Bon Voyage

Capri, Italy

After a long train ride to Naples (yes, we still had to go there to get to Capri) we finally made it to the port in time for the 12:00 ferry to Capri, the home of Limoncello on the Amalfi Coast! We were all definitely the most excited about Capri, simply because of all the amazing pictures we had seen, and when we got off the boat, we were amazed by the natural beauty of the island. Everything was sunny, blue, beachy, and there were lemon and orange trees EVERYWHERE (basically, my idea of heaven on earth)

 Our precious Villa owner, Carlo picked us up from the port and drove us back to his hostel, Villa Eva, located in Anacapri, about 15 minutes from the port of Capri. It is a super small island, so you can get pretty much anywhere in about 20 minutes. He showed us Anacapri city center, which is where we spent most of our time, and then took us to our beautiful villa. We had a house with 6 beds, a terrace, and beautiful views. To say we got lucky with our hostel choices is a massive understatement!

We walked into city center to get some lunch, and it was so precious! There were little shops that had gelato, Limoncello, linen clothes, basically anything that an islander would need! They also had amazing Italian food, of course, and my first meal in Capri was ravioli, such a solid choice. The sun was shining brightly, so we sat at a piazza and ate gelato and watched the school children play soccer while we got some much needed vitamin D (and farmers tans, unfortunately) all in all, perfect first Capri day.

The next day we had a wonderful breakfast at the villa, and headed into city center to take a chair lift to the top of the mountain. It is the best view of Capri, and also really scary. You basically sit in a chair, where there is a bar restraining you, and take a ride up the mountain where you are let off at the most amazing view you have ever seen in your life. At the top of the mountain, we took some pictures and had a few drinks while we enjoyed the amazing view and unknowingly got super sunburnt. We took the chair lift back down after a few hours and then laid out on our terrace (can you tell we haven't seen sun in 4 months?!) All the while, I was picking thorns out of my hands from where I grabbed a cactus thinking it was a fig, thats what too much sun mixed with alcohol will do to ya! That night we went out for one of our final dinners, where I had a wonderful mussel and clam pasta with home-made pasta, y'all, it was delicious. Seriously, my mouth is watering just thinking about how great it was.

On our last day in Capri, we took a bus down to the port and rented a boat for an island tour. Of course, we were all severely sunburnt by this point, so the ride was a bit uncomfortable, but beautiful nonetheless. I have never seen more clear water in my life (even in Mexico!) and no matter which way you turned, it looked like a postcard. We saw the coral, white, and green grottos, lighthouse, and basically every inch of the outskirts of the island. The last stop was the infamous blue grotto. Here, you lay in a small row boat where a driver rows you into the grotto, and the whole inside is blue. The light reflects on the walls and the water is the most pure shade of blue you have ever seen. Definitely worth seeing at some point in your life (be careful though, our ride was about 2 minutes for 12 Euros, total rip off) At that point, we headed back in from the port and went to Anacapri city center for lunch and gelato, and hung around there most of the day. That night, we all took showers and packed for our early morning of traveling.

After waking up at 4, and taking 6 modes of transportation (taxi,ferry,bus,airplane,tube,train..whew) I am finally back on London soil, much more tan/sunburnt and missing Italy so much. It was definitely my big trip while studying abroad, and to say that I loved it would again, be a huge understatement. The people, food, environment, and exquisite scenery were more than I could have ever expected and every minute was full of a wonderful experience. I cannot wait until I can explore more of Italy and everything it has to offer again, but until then.. Ciao beautiful Italia!!

Next up on my study abroad agenda: PARIS on the 25th! Until then, unpacking, laundry, homework..

First sight of beautiful Capri

Capri Port

view of Capri on the way to Anacapri

View from the terrace of our hostel

First Capri sunset!

Riding the chair lift to the top of Anacapri mountain

view of the Amalfi coast

This is what the chair lift looks like

island boat tour

In the Coral Grotto
[all of the surfaces have coral growing]

archway only seen by boat in the Faraglioni

The famous Faraglioni

can't even get over the water color

Green grotto

Anacapri lighthouse

Blue Grotto tour

Blue Grotto

pebble beaches of Capri

Rome, Italy

Our first day in Rome was a bit hectic. We got to our wonderful hostel, which was more like a hotel, and settled into our 5 person bedroom, yet again, good luck on the accommodation.

Our destination after Rome was supposed to be Naples, a port that heads to the island of Capri. However, we had heard from many people (local Italians included) that it is super sketchy and we were even given a map from our hostel owner of place we shouldn't even walk in because of how unsafe it was. SO, being the smart study abroaders that we are, we panicked and decided to not stay in Naples for 2 nights, but rather stay in Rome an extra night (making that a 3 night stay) and Capri an extra night (another 3 night stay) So with the help of my wonderful dad, we got accommodation at a nearby Marriott for our extra night in Rome, and luckily, our villa in Capri was available an extra night, saving us the hassle/danger of staying in Naples! Still making sense?

