy the coast as much as possible in the little time we had) but I fell back asleep and woke up around 8. I showered and got dressed then stepped out onto the balcony. The coast was even more beautiful during the day. After we all were showered packed and dressed we went up a few flights to get breakfast. I'll miss italian breakfasts when I'm back in America, its all about the sugar and the nutella. We finished then walked back outside to walk to the lowest level of the hotel which touches the water. Down down we went until there was a patio overlooking the edge and a ladder for boats or swimmers. There were plenty of lounge chairs and we sat and soaked up some sun. I looked at the water reflecting the light from the sun and it looked like fireworks on the water itself. Definitely took a mental picture. As we were sitting there a couple came down in bathing suits and jumped in the water. Oh how I envied them. We had to leave in about 30 minutes and I didn't have enough time to take a dip. I thought about jumping in in my clothes. We even asked the concierge to help us figure out a way to stay another night, but we had no way back to Rome. I guess the coast and I will have to wait until we meet again.

Our balcony and the sea!

The view from the left of our balcony

The gorgeous water below

Where we ate breakfast

One of the staircases leading down to the water 

Staircase by the bottom of the hotel

Looking up at our villa

Breathtaking view of the coast 

Waiting for the van to pick us up above the hotel

I'm coming back to this place, who's with me?

Kyle and his family came and picked us up and we were off to Pompei! It was only an hour or so away, and a much less confusing ride than the one from Rome. We were still up in the mountains and had to drive up and across the mountain to get to Pompei. We arrived and waited for our personal tour guide to meet us. There were a few vendors and I walked around and ended up getting a camio ring made from seashell found in the Mediterranean. Impulse buy. While we were waiting for the guide I actually ran into my friend Courtney! She was also on the JMU trip and stayed in Italy longer with her sister. It was such a coincidence to see her there! You don't expect to run into people you know in a foreign country.

We found our guide Fabio, yes that's his name, and started walking over to the entrance of the city. Right away it was more than I had anticipated. I had no idea how large Pompei actually was. 20,000 people lived there before the eruption. We walked from arena, to shop, to house, and it kept hitting me that people used to live there and an entire group of people was just wiped out like that. They didn't know Vesuvius was a volcano, they thought it was just a green mountain where they used to have vineyards. Everything was smaller too, the people who used to live during that time were very short. I don't think I would've fit in too well...I know I wouldn't fit in the doorways haha. Throughout the streets there were these large rocks used as crosswalks. Fabio explained that in the fountains all around the streets people used to dump...well...their dump. So no one wanted to walk through the streets to get their feet dirty so they used the raised rocks. There were also white rocks throughout the streets used as reflectors. And people would use red rocks in the ground in front of their doorways to welcome people to their home, how cool! We walked into some old homes that still had fresco artwork on the wall. Fresco means fresh, so people would paint while the plaster of the walls was still wet and that's how it survived for so many years. By the way, about 2,000 years to be exact.

Mom in one of the doorways, she's even too tall!

Fabio in the arena used for performances 

One of the main streets and a "crosswalk"

One of the funniest things we saw on the tour was what Fabio called, fast food restaurants. There were places to get food along the streets which was just like fast food. What differed from the average McDonald's, is that upstairs in these restaurants there would be prostitutes. Quick bite to eat and a quicky as Fabio said. We also walked into the towns brothel. There were 5 rooms, and the beds were made of stone (Fabio said they used stone because wood broke too easily...yuck). What was too crazy was there were paintings on the walls of different sexual positions and acts so if someone came in and didn't speak the language, or they didn't know what it was called, they would point to a picture to show that's what they wanted done. Prostitutes were female slaves as young as 13, and the average prostitute cost the same amount as a glass of wine. There were also carvings in the streets and on the sides of buildings in the shape of penises. They were used as arrows pointing towards the closest brothel. Fabio also said that the penis was a lucky symbol, today they've adjusted it to a red horn which is more acceptable in society.

Stairs in a house leading up to the slaves quarters

Fresco on one of the walls in a house 

More fresco paintings

So cool we could still see this!

One of the fountains on the street

One of the um...orders at the brothel

This is awkward...

