Pompei & Sorrento

We woke up early Friday morning to make our way to Pompei. The original plan was to hike to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, but unfortunately, there was too much snow.

Pompei was really cool though. (If you ever tour it, make sure Stefano is your guide... he made it so fun and interesting!) Crazy to think of this city buried under ashes for so many years and so well preserved. The Pompeiians (?) were so smart. They had a grid road system like New York does today. They had running water. Even some places in the world don't have running water today. They even had little light reflectors on their main roads at night. Pompei also has a beautiful view of Vesuvius (check my new album tomorrow!) They also have a mosaic that holds the warning "Beware of Dog." Even then.

From Pompei we went to have lunch in Naples. Everyone was a little nervous about Naples because we had heard bad things about the area. (Even when we play cards if someone cheats the Italians say "Napoli" like you are from Naples because you cheat.) However, our experience in Naples was very good. It was beautiful and our lunch was delicious. Naples has very good pizza with a thick crust. At our group lunch we got starters, loved the zuchinni fries!

Next we went up a mountain in Naples to go to an Abbey. The view was incredible. We couldn't take pictures inside, but the time and attention to detail and beauty and talent that went into that place was unbelievable. We saw some cool things outside the Abbey too, like a carriage fit for Cinderella.

Then it was off to Sorrento. Only 6 of us girls went to Sorrento, the rest did the optional program trip to Ischia. I am so glad we went to Sorrento! Sorrento has the views like you see in movies. Right on the Mediterranean. We were so happy with our place to stay (thanks for the suggestion Claire and Nathaniel.) It had a bed for each of us, a hot shower and a kitchen for us to cook! We arrived safely by train and bus and checked in. Next we made a trip to the supermarket. We got cookies and stuff to cook. Sarah Green made us paninis with eggs, zuchinni, artichokes and cheese. Delicious. We went to bed early so that we could be well rested for our day in Sorrento.

Saturday we woke up and hit the town. We wandered and explored and found the most beautiful views. In was nice and warm in the sun and we sat by the dock for a while in the afternoon. We visited a famous gelateria (the pastry chef is in the guinness book of world records.) Also, Sorrento is known for its good lemons and any shop will offer you free tastes of limoncello. We shopped around and I got a pair of light brown leather boots, my first real purchase here. They are cute!

Next we went back to our "hotel" to change and get ready for dinner. We found the sweetest little place for dinner. Delicious pasta for cheap! Everyone is so hospitable and kind.
Our sweet friend Raley has been dying to dance since we got to Italy so we set out to find somewhere. We thought maybe Daniele's Discotheque might be a winner but it was closed. So we searched around until we heard music coming from a pub. We were standing outside debating going in when some Americans starting talking to us. They were from New York and talked us into coming in. It was a funny place, definitely full of Americans... not really what we were looking for.

So we left only to be followed by the American boys from New York. They offered us their basement where we could plug in our iPods and dance. "No offense, but we don't do strangers basements in foreign countries." Was my reply. We wandered around, NY boys following, looking for a place to dance. Only to find everywhere closed. Finally I decided to ask some Italians that had just passed us. Gretchen and I ran after them shouting "Scusi!" They stopped and I said "dov'e ballare?" (where is dancing?) They laughed and told us nowhere really opens until midnight or 1am.

However.... one of them said they could open Hollywood Disco for us. Apparently his family owned the place and they opened it just for us. We were apprehensive at first but it was close by and we knew we could leave at any moment. You will see pictures of it! It ended up being a very fun night, after all Italians opened their discotheque just for us.

This morning we said goodbye to Sorrento and made our way back to Naples. We stopped in Naples for some lunch, hung out in McDonalds in the train station for a little while and hopped on our train to Rome. From Rome to Albano and we were home safe and sound!

I have some homework to do (I know you don't believe me, Papa, but I really do!) So I better go. Miss you.