So after that madness was taken care of, we headed to lunch (pizza, surprise surprise) and then to the Colosseum! It was within walking distance of our hostel, so it was a perfect afternoon walk with some gelato and the wonderful sun shining on us. The Colosseum was not as exciting as I was anticipating. It was large and amazing, but after about 2 minutes, I was over it and wanted to see something else! So, we did what any Roman would do and took a nap, and then went and got more food (and gelato)

The second day we were hating ourselves for wasting the afternoon napping, so we hit it into high gear. We took the Roman version of the tube to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Altare della Patria (tomb of the unknown soldier) and the Spanish stairs. All in all, about all of Central Rome. My personal favorites were the Trevi Fountain and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The fountain lived up to every expectation I had from pictures, and was packed! We had to fight for spaces near the water for pictures and making wishes (of course, I had to make a wish and toss a coin), but it was absolutely breathtaking! The tomb of the unknown soldier was huge, and really beautiful. There is an eternal flame that burns there with guards constantly surrounding it, so they are really strict about the monument being sacred and keep tourists in line with loud whistles.

The next day, we checked out of our hostel and headed across the bridge to the other side of Rome and our hotel for the night. After a terrifying taxi ride (Italians drive like mad men) we made it to the Marriott, which conveniently had a shuttle to Vatican City, our last stop on our Rome to-do-list! We had a quick lunch and then got in line with the million other people there to get inside St. Peter's Basilica. Since its a place of worship, we had to cover our legs and shoulders (in the million degree weather) and were finally in the church. Being a Catholic, this was the ultimate experience, and getting to pray and take communion inside St. Peter's was definitely one of the most memorable things I did in Rome. After a long tour of the Cathedral, we walked through St. Peter's Square and went to the Vatican Museum. The only reason we went here is to get to the Sistine Chapel. We had to walk through tons of Catholic artifacts, paintings, and random things in order to get there, but when we did, it was breathtaking. The room was crowded and everyone was being hushed by security guards, but the painting of The Last Judgement was absolutely amazing and made me appreciate the talent of Michelangelo even more (pretty cool that I got to see 2 of his works within a week) After hours of walking, we opted for dinner in the lobby of our fancy-schmancy hotel and an early night in.

Of course, it was all over the news about the Boston Bombings, so we all watched in shock as we saw fellow Americans grieving. So, so sad.

The next morning we checked out and headed to our next destination! The history of Rome makes the city that much more amazing and enlightening. Although parts were very touristy, the beautiful monuments we saw made up for the big price tags :)

Next stop: CAPRI!

Colosseum

At a piazza (they are all starting to sound the same)

Piazza par deux

Pantheon

Open ceiling inside the Pantheon

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Closeup of the guards

TREVI FOUNTAIN!

just making some wishes in Rome

Trevi

Spanish Steps
[you literally can't see the steps for all the people sitting down]

St. Peter's Square in Vatican City

overlooking Vatican City from the Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's

People were drinking straight from this fountain outside of Vatican City

here is my attempt at a secret picture of Sistine Chapel ceiling..
[I got yelled at for taking this picture]

Florence, Italy

I am finally back in London after 10 days of Italian adventures, and this is my attempt to remember every incredible memory over the past week!

On Wednesday (April 10) a group of 5 girls, including myself, flew from London and headed to Florence, Italy for 3 nights. I had been given a run-down of what to do and see there from my dear friend, Sam, who studied there before. We stayed at a precious hostel right in the center of Florence, where we all shared a room and bathroom (usually you get some sketchy random people staying in your hostel room) so we were super excited about our wonderful accommodation. We ventured out into the city the first day and started our eating spree. I cannot tell you how many gelato cones, pizzas, pasta dishes, wines, bruschettas (you get the picture) I ate this past week, and I enjoyed every single moment of it!

Our second day in Florence, we headed into the Tuscan countryside for a Chianti wine tasting! It was so awesome to get to see the wonderful countryside I had heard/seen so much about, and the wine tasting was amazing. We were given a tour of the vineyard (grapes aren't in season yet) and then led to the wine tasting with... Italian snacks! It was a beautiful day, and did I mention it was about 75 degrees? Wonderful change from cold, foggy London.

The next day we knew we wanted to see Michelangelo's David statue, so we waited in a two hour line to get into the museum, and it was definitely worth the wait! The statue was much larger than I thought and incredibly crafted. You could see such amazing small detail, even the cracks that have formed in recent years.

From there, we headed to the Duomo, the tallest peak in Florence. It is a Cathedral that is absolutely stunning on the outside and inside, and allows visitors to climb all 700 stairs to see the skyline view of Florence (for a small fee of 8 euros and the most insane workout of your life, of course) I started to panic as we were walking up because of the small stairs, heat, and insanely tight spaces you had to maneuver in, but was blown away when we reached the top. It was SO worth the slight panic attack and really was the best view of the beautiful city.

After these fun adventures, we toured around some more, saw the leather markets, ate, got some paintings, did more eating (you get the picture) it was time to pack up and say goodbye to our first Italian city. I cannot wait until I get to visit Florence again, for the amazing views, people, and food!

Next city- ROME!