4 Days in Paradise

It's been a whirlwind.
I just spent 4 nights in southern Italy, Sorrento to be exact. On the first night I met one of my roommates, Anita, from Brazil. She's one of those friendly, outgoing types, so she makes friends wherever she goes. We decided to go to Pompeii and Amalfi together before she left Friday morning.

Pompeii--I've always wanted to go. When we got there, at about 9:30, it was hot out. And Pompeii is huge. HUGE. I wandered about half (?) of it and didn't even make it out to the amphitheatre (which, I forgot, is where Pink Floyd recorded "Live at Pompeii"--bummer) before being completely exhausted from the heat and dust and walking around. A couple things annoyed me: the map and guidebook downplay the brothel area, to the point of making it impossible to find. It may have been under archaeological survey anyway; I walked down the road that Rick Steves (good old Rick Steves, right) noted, and was stopped by a fence. Okay. The other thing that was supremely annoying is that the cafeteria inside was closed and they failed to mention that as well. And you cannot leave and come back in. A British couple said, "If this were America, they'd have a proper guidebook and a themed caffe. They know how to do it!" Well, it was pretty amazing anyway. But I have to say, Herculaneum was better. I'll get to it.

After that we wandered to Sorrento and eventually found a place to eat pizza. We were so hungry, despite the meager snacks we had brought along, that we ordered a pizza for 2 and then another small pizza...and it wasn't even very good, and the waitress was rude. Then we made our way back, stopping first for coffee and then for gelatto. Like you do.

The next day: Amalfi Coast! The amazing bus ride reminded me of the California coastline but amazed Anita. We stopped in Positano, a long way (up) from the beach. Probably a thousand feet up from the beach, I'm guessing, based on previous hikes and lookouts. The coastal towns are built on terraces, steps, and into the sides of cliffs, with houses on top of each other. Down a set of steps and stairs that slinked in and out and over everything, to a river channel, and out to a fabulous shopping quarter, and then we found the beach. To me, it was amazing. To Anita, who lives in San Paolo, it was okay. We swam and sunned, and then found out from a local (thanks to Anita--it helps to travel with someone who speaks a little of the language and also happens to be good-looking) about a smaller beach just a 10-minute walk away. So along the side of a cliff, then we dropped down into 2 little beaches with a little restaurant. I had an amazing plate of local tomatoes (I have NEVER tasted better tomatoes than in southern Italy--they're yellow, huge, sweet, and have none of that bitter pulpy flavor at all) topped with local mozzarella and basil, along with a shot of limoncello. A bit later, swimming! in the smaller beach. It was portioned off with cliffs. It's weird to me that the cliffs jut straight into the ocean, but immediately under the water there's sand. Why don't the cliffs just keep going?

Anyway, swimming in the Mediterranean is a bit like walking in space. You can't sink. I think it's all the salt. And the water's so pretty, so I ventured a ways out (for me) without fear. It was wonderful. This will not be my last time swimming in the Mediterranean, even if I AM spelling it incorrectly.

We caught a water taxi to Amalfi, had the world's best gelatto (for real)! and observed a nice looking Italian man standing on a balconi in his underwear. Then, two very tired girls got back on the bus and endured a two-hour bus ride back to Sorrento, then walked home from there (another 25 minutes). Poor Anita having to get up to leave the next morning!

The next day, I splurged on the boat tour. Seven Hostel has a partnership with a family-owned tour business. It was Saturday, so I was part of a big group and they had two boats. I took the slow, wooden sailboat (has a motor too) run by a man we called Capitain Cook and his son. Okay, so we started on our adventure and sailed along the coast below the cliffs of Sorrento. In the side of the cliffs you can see old Roman walls with arches built in. Along the way, there was a particular set of ruins, but I failed to notice them because suddenly the captain said "Okay, I stop and you are jumping and swimming to that natural swimming pool." I looked in disbelief at an opening in the rocks along the shore. I could see little people in there, swimming and standing on a little shore, but I have never jumped from a boat into deep water and swam away from the boat before. Okay. So we did it. It was a little scary for me to swim between rocks that were only about 6 feet apart, in deep water! But it was exciting.

Next we jumped out again and swam under a little, cold waterfall. Then the ride to Capri, which took about 40 minutes. I can't even remember the order right now. We just jumped out into crystal blue or teal water, beside towering white cliffs, and swam through various caves. Once he stopped the boat beside a rock staircase in the cliff, and we climbed up into a cave above a grotto. It was fantastic.

I'm running out of time, so more later!