One of the beds at the brothel

View down one of the streets of Pompei 

Beautiful and eerie fountain

The city center with Vesuvius behind it

Each house used to have tile right as you walk in with different artwork and patterns, one that was still in tact was a picture of a dog with words meaning, "Beware of dog". Inside the houses they all had a courtyard and garden in the center with rooms all the way around. 40% of the town were slaves, and the slaves lived in the homes with their owners.

We saw some of the bodies which had been recovered from the site. They were coated in a sort of plaster to preserve the body. That was the only fake part, underneath were still the bones and even some clothing of the bodies they covered. It was heart wrenching. You could tell these people had no idea what was going on. Two of the bodies were saw were said to be sleeping when the eruption occured, and their bodies are laid down with scared faces and defensive hands. There was a body of a pregnant woman, and the body of a man praying. Fabio said that it was so hot, about 600 degrees, that the clothing actually melted onto the bodies. On some of the people we saw you could still see the outline of the clothing they were wearing. It was so creepy.

One of the bodies found and coated in plaster

So sad :( a person found praying when they were killed

After going through Pompei for a few hours, which actually felt short because it was so interesting, we all climbed back into the van and Fabio directed us to Vesuvius. He rode in the car with us as he was going to be our guide at Vesuvius as well. Had I known what we were getting ourselves into I probably would've chosen a different outfit for the day. I was wearing a dress and sandals, and we just found out we were climbing a volcano. Oy vey. We climbed out of the van and prepared ourselves for the journey. We looked up and saw Vesuvius before us and the people coming down were covered in dirt from the hike. We paid our tickets and they gave us walking sticks, don't know what I would've done without it. So up climbed Kyle, his sister Casey, his mom and dad, my mom, and I. Gigi and Fabio made it part way and stopped. There were other guides closer to the top to tell us some more information. Up up we went admiring the view of Napoli and other cities down below. We could even see Pompei. The higher we went the more we could see of the inside of the volcano. It was incredible. I can't even describe in words what we saw. There were actually people camping on the inside wall of the volcano, their tents were attached to the rocks. We could see steam coming off of the inside as well. The guide at the top told us it was 3 miles down from the top of the volcano down, and we were about 3,000 feet high. The funniest thing was even though we were on top of a volcano, there were two shops along the way, one of which sold cappuccino. Never fear, if you're stranded on top of a volcano you can get your caffeine fix.

Mom climbing up Vesuvius!

Beautiful view of Napoli below

Up we go! About a 40 minute hike

Looking into the center of the volcano 

Me trekking on up! 

Momma

The people camping on the inside of the volcano! I could totally see Becca doing this haha

Me, thank goodness the dress didn't fly up for the picture

Look at her go!

I am woman hear me roar! Made it to the top!

I felt like Mulan or a warrior climbing up this volcano. My feet were grey from the rocks and the dirt and I couldn't even tell what color my sandals were anymore. My dress felt like it was flying up the entire time and I probably flashed a few tourists, but none of it mattered as I was climbing up. I started feeling so emotional at the top because it was so breathtakingly beautiful. After many many pictures, and some deep breaths, we started our way back down. Mom, Casey, and I were checking out rocks along the way to bring home as mementos and for Poppy's grave. We caught up with the rest of the group we found talking to a man who worked there. He leapt over the roped edge and I gasped. He was hunting around the side of the volcano looking for rocks for us. He grabbed specific ones then came back over to the path. He took a large rock and slammed it down on them cracking them open. He showed us what was inside and told us what kind of rocks they were, they were gorgeous! One was a light pinky shade and another looked like it had blue and green pieces of glass in it. We continued down the path back to the beginning and when we gave our walking sticks back to the old italian man he gave me an apricot. Best apricot I've ever had haha. We met up with Gigi and Fabio then climbed back in the van. We dropped Fabio off in Napoli, where he lives, and he was telling me how everyone in Napoli is scared of Vesuvius. The last time it erupted was in 1944, and they say its dormant (in between not active and active) but volcanoes are unpredictable. The guide at the top also told us because of build up of rocks and dirt at the center that the next explosion will likely come out through the side of the volcano which is disastrous for all of the towns around. I don't think I'll be investing in any real estate there.

