Sunday, September 16, 2012

Pompeii, Capri, Naples

WHEW. this weekend was the one of the busiest, most adventure-packed weekends of my life. and it was by far the best weekend I've ever had (and I think I've had some good ones!). I'll just start at the beginning.

POMPEII
On Friday morning, very early, everybody on our program loaded up onto a bus and headed out of Rome to the ancient site of Pompeii. sadly, not 10 minutes out of our driveway did our bus driver hit a Smart Car... he then proceeded to get out of the bus and yell at the driver. only in Rome. but moving on. about halfway to Pompeii, we got out at a truckstop to stretch and get coffee. I've done a fair amount of road tripping in my life, and was prepared for any level of disgusting truckstop bathrooms/convenience stores, but instead was blown away by the drugstore/cafe/grocery store/bookstore situation that we arrived at. I enjoyed a lovely cup of cappuccino and fell in love with a large blue and white striped stuffed snake that I was forced to put down. Mackenzie and I briefly debated opening a chain of our own luxury truckstops, which we would obviously call M&M Truckstops, but upon realizing that would get sued (big time) by Mars Inc and M&M candies we decided to shelf the idea for a later day. but onward to the real attraction, Pompeii.

the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii

Pompeii (and neighboring town Herculaneum) was buried under a TON of ash when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. the cloud spewed out by the volcano reached over 20 miles in height, and the amount of thermal energy (zzz...) produced by the explosion was over 100,000 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. wow. fun fact for you, the volcano is still active, though not in any danger of blowing up. anyway, we arrived in Pompeii to... rain. several of us stepped in not-so-ancient puddles, and I almost ate it trying to jump over a flooded walkway. about 2/3rds of the city is excavated, and it was amazing to me that I was walking over the original stone pathways that the Pompeiians would have walked on too. we saw a villa which was so perfectly preserved that you could still see the frescoes on the walls. of course, exposure to the elements and tacky tourists carving their names into walls is quickly ruining the ruins (ha, ha). I would hate to see the day the town is closed to tourism, so if any of you tacky tourists are out there reading my blog: STOP IT!!! you're tacky and we hate you!!

plaster cast of a long-gone Pompeiian

as you can see from the photo above, we have modern representations of the dead of Pompeii. that figure you see isn't the actual dead body. most of the bodies decayed or were instantly turned to ash from the extreme heat. the plaster casts were made by looking at the negative space that was left behind by the bodies! this particular person is covering his mouth and nose. creepy.

aww.

another interesting feature of Pompeii is the dogs. there are dogs that wander the ruins, begging for food and attention. I wonder how many people have come by and given this dog a name. our name for it was... Trinity. they're very sweet and affectionate, but also very dirty, poor things. I counted at least four different dogs. we wanted to adopt them all, but obviously we couldn't. if our truckstop idea doesn't pan out, Mackenzie and I may start filming infomercials to raise money for these dogs. think Sarah McLachlan with Mackenzie's face, and you get the idea. 

when we tried to get out of the ruins, we found that because of the rain a lot of the pathways had been closed off without any notice. we were worried that we were trapped in the ruins, and felt a peculiar sense of irony. possibly part of the reason 16,000 people perished in the volcanic eruption was that maybe their city administrator blocked off exits arbitrarily, and this tradition has existed to this day. 

CAPRI
we finished up in Pompeii and got back on the bus to the port of Naples, where we got on a boat to Capri. the rain had gotten worse, and the blustering winds made our joke of a boat rock so badly that even a few minutes in we all felt horribly seasick. I'm an atheist and I was desperately crossing myself. I've never been that seasick in my life! 

welcome to Capri!!

not to be deterred by the weather (as college kids tend to be), we went to a club in Anacapri and danced the night away. it was so fun being with everybody in the program! there were also some locals/other tourists that came to the club, including a very large man with a ponytail who for some reason had a long straw that reached to the ceiling (seriously, at least 3 feet long) and two lesbians who I bumped into by accident. naturally they took this as an invitation to start rubbing the top of my head, which I did not take in stride like a cool, collected person might have.

the next day, Capri greeted us with beautiful weather. 

finally!

