Ciao Italia!

Italy was absolutely beautiful! The first three days the ship was docked in Naples before moving up to Civitavecchia. I was able to experience so much throughout the seven days but of course, unable to experience it all. I have decided that it will be necessary to return someday and travel to all of the places I didn’t get to this time. I saw some of the most incredible and beautiful places I have ever seen and experienced a few trials as well. Transportation was challenging to figure out and we had quite a few mishaps with trains, buses and metros. Having never previously traveled outside of the country, I had unrealistic expectations for simple directions to desired sites and fast paced public transportation. I will now be so much more knowledgeable if I am able to return to Italy someday. I learned to accept that nothing goes perfectly smooth according to plan and to focus on all of the positives. I think the best way to convey my week in Italy is to give a brief overview of each day so here it goes!

Day 1- July 2
I had a field program through SAS (called an fdp) to the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Most of my close friends on the ship went on the same trip so we were able to walk through Pompeii together and listen to the tour guide. Our guide was a hilarious Italian woman who told us to call her Mama Nancy. She carried around a purple polka dot umbrella all day so it was pretty easy to spot her from afar. We were all given a walkie-talkie device to wear around our necks with a headphone attached in order to listen to her through her mic- perfect tourist attire! Pompeii is around 62 acres in size and still has so many streets, houses, fountains, and even fresco paintings intact. It is unbelievable to imagine a volcanic eruption devastating several entire cities with no warning beforehand. It was easy, however, to imagine the daily life from the layouts of the city streets and of the reduced height of the citizens from the doorways. We walked through a larger house with a courtyard and several rooms as well as a public bathhouse. I have seen photos of the preserved bodies, but it was amazing to see them in person and up close. Most of the bodies were in crouched positions with the arms raised as if to shield their faces. You can also vaguely make out the cringed expressions on their faces. We were so exhausted after Pompeii and headed back to Naples with the bus. Mama Nancy told us about a pizzeria called Brandi that is one of the oldest in Naples circa 1780. We walked around asking people for directions and one woman was on her way to the same street it was on so she told us to follow her. It was so nice. We never would have made it if she hadn’t led us there. It was amazing pizza though. Probably the best I had my entire time in Italy and I ate at least one a day! I ordered the traditional Marguerita pizza most of the time because it always sounded good. We headed back to the ship afterwards to nap, shower and get ready for dinner. And then we had more pizza!

Day 2- July 3
We started off by heading to the train station to buy tickets to Cinque Terre for the next day. Kate had an overnight trip to Capri and we were planning on going there after the train station. It was so difficult to find people who spoke English and could tell us the best route. And then the train schedules weren’t at the best times. But we finally figured it out that we would take the train to Pisa leaving Naples at 5pm on July 4th and getting there at 11pm. We figured we would just stay the night there, see the leaning tower of Pisa, and buy tickets in the morning to La Spezia, and then take a smaller train to the most southern town of Cinque Terre called Riomaggiore. We headed back to the ship to get ready and then took the ferry over to Capri. The whole island was so pretty and we had an amazing day there. We took a small boat tour around the island with a big group of SASers. We got to jump off and swim for a while too! The main disappointment was that the Blue Grotto was closed for the entire day because it was too windy and the water was too choppy. We still had such a great experience but I know that I need to return to Capri to see the Blue Grotto and go up to the smaller town of Anacapri.

Day 3- July 4
Happy Independence Day America! We had another challenging morning of taking the tram to the smaller train station to figure out how to take a train to Ercolano and then a bus up to Mt. Vesuvius. The hike was intense but now I can say that I’ve hiked to the top of an active volcano! The views were amazing and it was really cool to see the huge crater from where it exploded. We headed back to pack up and leave for the train station. Kate was napping when we got back to the ship. She had an amazing time in Capri and Anacapri. So then Tim, Jeremy, Kate, Mary, Cedar and I were off to Pisa and on to Cinque Terre! The six-hour train ride wasn’t too bad. I caught up on journaling and we all got to sleep for a while. We walked around for a while in Pisa and found a hostel for all six of us to stay at. It was 15 euro and really clean. Mary, Cedar, Kate and I got two private rooms with a queen size bed to share. And then Tim and Jeremy had a couple of other bunk beds in their room with other travelers. We got around 5 hours off sleep and free wifi to skype!