Before this weekend, I had only imagined places as beautiful as those on the Amalfi Coast. In my imagination, the water was an incredible clear-blue, the beaches were quaint and quiet, and there wasn’t a care in the world. Usually imagination stretches reality to an unattainable ideal, but not this weekend. Everything was as I’d dreamed.
On Thursday, I finished class at 12:30, packed my things, and departed with my friends to the bus station at 6:30. We had prepaid for an all-inclusive trip through a company called Florence for Fun that facilitated all of the booking process for us. They had a coach bus waiting for us at the station, that we packed onto with a few bottles of wine and high expectations. The bus ride lasted about 6 or 7 hours, and we arrived at our hotel in Sorrento around 2 a.m. The hotel room was small, but it didn’t matter because we spent most of our time exploring the sights and sounds of the beautiful surrounding areas.
Friday: wake up at 7 a.m, free breakfast at the hotel, trek it down 7 million stairs to the docks by 9, load onto a ferry that led us to the island of Capri and all of its wonders. At this point, everyone was still in zombie sleep mode from the long bus ride and little recovery time, so the ferry ride there was characterized by a hundred American students drooling all over each other. Arrive in Capri. Hop on a smaller boat with about 50 others. This is where the fun begins. As the sun finally peaked out from behind the clouds after a morning of rain, we leaned over the side of our vessel, absorbing the panorama of the beautiful island complimented perfectly by the rocky coast, with our hands stretched out running through the refreshing coolness of the Mediterranean. It was breathtaking. I felt like I could take that boat ride 100 times and never get tired of the feeling. For the remainder of the boat ride, we cruised along the coast and breathed it all in one by one. Also, at one point we hopped off the boat in 4’s onto rowboats in order to explore a cave along the coast called the “Blue Grotto”, which was really cool but we only were in there for a minute or so. Our rower was a big Italian guy who belted out what sounded like Italian opera the entire time, which was sweet. Afterward, we headed on back to the dock. It was time to get out and discover the island of Capri on our own terms. This led to a delicious meal on a deck overlooking the wonders of the Mediterranean. The best part: while we waited for our meal, me and a few friends walked down to the beach and spent some time skipping rocks into the sea. Just one incredible moment after the other. Oh, and by the way, at this point we’ve developed a solid core of friends who do pretty much everything together when we travel. It consists of myself, fellow Penn Staters Tristan and Steve, and our new friends from UConn: Edwin, Leslie, Allie and Nicole. I’m so happy that I’ve met such great people on this trip that I can travel and spend time with. It kind of makes you think how so many small chance decisions and actions throughout life have led to each and every one of us ultimately being here, skipping rocks together on the Mediterranean, as if it was intended. After lunch, the seven of us scaled the island and spent some time checking out the various shops in the center of Capri. I didn’t buy much, but I did get my little sister a present. That’s right Gert, if you’re reading this, you’re in for a treat..
After capping off the day with some delicious gelato, we again loaded onto the ferry to travel back to Sorrento. As we drifted back across the Mediterranean, we watched the beautiful island of Capri slowly disappear into the horizon. It was a moment I know I’ll never forget.
That night, I had dinner with a family friend who lives in Sorrento. It’s amazing to know that your network extends to places you’d never imagined. A woman who I hadn’t known existed until a few months ago, who was once married to a relative of mine who I haven’t seen in years, was willing to take me out to a delicious dinner in her town. I couldn’t have been more grateful. It really made me understand the value of kindness between people, because you never know who will be able to make your night next. Later in the night, all of the students on our trip went to a bar in downtown Sorrento that was pretty sweet, but we were all pretty tired, so we didn’t stay entirely too long.
As amazing as Friday was, Saturday was right there with it. We went to a beautiful town along the beach called Positano. As famous and picturesque as it was, it wasn’t even very crowded. That was maybe the best part. I would try to describe the town of Positano rising into the hills along the sea, but it would be a wasted effort, because no words can justify it’s beauty. You truly have to see it to believe it. We spent most of our time on the beach, but also took a fantastic boat ride around the area. First stop, and definitely the best stop, was at the cliffs about a 5 minute boat ride away. It’s too bad I forgot my camera, because what happened next involved me scaling a rocky cliff about 40 feet up to a ledge and cliff jumping into the sea. It was an unbelievable feeling of freedom. A year ago, I couldn’t have even told you that I’d ever be mid-air 30 feet in the air coming down hard on the Mediterranean Sea. Who knows what I’ll be doing next summer, I hear the moon is nice. Anyway, I made it out okay, I think I have a bruise on my thigh, but some chick broke her wrist. Of course, I was the next person to go right after her, which made it even more of a rush. Hey, I’m alive! We spent the rest of the day chilling on the beach Under the Tuscan Sun (apparently the male character in that movie is from Positano.. I’ve never seen it, sorry Mom). The day ended with all of the students on our trip taking the bus back up to the mountain tops to catch our coach bus. But oh no, that’s not how me and Tristan roll. We scaled those 12 million stairs and long stretches of 110 degree angle road like champions of our trade, with no directions. We were like masters of the unknown road. Not a big deal. The bus shuttle to the top arrived only to Tristan and I awaiting their arrival with victory beers. Because we got there first. Think about that.
Sunday, we got on the bus to go home, but stopped first at the ruins of Pompeii. We checked them out for awhile, and they were sweet, but I was dead tired and it was early, so I was happy to get on the bus and get going. However, we did also stop at Mount Vesuvius to climb that (the volcano that destroyed Pompeii in 79 A.D.) They gave us walking sticks to climb with, which led to several sword fights breaking out at the top (see pictures on Facebook). As beat as I was, I gained a little adrenaline at the top of Mount Vesuvius. It’s a great feeling of manliness to scale a mountain, and of course I had to let out a deep echoing battle cry at the top (what kind of man would I be if I didn’t??). After that, we took the 6 hour bus ride back to Florence, home sweet home. The bus ride didn’t seem so long this time, and I got a little bit of sleep.
So that was it, my favorite weekend of the trip. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I hope you enjoyed reading about it, and certainly get to take it all in for yourself sometime.
Location: Sorrento, Italy