I know I keep saying that this place or that place is the
most beautiful place I’ve been to in my life or my favorite place in Italy, but
I can truly say that excluding Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast is beyond doubt
heaven on Earth. I’ve learned that
I completely am in love with the water.
No matter if it is a lake, a river, or an ocean. I love the water and I want to be
around it for the rest of my life.
On Thursday night, the roomies and Michell, Sarah, Heather, Beth, and I
took an eight hour bus ride from Florence to the city of Sorrento along the
Amalfi Coast. It was a long bus
ride (arrived to Sorrento around 3 a.m.), but it went by super fast and
smooth. We watched this random
movie with Leonardo Dicaprio called “The Beach” and I was super into it until
it got really weird. Haha. Our hotel that we stayed at for the
entire weekend was called Hotel Spicy (reminds me of the skits on SNL with Stefon). It was a new hotel with young staff
that worked at the reception desk during the day and at the bar/club outside at
nighttime. When we arrived to
Sorrento, the road that Hotel Spicy was located on was being renovated. It was the weirdest thing! They were laying down new tar and
paving a new road. We had to walk
in a single file line for about half a mile with all of our luggage and
backpacks avoiding the hot tar. So
random!! We just laughed the
entire time.
On Friday morning, we enjoyed a nice little breakfast at
Hotel Spicy then hiked with the Florence For Fun group down to an harbor in
Sorrento. This is wear we rode a
massive ferry over to the island of Capri. This ferry ride was one of the most relaxing boat rides I
had ever taken. I fell asleep so
fast because I was hypnotized by the calm sway of the water. When we arrived to the ABSOLUTELY
PERFECT island of Capri, I could not take my eyes away from the beautiful ocean
surrounding me. It was a colorful
combination of blues, aquas, and turquoises. Truly a dream.
You will see everything in the pictures I will post. Another fantasy weekend. I seriously do not feel that I am in
real life being able to experience all of these things and see all of these
places!! Thank you Father! We took a private boat ride around
Capri with our group and luckily got to sit on the top deck (only eight out of
the about one hundred kids were able to do this) of the boat. How blessed are we?! It was the best way to see the gorgeous
island. After about forty minutes
of sailing around and gazing at the dreamy water, we stopped to get in line for
the Grotto Azzurra (the Blue Grotto).
While we were waiting for
our little boat, we spotted the cutest boy we had seen in forever. He was a Blue Grotto paddleboat driver
and we named him Costas. Torri
told me random things to say to him in Italian and it was hilarious. The Blue Grotto is a sea cave on the
island of Capri where when sunlight passes through and shines through the
seawater, it creates a bright brilliant blue reflection and emerald light that
illuminates the entire cavern. I
fell in love!!!! I am so blessed
that I get to go back and see the Blue Grotto again when my Mom comes and joins
me for the cruise. I can’t wait to
see my mom!!!!! Next time I will
jump inside the water of the cavern.
After the boat ride that circled the entire island, we took a tram up to
the top of Capri. From there, we
hiked down to one of the more secluded beaches of the island. I am telling you, this was THE most
beautiful hike of my life. We
winded down the side of a mountain down a stone path that overlooked the BLUE
BLUE Mediterranean Sea. I couldn’t
stop taking pictures and staring at the perfection in front of me. Even though the hike down was
“miserable” and “long” and “strenuous”, I did not even notice because I was
gleaming with happiness. Once we
arrived at the bottom of the peak, we darted straight towards Ristorante da
Gioia to eat some yummy seafood.
Our table was on an outside porch that was elevated right above the
beautiful water. We could see right
down to the bottom of the ocean.
So perfect! After lunch, we
laid our towels down on the hot pebble beach and relaxed. Since it was sizzling outside,
Christin, Shannon, and I dipped into the chilly ocean and just stood there as
the waves came and cooled us down.
Best feeling ever. We also
met a couple from Texas on the beach!
Such a small world. Capri
is well known for their colossal lemons and limoncello, so after the beach we
joined the rest of our group for a lemon cello tasting. Personally, I do not like the taste,
but it’s always fun to try new things!
After the tasting, we hiked back down to wear our ferry back to Sorrento
awaited us. Shannon, Christin,
Torri, and I fell asleep immediately from the exhausting day of hiking. When we arrived to Hotel Spicy, a class
Italian style dinner awaited us.