The drive home was a lot easier than on the way out. We stopped for snacks on the way home and decided to eat dinner when we got back. We were a van full of 10 year olds. The snacks we picked out ranged from licorice, sour string, a pack of 20 twix bars, tons of cric crocs (like Italian Lay's chips) in the paprika flavor (which is very popular in Italy), and gummy bears. We all were going to have belly aches later haha. We got back and I showered immediately trying to wash the volcano off of myself. After we were all dressed we met up with Kyle's family again then headed across the street to the restaurant I ate at last Sunday with Mariel and where we had our last group dinner. It was about 11 o'clock at this point and we were starved. I ordered the risotto with tomatoes and mozzarella and it was beautiful. The way they present food here just makes me even hungrier. We had white wine to accompany the meal and I even got to try some free tuna from the chef. It was raw, but I decided to eat it anyways because it was free, and it was actually incredible! By the end of the meal we were all pooped and headed back to the Residence for some much needed sleep. I popped the ear plugs back in and passed out. It was quite a successful and beautiful day.

I Can't Get No, Satisfaction!

Well we actually didn't get to see the Pope this morning, I know he's pretty disappointed. We woke up around 10 or so and Gigi's luggage still hadn't been delivered. We went to talk to Max and he called the airport and told them to hold it and we'd come pick it up. We took a cab back to the airport and while Gigi was going through all the luggage shenanigans they were putting her through, my mom and I grabbed something to eat. Surprisingly the airport has fantastic food! I had strawberries and pasta salad and she had salmon. We got the luggage finally and grabbed a cab back into the city. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into with our cab driver, Francesco. He seemed to be just another talkative Italian then he popped in his CD. He had about 20 recordings of himself singing American songs. It ranged from Elvis, to Mick Jagger, to Pink Floyd (his favorite because he mentioned them about 10 times). My personal favorite was when he sang, "These Boots were Made for Walking". But when he got into "Satisfaction" my mom and I got into it too. It seemed to describe the day perfectly haha.

When we got back we had enough time to go by Piazza Navona and shop around a little bit. I've been waiting to take my mom there because I knew how much she'd like it. We ended up getting a couple pieces of art and stopping for a bite. We stopped at this one place in the piazza that was famous for this ice cream creation. I had white chocolate truffle, and it was a ball of gelato-ish ice cream covered in white chocolate shavings with whipped cream and a cone drizzled with milk chocolate. Yum! We walked around a little more after that stopping at a bead shop then hopped on a bus back to the Residence.

Mom standing in front of the fountain in Piazza Navona

My favorite place in Rome

My white chocolate truffle yum!

Ladies! 

Then began our adventure to the Almafi coast! Kyle had rented a 9 person van to drive his family as well as mine to the Almafi Coast and Pompei the next day. We left around 4 on what we thought would be a 2 and a half hour drive. Pah. He drove as I navigated, truly testing my directional skills and Italian because the directions were in Italian. And let me tell you, the streets of Italy have crazy drivers, no lanes, no signs, and us. Getting out of Rome alone to get to the highway took an hour and a half. We were right in the midst of rush hour and we had to turn around at one point which took 30 minutes because of traffic. We had finally reached the highway on what we thought would bring easier navigating later on. The highway was a breeze and we were on it for about an hour and half. Then we hit Salerno. The directions took us through Salerno from one toll road to the next. Navigating the streets of Salerno at dusk was no easy task, the street signs weren't visible until the last second and even then they were almost impossible to see. We made it through unscathed, but then came Vietri Sul Mare. Again windy streets following confusing signs but we made it through and could almost taste the Almafi Coast! We reached a fork in the road following what we thought were the directions. We ended up in a little town on the coast with one way streets and absolutely no signs. We somehow ended up at a dirt road on a dead end right next to a cliff. We were trying to figure out how to turn around this monster of a van when a kind man came out of his house and helped direct the van then gave us some directions. We were trying to get to Ravello which is on the Almafi Coast and he pointed at little lights off in the distance up the rocky mountainous edge. Oh boy. His directions were, "Go leftttt leftttt, up, aroundddddd, aroundddddd, Ravello." Imagine this with a strong Italian accent and you can't help but giggle. Well thats what we had to work with. So we went lefttt lefttt. And up, and aroundddd. These were the windiest, smallest roads I had ever seen. Every time a car drove past us we held our breath. If I put my hand out the window on either side of the car I would either touch the rocks or get it chopped off by a passing vehicle. We even passed huge tour buses with inches between us. I was so proud of Kyle for handling these roads, I never would've been able to drive along them. And we drove and drove, not knowing how far we needed to go but we could see small towns and lights in the distance as it was about 9:30 at this point. I kept my eyes peeled for signs and eventually we reached Minori which is right before the Almafi Coast and where my hotel was. I was scanning signs on every building as quick as I could and out of the corner of my eye I saw the sign for "Villa San Michele". HOME. We pulled over on the side of the road and my mom, Gigi, and I hopped out with our bags as quick as we could. Kyle and his family were staying at a bed and breakfast not too far away up the mountain a little more in Ravello. We talked about when they were going to pick us up the next morning then headed to our humble abode for the night.

