Amalfi Coast!

Alright y’all.  This post is a little long, but I’ve had a lot of adventures in the past few days. 

This weekend I headed South to the Amalfi Coast for a little September sun!  It was so beautiful.  I brought Jenny along with me, and we had quite the adventure.

First, we tried to leave an hour before our bus was departing from the Rome train station.  However, the buses were behind schedule because it was pouring rain.  So we had the porter (our security guard) call us a cab.  It was a good thing we did, because it took all of an hour to get to the station.  Our cab driver was a hot mess.  He made a gun with his fingers and pretended to take out every person who got in our way.  He would love the 2^nd amendment.  We scared him to death when Avril Lavigne came on his Italian radio and we started singing karaoke in the backseat.  I think Avril Lavigne is angsty and Jenny said the song reminded her of sad kittens.  I think he thought we were crazy.

We met up with the student tour group we were traveling with.  I am ashamed of what I have to tell you next.  We got McDonalds.  And it was phenomenal.  I can’t even describe it; it was so good.  I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.  After that, we met up with the rest of the group.  Jenny and I are a little…different than everyone else.  You could compare us to grandmas and compare everyone else to….I don’t have words.  Our bus ride was a little rowdy, to say the least.  I think some people thought the Greyhound was their own personal party bus.  Jenny looked at me and told me that she thought we were the black horses of the group.  I took a confused moment and then asked her if she meant black sheep.  That’s what she meant.  But she was right.   

Three loud hours later, we arrived at our hostel.  Which was SO nice.  It was like a hotel.  Some of the girls who we were rooming with weren’t….as friendly as we are.  But that was OK.  Jenny and I try to get along with everyone.  So we went into the dorm-style room with ten beds, only to find out that there were eleven girls trying to fill them.  One girl looked at the two of us, pointed, and said, “THEY were the last two in.  You both can’t stay here.  I’m going to talk to the guide.”  Well, that’s all we had to hear.  We chased her down the stairs and right up to the people in charge.  As she started complaining about us, I jumped on in and said that I would be more than happy to pay a little extra for a private room.  Luck was on our side that day, and we ended up in a private room with a private bathroom—just for me and Jenny—and for free!  Everyone else was in dorm-style.  We felt a little bit like the divas that we are, but the staff was SO accommodating and it was way better than staying with people we didn’t know. 

After we settled into our air conditioned, private room, we headed to bed.  Everyone else was hitting the hotel bar and going out, but we were over it.  We just wanted to sleep and use the free Wifi. 

In the morning, we headed to Capri for a full day.  We took a boat from Sorrento, and wow, was it choppy!  We started on a big boat and switched to a smaller boat to go to the Blue Grotto.  It’s a cave where you can go swimming.  Unfortunately, since it was raining and the waves were so big and rough, they wouldn’t let us swim inside.  That was ok with me; I knew there was no Ashton Kutcher to rescue me Guardian-style.  The views were still wonderful, even in the rain!

Jenny and Mary Jane

When we arrived in Capri, we poked around the town, but we really wanted to go up to Anacapri, which is on top.  Jenny bought the ugliest umbrella that either of us had ever seen.  She thought it was all black, but when she opened it, it was dark green and brown printed leaves.  We thought it looked a little suspicious…so we named her Mary Jane.  Mary Jane the Umbrella was our third friend this weekend and she protected us from so many unexpected rainshowers.   We took a bus up there, around the cliffs.  All Jenny and I could think was that we were either going to die by falling off the cliff in the bus, or from a heart attack worrying about falling off the cliff.  But we made it safely!  The town was SO cute, even in the rain.  Lots of boutiques, restaurants, and gelato.  We found the infamous sandal man, who makes custom sandals.  Anne went here when she was in Capri, and loved it, so we had to go!  It was like dying and going to sandal heaven.  The little sandal man loved us.  We got so many photos with him, and found so many cute shoes!  Of course, we wanted to buy every pair, but we settled on what we really wanted.  Photos to come!   In the shoe store, I ran into a sweet family from Tuscumbia, Alabama.  They were at Tuscaloosa the same time as my Mom, and they were sooo sweet.  She gave me a hug from the south when they left.  Love Southerners. 