We took advantage of dinner time in the lobby because this is where we
received the best WiFi. I always
love being able to communicate with my family and friends back home!!! At night, our group leaders took us out
in Sorrento to a bar called the English Inn. I would describe the English Inn as my dream kind of
bar. You walk up these steps into
a garden like atmosphere with tables and chairs taking up one half of the
rooftop terrace for socializing and hanging out. The other half was occupied by a huge canopy covered dance
floor equipped with disco lights, a huge screen for music videos, and one of
the best DJs I’ve ever heard. The
DJ played all kinds of music including the popular Italian songs like “Ai Se Eu
Te Pego” and American songs from the 90s and now. We had the times of our lives dancing up a storm and meeting
all sorts of new people!! Sorrento
showed Shannon and I a good time that night!!
On Saturday, we took buses to the village of Positano along
the Amalfi Coast. The buses
dropped us off at the top of the mountain, so we had to hike over seven hundred
steps down to the town. Thank
goodness for the beautiful view of Positano on the way down to distract
us! On our way down, everyone
began to get the shaky leg syndrome.
When we arrived at the bottom it was hilarious because if we locked our
knees back, our entire legs would just shake and twitch uncontrollably. We all got a lot of giggles. Our Florence For Fun leaders pointed us
to some delicious places to eat, things to do, and to the beach. We immediately headed straight to the rocky
beach and rented some huge orange umbrellas and chaises. The sun was blazing hot on Saturday, so
it was nice to just lie on the chair, feel the slight breeze, and soak in the
sun. It felt like heaven again. I plugged my headphones in and listened
to some of that good ole country music that I’ve been missing. I WAS SO HAPPY. I wanted to just lie there forever. After some relaxing on the beach in the
sunshine, I worked up a craving to go dip into the cool ocean. I put on my little sandals and hobbled
over the sizzling stones on the beach.
I slowly dunked all the way into the salty blue sea and felt so
free. I just closed my eyes and
thought about all the beautiful places I had seen and felt so blessed. God must have really loved Italy
because every place I visit is gorgeous.
After the beach, the roomies and I met up with Michelle, Sarah, Beth,
and Heather to take a private boat ride along the coast of Positano. A small boat the perfect size for the
eight of us sweeps us away into the Mediterranean Sea. As we slowly glide away from the shore,
I got a fantastic panoramic view of Positano. I could see all of the buildings that piled up into the
infamous mountain shape, the rocky shore of the beach, the bright purple
bougainvilleas draped on every building, and the happy people scattered around
the town. Our little boat driver
with dread locks and a savage tan was so friendly and accommodating! After a little bit of sailing around,
the driver stopped in this small cove and allowed us to jump into the sea and
swim around. We swam to shore,
climbed up this jagged cliff like rock, and leaped into the ocean! It was so exhilarating!!! The combination of the hot hot sun and
refreshing ocean was perfection.
We climbed back in our little boat then cruised around for a while. I laid belly down on the front deck of
the boat, closed my eyes, and dipped the tips of my fingers into the
water. I felt like I was floating
across the ocean. If I hadn’t
already officially fell in love with the Amalfi Coast, I did in that
moment. Our little boat arrived to shore and I set
off to find some Positano sandals.
Positano is well known for hand making sandals and customizing them to
fit your style/taste and slip on like Cinderella’s shoe. I finally found the design I wanted and
watched the guy hand make them in front of my eyes! These will be a special gift from Positano that I will
always remember! I also ran into
my best friend Lauren’s roommate and good friend in college Casey!!! How ironic running into someone I know
all the way around the world!! After
our perfect day in Positano, we bussed back to Hotel Spicy, ate dinner, and got
ready for the night. This night I
was able to talk to so many people in my fish camp including Seth, LoHo, Alex,
Carly, Christy, Colleen, and Molly!!!
I was seriously gleaming with happiness when I heard their voices!! I miss them so much and wish I had had
more time to talk to all of them.
Can’t wait to be reunited.
We went out in Sorrento back to the English Inn Garden for round two of
a good night. On the way to the
bar, we ran into a young group of Italian high school students who were
seriously adorable and so friendly!!
They tried to teach Christin, Shannon, Torri, and I a bunch of Italian
slang words and joked around with us.
This started the night off so much fun! The English Inn wasn’t as crowded as the night before, but a
huge group of API kids happened to be in Sorrento as well and happened to be at
the English Inn that night. So, it
was so much fun bonding and talking to them. I walked back with Christin arm in arm to Hotel Spicy
and we just chit chatted about life and how we were so happy that we had become
so close. It was a magical
friendship moment.
