On our last day on the Amalfi Coast, we went to the beautiful island of Positano. We took our bus to a certain point but had to walk about a mile to the top of the island and then down about a thousand (not even exaggerating!) steps to reach the beach.
The walk down the steps was a bit difficult because the steps were pretty jagged and did not have railings. Many people got dehydrated and started feeling dizzy. My legs were shaking by the time I made it to the bottom.
The beach from the highest point of town
Me in Positano
The beach was beautiful, and the sun was super strong. I laid out all day, and got pretty tan. Some people opted to rent a speed boat to take them to a point where they could cliff jump.
After spending the day at the beach, we hopped back on our bus that took us back to Rome. We hit a lot of traffic and got to Rome around 9:00 p.m.
Overall, I had a great weekend and am in love with the Amalfi Coast. I would definitely like to come back here someday!
On Saturday morning, we woke up early and took a bus to a ferry to take us to Capri. Capri is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen (Bermuda still takes number 1 on my list!).
Capri
The ferry ride was really bumpy and a lot of people got sea sick. We got to Blue Grotto which is a cave that lights up the most beautiful blue color because of the sun and the way it positions itself. We had to go in tiny rowboats and duck our heads when we entered the cave. We were only in there for about 5 minutes, but it was well worth it.
In the blue grotto
We got back on the ferry and headed to the beach. Some people on the program opted to take a walking tour of Capri, but my friends and I were tired so we decided to stay and lay on the beach. Capri has rocky beaches, which was weird to me since I'm so used to sand beaches. I went in the water for a bit, but it was freezing! It was nice to lay out and relax for a few hours though.
Relaxing on the beach
On the ferry ride back, we were able to see some more of the island including what the locals call "the tunnel of love" and a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Tunnel of Love
A rock statue in a cave that people think looks like the Virgin Mary. This is completely natural! Amazing.
Capri was definitely amazing and is a place I would love to return to and see more of the island!
Does anyone else love Capri? What's your favorite part of the island?
I'm back from my amazing Amalfi Coast weekend! Instead of writing one long post, I'm going to break up the trip by day. I'm going to leave out the logistics as I'm going to be writing an actual review of the trip's itinerary for Angela Nickerson's travel blog Just Golater this week.
We left on Thursday night by bus and headed to our hostel in Sorrento. Our hostel was called Seven Hostel and it was amazing for a first hostel experience. We had a great time hanging out on the hostel's rooftop bar and terrace.
We woke up early on Friday and headed to Pompeii.
We had a choice of taking a guided tour of Pompeii, or just wandering around ourselves. I decided to take the guided tour, which was really beneficial. I learned so much.
Pompeii is the town that was utterly destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Surprisingly, there was no lava or magma when the volcano erupted; our guide informed us that it just rained ash over the entire city and covered the city 100 feet deep. The city was left alone for hundreds of years until someone decided to uncover it. When it was uncovered, the city was surprisngly intact. Many artifacts and even dead bodies were found. Houses were left untouched with paintings still inside. We even saw a brothel with stone beds and erotic paintings that stayed intact for hundreds of years. It's quite eerie to walk around, but very cool.
Remains of a fresco inside a house
Dead body filled with plaster to preserve it
Building preserved
Later, we drove to Mount Vesuvius. Our bus was able to take us up to a landing point, but we had to walk up the steepest parts of the volcano from there. I didn't think I was going to make it, but I did!
It took about thirty minutes to get to the top of the volcano. Interestingly enough, it was easier to walk up the volcano, than down. I slipped several times going down as it was very dusty and dirty and I was stupidly wearing flip flops (no one told me I'd be hiking up a volcano this weekend!) Overall, it was an awesome experience to have made it to the top of a volcano. It's something I never would have pictured myself doing (especially since I thought I'd be relaxing on a beach all weekend!) but I'm so glad to have done it.
On the way up the volcano
Erica and I made it to the top!
Has anyone else ever been to Pompeii? Did you have a good experience there?
While many banks and shops were closed, I still had class. My art class headed to the Colosseum area to sketch, but we were greeted with a large military parade.
According to About.com, Festa della Repubblica celebrates the day in 1946 that Italy voted for a republic form of government.
I've never seen so many military persons in one area! It was quite a sight.
The Colosseum was draped with a gigantic Italian flag.
I even caught a glimpse of the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano.
Last night, my roommates and I officially booked a weekend in Paris!
I've wanted to go to Paris since I began taking French in 7th grade. I only took French until the end of 10th grade, but I've always wanted to visit. I can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night!
We are going from June 11-14 and staying in a hostel and flying Ryanair.
In addition to my 3 roommates, we are traveling with a group of 6 other friends.
Unfortunately, it's peak travel time since it's June, so it was difficult to find a hostel for all 10 of us. We ended up booking two seperate hostels that are in the same general area.
Does anyone know of a good itinerary for a short 3 day weekend in Paris? What are the must see museums and sites?
Angela Nickerson (@aknickerson on Twitter) was kind enough to let me write a guest post for her travel blog Just Go about my experience attending mass at the Pantheon.
By day, I work in communications, volunteer with two area public relations professional associations and love to run. By night and on the weekends, I freelance for a variety of websites and am working toward creating the kind of life I want to live.
The beach from the highest point of town
Me in Positano
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