After surviving several torrential downpours, we went home and went to bed at 11pm, like the little old ladies we are.  The guides came up at dinner and asked if we were getting on the bus to downtown with everyone, who were all in their club outfits, and we tried not to look too lame as we told her that we really just wanted to watch Under the Tuscan Sun.  It was hard enough to not wear our pajamas down to the dinner table.

The coral!!!

The next day, we went to Positano.  This was definitely my favorite stop.  SO beautiful, and the weather was definitely cooperating that day.  They dropped us at the top of the city and we walked all the way down to the rock beaches.  I wanted to stop in every single linen shop that I saw, but I refrained.  Jenny and I hopped on a local bus to head to another town to find a restaurant that Anne and her sorority sisters love.  We found the restaurant, and Mamma, the proprietor, but she was hosting a cooking class and so she was closed.  We were so upset, but we found Mom’s signature in the guestbook and we left our own.  I also got a picture with Mamma. 

We thought we were going to be stranded in this town; hungry and alone, with no options because it was obviously a residential town and not at all touristy.  Just as I was about to have to hitchhike, the bus showed up!  We headed back to Positano and found the best paninis that we have ever eaten.  Mine had lots and lots of mozzarella, pesto, and prosciutto.  Yum!  We picnicked on the stone beach, and ended up falling asleep in the sun.  Mary Jane protected our bags from the drizzling rain and from anyone trying to snatch our belongings.  We loved her, and we referred to her every ten minutes the whole trip. 

We poked around Positano, getting gelato, and shopping in the little boutiques until it was time to leave.  We got back on the bus and decided that we were probably just going to end up watching a movie again….and we had one in mind.  Backstory: Jenny and I were talking the other night about things we were deprived of as children.  I wasn’t allowed to watch Rugrats because Angelica was too mean to her mother, and Jenny wasn’t allowed to watch CatDog because her parents thought it was unnatural.  We both found a movie we weren’t allowed to see: Crossroads, with Britney Spears.  We both ended up seeing it sneakily at birthday parties anyway.  All we wanted to do this weekend was watch Crossroads, so we rented it on the ipad.  I understand, Mom.  I get it now.  I shouldn’t But it was hilarious to watch it again anyway.  We mostly just made fun of the acting and then the fact that we were lame enough to be watching a Britney Spears movie at 10pm instead of hitting the town.  Then we started hearing fireworks.  I, of course, thought they were gun shots and hit the floor.  What is the world coming to?! 

The next morning, we packed up our new shoes and headed to Pompeii.  I can’t even tell you some of the people we have run into.  A big group of girls said they didn’t want to see piles of dirt, and skipped the Pompeii tour to find somewhere to lay out.  I was dying.  Then I met an art history major.  I asked her if she was taking any art classes in Rome.  She told me that she could “always take art in the States” and “hated having to stare at art and go to museums.”  I’m thinkin’ she may need a major change…

Our guide in Pompeii was amazing!  Enzo.  He was so sassy, but he led a great tour.  At the end, we got into a photo with him.  He told us not to worry because he would keep his hands in plain view.  We saw so many fun things: the oldest brothel, a really nice house with original frescos, an ancient wine bar, recovered artifacts, a few dead people covered in ash.  It was riveting…and creepy. 

We went to a postcard stand so I could get a Pompeii post card for my collection.  The man at the stand told me that “nice girls don’t pay for postcards, so pick out one you like.”  I took my free postcard and left before he could change his mind! Look, Dad, I saved 60cents! I’m so thrifty. 

After Pompeii, we headed back to Rome.  It was nice to be back at our little abode.  I had made plans on Thursday to head to a bar with some friends to try and catch the Titans game.  (OK, they wanted to watch the Giants game and they said they would stay while I watched the Titans.)  What a waste.  As per usual, they let me down.  The bartender wouldn’t even put the game on one of the big screens.  It had to go on a tiny little TV above the bar.  I was very upset. No one can question my loyalty to the Titans at this point.  It was fun because it was a lot of Americans; students, couples, honeymooners, locals, grandparents, etc., who were all just trying to catch the Sunday football games.  But everyone in the bar was making fun of my team. 

American Football Night!

Today is for Monday Funday with Kat.  We are going to a teahouse for lunch!

Ciao!!!