Then came Sunday.
Happy Father’s Day to the best Daddddddyyy in the world!! Sunday, our Florence For Fun group
traveled to Pompeii for the day.
Pompeii used to be a thriving city during the heyday of the Roman Empire
and was a popular place for wealthy Romans to visit on holidays. This was all before Mount Vesuvius
erupted and covered the entire city in a cloud of deadly ash, gas, and
rock. Now, Pompeii is an
architectural playground for tourists where we explored the dwellings, temples,
villas, and churches that were once the home to the inhabitants of
Pompeii. Our little tour guide
Marco was very educated about all of the history and I could just imagine what
life was like there. I was very
interested in all of the history, but it was almost one hundred degrees outside
and we all became delusional.
Shannon and I posed for the weirdest pictures and took super “touristy”
pictures all around Pompeii and laughed so hard looking at the pics that we
couldn’t breathe!! Hahahaha. I am laughing now just thinking about
all of the silly things we did that day.
After lugging around and roasting in the deserted city all day long, we
enjoyed some yummy pizza and salad at a hotel nearby. It felt so good to be in air conditioning!! Then, it was time for the big hike up
Mount Vesuvius. Shannon and I continued
to take the funniest pictures ever on the bus (at least we think they are funny
haha). We were laughing so loud
that the entire bus could hear us and we were sitting in the very back. I love those moments!! When we arrived to the bottom of Mount
Vesuvius, we hopped out of the bus and began our voyage. Christin and I weren’t feeling too well
so we were definitely the stragglers.
We had to take so many breaks and stretch our calves out. Even these old and I mean OLD men and
women were passing us by. We just
laughed at each other and continued to encourage each other to make it to the
top. Twenty minutes later, we
finally arrived to the peak of the dormant volcano!! We were able to look inside of the huge crater that formed
from the eruption in 79 A.D. It
was so deep! Then, if you turned
around and looked out at the view of the ocean and the city below…WOW JUST
WOW. It was so mesmerizing. If you looked far in the distance,
there was a mist so you could barely see where the sky and the water met. We took some aggie and friendsy pics
then hiked back down Mount Vesuvius.
We all had a couple of close calls coming down the ashy mountain (we all
slipped about five times) and made fun of each other every time. When we reached the bottom, it was time
to hop on our buses and go back to our home in Florence! Seven hours and a couple stops later,
we arrive in Florence. I was so
happy to be home and have WiFi so I could call my Dad and wish him a Happy
Father’s Day!!! My dad and I
talked on the phone for over an hour and I was able to catch up, tell him about
my weekend, and talk about life.
My dad always knows the perfect thing to say. I just wanted to reach through the phone and give him a big
hug!! I cannot wait to see him
when I get home in a couple of weeks!
Reflection (I wrote this as I was laying on the beach in
Positano):
I’m laying out here on the beach of Positano and just
thinking about life you know like I always do in Italy. After spending weeks without your
family, your roommates become your family. You have them there to rub sunscreen on your back so you
don’t get sunburned, make you laugh at yourself, bring you the toilet paper
when you are stuck, take your clothes out of the laundry, tuck you into bed,
wake you up so you’re not late for the bus or class, remind you about due dates
and to bring your sunglasses when it’s sunny, and you get where I am going with
this. I’ve learned that you need
to surround yourself with people who truly care about you, want you to succeed,
and want you to be the best “Diane” you can be. If you want to develop these deep friendships, it is
important to treat them the exact way back. This journey has further showed me the significance of
helping others. Helping others
helps yourself. Helping others
probably gives me the most fulfilling feeling on the planet. It feels amazing physically and
actually makes me feel like a good person! Helping others is a ripple effect; if you help someone they
we will feel more obliged to help someone else, and so on. You grow by giving and helping others
and can change you in ways you never expected. Also, you might be able to call in a favor later when you
need some help one day.
Ultimately, your relationship with that person you help will become
stronger. My friendship has grown
so much with Shannon during this trip!
Even though we were already best friends, this adventure has brought way
closer on a level that can’t be explained. I know that I have her back forever and she will have
mine! I have also developed really
close friendships with my other two roommates Christin and Torri, and I am so
happy to have them in my life now!!
I’m glad that our family like relationship will continue in College
Station and become stronger as well!
Cherish those special relationships in your life because you never know
when the can be taken away.
Tanto Amore,
Diane
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