The Amalfi Coast

It's been a while since my last post but I have been doing some unforgettable things in my absence. Last Wednesday we left as a class for Pompeii. On the way, we stopped in Herculaneum to wander about the ruins of the ancient Roman city. We were only there for a few hours but I have included a link to some of these pictures. We finished our journey to Pompeii where we all stayed in a hotel for Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Our hotel was right across the street from the ancient Pompeii, the Roman ruins. We spent the majority of Thursday walking around the enormous site. We couldn't have asked for better weather, I have included some pictures of this space too. It was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, we were never able to see the entirety of Vesuvius because the clouds were always in the way. We walked around the modern city of Pompeii both nights finding places for dinner and doing some exploring. The weather was so nice we were able to sit outside in the hotel courtyard to hang out at night. We ate lemons straight from the tree and drank from huge leaves. The group of us had quite the time.

Friday, the class departed and Chuck, Alex and I stayed behind to begin our journey to the south. The trip started out with a bang when we went to catch our train and all the workers were on strike. It only delayed us about three hours that we had to wait in the hotel lobby because it was pouring down rain outside. We finally caught a train to Sorrento where we spent Friday night. This was the first of the cities we saw right on the beach. We stayed in an amazing hostel, the pictures are in the Amalfi Coast folder. The three of us were the only ones in the hostel because we beat tourist season, but we still had a great time. We did a little exploring right after we got there.

Saturday morning we caught a a 6 euro bus to Amalfi. The drive was one I will never forget. The scenery was beautiful. Most of the photos I have of the coastline was taken from the bus window. Chuck and I had quite the time trying to take pictures in openings so nothing was blocking the view or blurry from the movement. I think we both got some good ones. Amalfi was beautiful. The weather was sunny and 60 when we got there. The sea was unbelievably blue too. Our hostel was just a 2 minute walk from the beach. Saturday night we a dinner the three of us may never forget. It started with our appetizer of baked eggplant, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella and a liter of house wine. For the main course we each ordered something different and shared it all. Alex got gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnuts, Chuck ordered pasta with mixed seafood and I got the fried squid. It was all so incredible. I don't think any of us ate for about three days after that meal. Late Saturday night we experienced the first big storm since we've been here. It was pretty frightening. We thought we were in the middle of a hurricane, turns out that's normal for costal cities.

Sunday morning we took another scenic bus ride to Salerno to catch our train back to Orvieto. Salerno is a considerably bigger city than the others we had been to. We got there early enough to eat some lunch and gelato and hang out be the sea for a while. We hopped on the train for our 3 hour ride to Rome where we were to catch a connecting train to Orvieto. Unfortunately, our first train was running later and we missed our connecting train. We were afraid for a while that the next train wasn't until 6am the next morning. Luckily, we talked to an attendant and he found us a train about 3 hours later. We eventually made it back safely.

Florence, Take Two

I have finally gotten some pictures up of Florence! This trip was much more successful than the first. We had great weather and were able to climb the 463 steps to the top of the cathedral's dome. It was a hike getting up there, but well worth it. Once on top, we were able to see all 360 degrees of the city below, it was beautiful. We went to the Uffizi for the first part of the day and saw some historical works of art, including that of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Brunelleschi. We walked across the Pont de Vecchio and pretended like we could afford some of the most expensive jewelry in the world.

Lydia and I attempted to go to St. Peter's again on Saturday. I was sick for the entire trip there and back, so we weren't able to do much. I suppose we're going to have to try to plan another trip some time. If I don't go for Easter I may try to make it back there when I am in Rome before I return to the States. There are a few of us considering a trip to Switzerland over our Easter break if we can figure the trip in at a reasonable cost.

We leave Wednesday for our South trip. The class is taking a bus down to Pompeii where we will be staying for two nights. On the way down we're stopping in Herculaneum for a few hours. Then we finish the trip to Pompeii, where we will stay until Friday. Alex, Chuck and I have decided to stay in the south for the weekend as opposed to coming straight back to Orvieto. Friday we're going to take a bus to Sorrento and stay in Seven Hostel, a modern hostel overlooking the coast. Saturday, we're going to catch a bus headed towards the Amalfi coast. We may stop in a couple cities along the way and site see, but we're staying in a hostel in Amalfi Saturday night. Our hostel is right on the Amalfi Coast, A Scalinatella, and in the heart of Amalfi. As of now, the weather is expected to be sunny and 60 for the weekend, so I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather. We hear not many people travel to the south at this time of the year, but we figured we'd try it out while we could and hope we get to see some cool things without a ton of tourists around. I will be sure to write about the trip after our return.

Spring break update: we are set for Ireland. We have made all of our travel and accomodation arrangements, excluding two trains we need in Ireland that we can't book unless it's 28 days before the date of travel. We're all getting really excited about our trip!

Just to update everyone, I have changed my return travel dates. I will now be returning to the States on May 10. I have already made my flight change and will still be flying out of Paris. However, I'm coming home a week earlier than originally planned.

Florence

Friday we took our first of three trips to Florence. I regret to inform everyone that it rained all day and I was unable to take any pictures. Luckily, we have two more scheduled trips back to the city, one of which is next this coming Friday. Hopefully, we will have better weather and I will be able to take some pictures and get them posted on the internet. The city was absolutely beautiful, I can't wait to go back and be able to take some pictures to share with everyone.

Today is Carnivale! It is the primary holiday season which originally begun in Venice, today the biggest celebration is in Venice but it is recognized across the country. The two weeks preceding this day we watched, nightly, children of Orvieto litter the streets with confetti and parade around in costumes. It's nice to know that all the hustle and bustle of the city has been leading up to something, we were all kind of clueless as to what the big occasion was. Some of our classmates travelled elsewhere to watch a big parade and participate in the festivities today. We had heard rumors of a parade in Orvieto and found some flyers advertising the occasion. However, with the language barrier we had a hard time understanding when everything was supposed to happen. We have yet to see a parade of any sort. Personally, I was just hoping for candy in the streets.

Tomorrow we are taking a small day trip to the tiny town of Civita. This is where Don and Carol Watts, our professors, own their Italian house. I believe this is also near the site of our next studio project. We are going to be working with an Italian client to renovate an old barn into a bed and breakfast or some other place of income. Tomorrow, we will search through building materials of Italy, visit the site and go to Don and Carol's house for some lunch enjoyment of each others' company. From what we hear the town is comparable to Orvieto but on a much smaller scale. We were told you have to walk across this scary bridge to get there. I'm quite reluctant with my fear of heights, so we'll have to see how this goes...

Our planning for Ireland is very much underway. Just about everything is booked. We now have plane tickets, all of our hostels, one of our train tickets and two tours booked. I am really starting to get excited about our spring break adventure! We have our route ironed out, we know the cities we will visit and the sites we want to see. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to pass them our way.

Everyone make sure to keep your eye out for new pictures postings. I always try to get them posted as soon as I can!