Busing Across Italy: Amalfi Coast

Ok, so I did not have my computer all weekend because I was on the Amalfi Coast with a school fieldtrip. Again, there is too much to tell but you have to start somewhere….and the beginning is a very good place to start.

Friday started with a 30 min walk at 6:40 to reach the bus at 7:15.  One of my roommates and I were actually on time, and we snagged two seats each, quite a luxury. Ironically neither of us were able to sleep so kindles it was. Every time I looked up though I would just be struck with the realization that I was in Italy, and that this was not just like every other bus ride I have ever taken. Three hours in we reached Pompeii, which was spectacular. People talk about how well preserved it is, and they aren’t kidding. There are still frescos on some of the walls and most of the marble in the baths was completely intact. For a moment I wished I lived in Pompeii (they literally had more solutions for urbanization than we do now…) until someone reminded me that the majority of the citizens were dirt poor, and that either way I would have died there….right.

(And morbid tidbit: I learned that those who died in Pompeii actually suffocated to death slowly on the poisonous gases released from Vesuvius, not instantaneously from the pyroclastic flow which I was sure I had heard in grade school.)

So now I will skip to highlights: (Which are in bullet form because I am too lazy to write another ten paragraphs of stories...)

Meeting a lot more people on my program (including more Chi O's).

Free 4 course lunch, with soda and water! (big deal)

Hotel with air conditioning, breakfast buffet, coffee, and a casual 5 story pool overlooking the Mediterranean.
Unbelievable views in general.

Five course dinners both nights at the hotel (including meat!!)

Our four person intimate dinner which dissolved into complete silliness and verbal misunderstandings. I have not laughed that much since leaving America. (Holy mackerel and some Pilgrims anyone??)

Finally finding a swimsuit in Italy. I haven’t had one.

Hearing “teach me how to dougie” play while out (teach me how to throw it….)

Watching Travis ‘dougie’ in a circle of IES kids.
"Playing scarves" in Amalfi's cloister (since we had not been warned to dress appropriately).

Floating in the Mediterranean, meaning literally floating almost without effort – the saltiest water I can remember (since I don’t really remember the dead sea…).

Watching the boys try to best each other in progressive jumps off a rock. (Hands down Travis wins with that flip, glad you’re not dead…)

Boat ride around the Island of Capri, perfect ending to the day!

Negatives. Actually there is only one. For the most part it was the best trip I could possibly imagine. My only complaint is the tour guide, who was with us for over 6 hours. The stories that I could tell from those hours are literally endless, however I will just stick to a few. Background, this tour guide has probably never given a tour in English. Also a fire along our original route caused our 3-hour bus ride out of Amalfi with breaks to become a 6-hour ride without the fun break. Now picture a busload of college kids who have been forced to get up before 7 three mornings in a row. You expect them to be asleep, right?

Wrong, because unknown to them there is going to be commentary on the entire bus ride. The first hour consisted of pointing out houses of celebrities and lemon orchards (note, Sorrento’s main export is lemons…so there are a lot of them!). Then there were ‘cock islands’ named after mermaids which were harped on for a good 30 minutes.  Apparently Esmeralda did not know that rooster was the correct translation, and I didn’t know that mermaids were originally a mix between birds and women rather than fish. 

Then there was the tour of the church and cloisters in Amalfi, which she also guided. After that we hit the standstill traffic since the fire was causing evacuations, turning a one-lane/one way road into a two-lane/two way road. Terrifying? Absolutely, especially when your bus is on the cliff side. But did the commentary stop when we did…nope. This change in route also delayed lunch for 2 hours, so sleep would be the best option now? Of course not, she turned of the volume of the mic! (Apparently she noticed us trying to tune her out with headphones earlier…) We literally clapped when she disembarked at the end of the Amalfi coast, and then promptly all crashed until snacktime 2 hours later. Then the bus ride was fine, and we all chatted about the most random things and guessed how long until we would be home (well back to IES, so 30 minutes plus the guess).

Let’s be real though, I can’t even remotely complain about my life. Interestingly enough, however, the things I most enjoined about the Amalfi Coast actually were the little things: nice showers, bearable nighttime temperatures, meat, and the people. Thought the 4star hotel was pretty amazing too…especially since that is the last time I will experience that in Europe for the rest of the term….

Buonanotte belles!