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Luckiest [and Craziest] Girls in the World

My first real vacation without parental supervision and the warm fuzzy cloak of my dad planning everything was ahhmaaaaaaaayyyyyyzing against all odds. Leah and I only picked the destination 13 days before our departure after originally scheming to make it to Carthage (which I was kindly reminded several times was destroyed about 2000 years ago...). 

Anyhoo, on Sunday we went first to Napoli and stayed in a s00perd00per sketchy hostel right near the train station, but it was the closest one and we didn't want to be wandering around at night. The next morning we headed off to the hostel we booked for that night and dropped our bags. We tried to map out the next few days since we literally had no specific plans after that point. 

Monday was the National Archeological Museum in Napoli, tasty pizza (I still have a special place in my heart for Chicago deepdish. go figure), MADRE modern art museum (free entrance!), dumpster diving (the trash was so artistic!)

Tuesday was Pompei ruins and lots of confusion with how to get to the top of Mt Vesuvius. We thought we missed the opportunity because of a rather enormous gap in communication between the tourist information office and the actual bus schedules. I'm pretty sure they just like to mess with tourists. Then we were trying to catch a bus back to Napoli but the bus stop was elusive and impossible to find. After wandering around the Orlando-ish new city of Pompei riddled with ghastly tourist traps we came back to the central train station where we were essentially pummeled into joining another party two in a taxi to the top of the Vesuvius. I was so annoyed at the lack of organization I conceded to the scheming of the overly tan and grintastically leathery taxi driver. He turned out to be a nice guy, but the whole scenario was bizarre, especially when he started giving the four young ladies in the car advice about love and relationships while obscure British 80s music was playing in the background...

Wednesday was getting the heck out of Napoli and heading to Sorrento. We had gotten lost on the way back to our hostel and were exhausted from Tuesday's adventures so I fell asleep in my clothes at 9 pm. Leah and I woke up and decided that we should probably look for a place to sleep tonight and there was only one available. A B&B that sounded quaint and promising. Little did we know that we were in for a surprise: a delightfully Italian host named Luigi who was our chauffeur since it was the low season, made freshly squeezed orange juice every morning, gave us the room with the best view of the Sorrento view (we were up pretty high so the panorama was gorgeous). We arrived about midday and unorthodoxly enough, we decided to walk 7 km to Positano and see what there was to see along the way. This turned out to be my favorite day. We took our time along the winding coastal road and just soaked up the beauty with glee. I tallied the cat calls targeted toward us and the total was 21. They ranged from ordinary honking, creative honking rhythms, whistling, winking, a ride invitation, even attention from an ambulance... "I've had it up to here with these horny Italians!" We made it to the beach in Positano where we touched the frigid water and beachcombed for a while. In the spirit of packing light, I gathered some rocks to take back with me. We made dinner in our room (pasta in a cream sauce with gamberetti (shrimp)) while listening to Italian MTV.

Thursday was a glorious breakfast with homemade cappuccini and then off to downtown Sorrento to rent bikes. We headed off with a map of internal roads (no names, though) and stares from people who found our Americanness painfully obvious. (I was wearing shorts in March.) We tried following the map with no names and somehow started off wrong. The road we took was a 30 degree incline (we walked the bikes for a while), but then we got on a main road and "coasted" for a while. The whole day was lots of ups and downs. The biggest downhill was to the beach where we picnic-ed, which consequently lead to the biggest uphill section... I was in lowwww geeeear. Everything was so beautiful; it was a lovely way to see the less touristy part of the peninsula. I miss biking on a regular basis so much! We barely made it back to Sorrento alive, exhausted and weary with satisfaction of a day well spent. Leah and I met up with Sylva and her parents for a Limoncello aperitivo. It was quite strong. We made dinner again in our room (linguine with onions and eggplants in a red sauce + red wine) and then passed out.

Friday was going to Amalfi and Ravello by bus ("pullman"). Since there part of the road was blocked off, we had to walk down to the beach in Praiano and then up again to meet a different bus that took us the rest of the way. Amalfi was choked with touristy things. We took a bus to Ravello and walked around. The view was amazing since it is so high up. We went to Villa Cimbrone and paid full price to see a dormant garden.... It was an exercise in using our imagination. After mistakenly thinking the bus would adhere to the schedule listed, we walked to a nearby paesino called Scala and tried to chase down the bus supposedly headed back to Amalfi. There was no need to run and there was no need to leave Ravello because the bus went to the downtown stop... It was an exercise in futility (and just plain exercise). Making the walk down to the beach in Praiano was infinitely more interesting when it was totally dark outside and we were the only ones trying to make it to the other side. We made it back to Sorrento and stayed the night in a hostel and met a non-narcoleptic Argentinian traveling around Europe.

Saturday was taking a ferry to Capri, and walking around. A lot. We decided that Luigi's hospitality was way worth the 4E difference in price from the hostel so we came crawling back. Leah called us the "prodigal daughters," which I thought was fitting. We made an eclectic dinner (hamburgers and mushroom omelettes) and settled down for the night. Luigi brought us some of his homemade limoncello, which was really tasty. Much better than the other stuff I tried. This morning we were dropped off and said goodbye to Luigi for the 2nd time. He joked that we would call to come back to his B&B tomorrow. The train connections were actually NOT stressful for once in my life and I've been back in Florence for less than two hours. I'm off to do laundry!

Destination: Dirtiest Place Ever

Yesterday I left the marvelously accomodating nest of Olevano and found myself disoriented and chased by cars (the opposite of the Snow Patrol song). Leah and I barely caught our train from Roma to Napoli due to an obnoxious delay. Somehow I am blessed with the skills to catch trains by the skin of my teeth. Today Leah and I dropped our bag at our 2nd hostel and found out that 8 other WashU students happen to be staying at the same one! Che coincidence! Anyhoo, we trapsed around the city and saw the Archeological Museum, ate pizza that puts quella di Firenze to dispicable shame, went to a contemporary art museum that was really impressive, walked around the historical center, went casual dumpster diving, ya know...

This evening the WashU students collaborated for dinner and cooked at the hostel. Now we are watching Moulin Rouge, which I havent seen in a ''coon's age.'' Tomorrow we are headed to Pompeii. The hope of renting bikes has been transferred to Sorrento, but we havent given up yet, dagnabbit. I will be sure to post pretty pictures when I get back. Maybe I'll be able to check in at another hostel along the way. Im scheming to ride a hydrofoil this week! I remember learning about them in junior year physics class. Physics is everywhere :)