we stayed in the amazing Hotel San Michele in Anacapri, and because it is situated so high up on the island we had awesome views of the island and bay. our tour guide called the road leading up to the hotel the "Mamma mia road" because when you drive up it you are literally on the precipice of the cliff, and likely are thinking/yelling MAMMA MIA! I think I can say that Capri was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life, and probably ever will see. we started our day with a massive hike (not for the faint of heart or leg muscles, like myself) to the Villa Jovis, which is the villa that Emperor Tiberius lived in and ruled from. it is located on the second highest peak of the island, and even though it's one heck of a hike the view from the top is definitely worth it. supposedly the emperor used to throw kids off the island... nasty guy. 

after Villa Jovis, we went to see the famous Natural Arch of Capri, which was beautiful but also required another hike to get to. I am counting on these expeditions to even out my pasta habit. 

can you see how high up I took this picture from?

after these strenuous physical activities, this girl needed a lemon granita (granite limone) and a panino. the lemon granita was maybe the most delicious drink I've ever had. cold, sweet, icy, made with so much real lemon juice that my teeth hurt. Capri (and really the whole Amalfi coast) is known for lemons, and they put lemons in just about everything. which is great if you, like me, like lemons. I picked up some cute lemon-patterned souvenirs for my mom. hi mom! as we sat in the main square of downtown Capri (to clarify, the island is called Capri, the two main towns are Anacapri up high and Capri down low, and then there is even lower on the shore the port of Capri) a convertible drove through the crowd of people. there was a newly married couple in the car! as they drove through they waved and the crowd cheered and clapped and took lots of pictures. if I were to ever get married, it would sure be cool to do the thing in Capri. 

after lunch, we headed down to the port to see about getting a tour of the island by boat. some groups of students chartered a private boat for a few hours, others got on a bigger boat to get a guided tour, which is what we decided to do. and I think we made the right choice! although we didn't get out and swim in the waters, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and funny. I was also very impressed with our ship's captain, who navigated the large boat into really small grottoes so that we could get a better look. we saw (among other things) the white grotto, famous for its limestone formations and the coral that you can see when the tides recede; the green grotto, which is known for its brilliant green color and total translucency when the water is calm; the blue grotto, probably the most famous of the grottoes (but more on that later); the lighthouses; the villas; and of course, the Faraglioni, the rock structures that are on every postcard you can buy in Capri. the center rock formation, called the Mezza Faraglioni, is the one with the small archway that boats can pass through. if you say "ciao ciao ciao" as you pass under, you'll return to Capri (of course we yelled "ciao" a hundred times). and it's also known as the arco dell'amore, the love arch. you're supposed to kiss the one you love as you pass under it. our tour guide suggested that the singles kiss the captain and/or his first mate, and Mackenzie and I were going to take her up on the offer until we realized she was kidding. the tour is definitely the way to see the island. as I disembarked from the ship, the first mate said to me "ciao, bella, beautiful baby, Merry Christmas!" I commend him for his efforts at English and wished him a very merry Christmas in return. 

incredible.


post-boat tour, we wandered in the port of Capri and bought souvenirs. then we got on the most crowded bus I have ever been on in my life and swerved our way up to Anacapri, where we got on the chairlift that goes to the highest peak of the island. I hyperventilated and panicked the entire way up the mountain and even had one woman (who was passing me coming down) attempt to reassure me when she saw me gasping for air. the view from the top was spectacular, so my friends and I had ourselves an unapologetic photoshoot. then we had ice cream and came back down the lift. I was much calmer on the way down, maybe because I could see my trajectory if I fell out or if the cord snapped. there's something about having the downhill on your back that is terrifying. 

yeah, the view's nice, but check out those cuties!

my view coming down

after the stress of being in a single-person lift chair for 13 harrowing minutes down the rocky mountainside, I needed to do some retail therapy. there is a place in Capri called L'Arte del Sandalo Caprese di Antonio Viva that has been handmaking sandals for over 50 years. I walked in and was immediately overwhelmed by the possibilities - so many different style straps! hundreds of colors in suede and leather, some with jewels and charms! heels! flat sandals! loafers! they're fairly priced and will discount you if you buy more than one pair. in the town of Anacapri there are also a lot of boutique clothing stores, souvenir shops, sandal stores, lemon and limoncello shops, and coral jewelry shops. is resortwear your favorite collection every year? you should probably live on Capri. 