Never have I ever seen a more beautiful place. This is probably the 100th time I'm saying that on this trip but every place we've been has one-upped the next. The hotel was basically carved into the side of the rocky mountain. You enter at the street then walk down 200 steps leading to our room. Each level had lounge chairs, exotic flowers, lights, tables, and beautiful tiles. The concierge led us to our room down and down, until we reached one level. We walked around boulders popping out of the side of the wall to our room. We had a queen size bed and a twin. Thankfully my mom brought me ear plugs because she and Gigi snore. It was a chorus of snores throughout the night and they were off beat from each other so they took turns. Walking out onto our hugeee balcony we could overlook the water. It was the clearest blue I've ever seen even at night. We had a tree growing on our balcony and a lime tree right next to it. There was a tile bench, lounge chairs, a table and chairs and even more room to move around. I could not believe we were in a place like this, and I could not believe we were only there for one night.

One of the walkways of the hotel, gorgeous 

Walking down to another level 

No big deal, just walking by a boulder our hotel was built around

One of our beautiful views, the picture doesn't do it justice

 After dropping off our things and catching our bearings, we ventured off down the windy roads towards food. Almafi was only a km down the road so we started trekking. These roads are the same we had driven along, lacking width and anywhere for pedestrians to walk. At one point a huge tour bus and a car were driving past and I turn back to see my mom leaning over the stone wall to get out of the way, I couldn't help but crack up. We walked along single file until I could see a beach down below and what looked to be like an area with some restaurants. We found a small staircase which I could kind of read a sign for leading us down to the beach. The staircase popped us out right in a seafood restaurant that was open at 11 at night thankfully. We grabbed a table and met our waiter/restaurant owner Salvadore. He brought us free aperitif hinting at what would be a fantastic meal. We all ordered the white fish, which he said his restaurant was famous for, and gave us the option to pick out our fish on our own. We all turned down the offer. I didn't want to stare into the eyes of my dinner. I ordered the white fish with garlic and olive oil and it was incredible. I also had garlic bruschetta and a mixed salad and white wine of course. Throughout dinner we could see inside some karaoke going on. There was a man with a dj table and a mic singing along with whoever was up for it. It seemed to be a very local place, and all the people in the restaurant were friends or neighbors. We were probably 3 out of 10 that were there at this hour. After finishing our meal Salvadore was trying to convince us to do karaoke. Well I wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to do it a 3rd time was I? So my mom and I were handed mics and we asked for any song in English, there were two haha. The musical stylings of Elton John began to come through the speakers and my mom and I started off beat and off from each other singing "Your Song". The guy helped us out and sang a long a bit, and we got the hang of it. Musical talent does not run in our family. Before I knew it they started up "Stand By Me" making me sing again. My mom ran off and I was joined by an Italian woman named Osella. She wasn't bad but her pronunciation could've used some work haha. She and I looked to each other and I couldn't help giggling through parts of the song we messed up. I took my bow and rejoined the table hoping they weren't going to pull out anymore English songs. Salvadore brought us a free dessert which were these little creme puff chocolate balls which I'm convinced had rum somewhere in them. I truly will not forget this dinner.

Gigi and Mom!

Salvadore holding our dinner haha

Mom's white fish with lemon

Me and my girl Osella singing "Stand by Me"

 We walked back along those curved rocky roads to our home. Again having to stay as close as possible to that stone wall to not get run over. We made it back and got ready for bed. I walked out onto the porch admiring the scene once again and taking a mental picture. My mom attempted to help me get the ear plugs in and apparently I have really small ear canals. Every time she tried to roll it smaller and shove it in my ear it would just pop right back out. That gave way to some giggles haha. Eventually we shoved them in and fell asleep anxiously awaiting the morning to admire the view once again.

Almafi