a street in downtown Anacapri

while shopping, we ran into some boys who had just returned from swimming in the Blue Grotto. on our boat tour, you can usually stop and jump into a smaller boat that will take you right inside. that day, the tides were high and the waves were choppy and rough, and as we passed the entrance to the grotto the waves crashed against the top of the small entrance (made smaller by the high tide). the tour guide informed us that entrance to the grotto would not be possible that day, and that swimming in was illegal. I was so heartbroken! when I heard the boys had gone in anyways, I was determined to do it. I rounded up the people who were willing to go with me, and we made our way to the entrance. I stripped down and jumped in the water immediately. the water was not very cold, but fairly rocky. regardless, we treaded water and watched the cave entrance to see the timing of the waves. at one point we almost turned around, but how much of a big fat regret would it be if we got this close and didn't do it? when the moment was right, we swam in one by one. when it was my turn, I flailed my way in as fast as my body would let me and I made it safely into the cave. I had a moment of calm, then I looked down. floating in the Blue Grotto, the entire bottom of the grotto (which is deep!) was illuminated by a glowing, eerie light, which is the sun coming through holes in the bottom of the grotto. it was terrifying and I shrieked a little too much, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. it's indescribably amazing, and when you're looking down at this glowing blue water it's like an out of body experience. I hope I never forget that shade of blue. inside the water was a little calmer, but I'm not a particularly strong swimmer and the waves were getting larger, which we could tell because the cave entrance would become completely submerged more and more frequently. I spent maybe five minutes inside the grotto (freaking out the whole time) before swimming out, making sure I got the timing right so I wouldn't smack my head on the top of the entrance. once I was out, I started shaking from the adrenaline; I'd never felt so alive before! I highly recommend doing something brave/stupid if you want to feel every single nerve in your body tingle, and I am determined to return to Capri to swim into the grotto again before I am too old to. what. a. rush. I woke up the next morning and my entire body hurt. my lower body from the hikes, my upper body from hanging on for dear life to a chain inside the grotto while being pushed around by waves. the sun went down just as our bus snaked its way back up to Anacapri. amazing. 

NAPLES
the next day, we woke up and headed back to Naples. Naples is the third largest city in Italy (Milan is the second) and is also the home to pizza and the Camorra, the violent secret society and mafia organization. thinking it would be a real life episode of Gang Land, I was pretty amped and I wanted to see men in suits discussing matters of life and death on street corners (from the safety of my bus), but I saw nothing. you can breathe out now, Mom! we did, however, check out the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, and I had the best pizza of my life. 

so. good.

then we were back on the bus and headed back into Roma! I slept the entire way back on the bus. 

speaking of Roma, Mackenzie and I did some very Roma activities the day before we left on our trip. we visited the Trevi Fountain at night and tossed some coins in, one for love and a second for a return to Italy. I think at this point not returning to Italy is out of the question, because I am in love. 

unfortunately, the Trevi doesn't tell you when your true love is going to show up.

we also decided to check out Vogue's Fashion Night Out. VFNO happens in Los Angeles and New York every year, so I'd heard of it, but had never really gotten up the motivation to go. but since we were in the area and can always be convinced into shopping, we decided to see what was going on. In Rome, VFNO happens on different shopping streets, and we were on the Corso (the main street that goes from Piazza Venezia to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain) where many stores are. so what is FNO? FNO is essentially a charity shopping event. certain stores stay open very late (some until midnight) and host shopping events, and a few give away goodie bags and sell special FNO items. proceeds from the items go to the Red Cross. in addition to in-store events, the streets are filled with carousing and weird stuff, like a lady we saw who was standing on stilts 10 feet up in the air wearing a dress that went down to the ground. very fun! 

that's all for this post. was it long enough?? I have more photos and stories from my second trip into Florence and some sights around Rome like the ancient Roman Forum, but they will have to wait for another day because I am so tired. peace, love, Capri.

1 comment:

  1. I love all of the ancient history in Italy!I am just absolutely fascinated by Rome Italy tours. I cannot WAIT to go there one day!

    Colosseum tours

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