Semester Trip Continued

Back in Capri!

Okay. Sorry I couldn't just finish this last night, but I was so exhausted. So here goes the rest of the weekend.

Clouds on Capri

So after Pompeii, we went back to Naples.  We had a little time to rest/shower/get ready and then we went out for a group dinner.  We went to a little restaurant around the corner from our hotel.  Our chaperones ordered basically one of each appetizer that they had on the menu.... fried polenta, meatballs, fried sardines, anchovies, fried potato balls with mozzarella inside, and little balls of dough with spinach inside.  For obvious reasons, I didn't eat either fish option, but the rest of the stuff was really good! It was interesting to try some of the local food.  For dinner, I ordered spaghetti con aglio e olio.  It's spaghetti with garlic, oil and pepper.  It was really good, but really really spicy.  I definitely enjoyed it.  Then we went to get some gelato nearby.  The gelato wasn't amazing, but it was far from the worst I've had.  That night we slept soundly after a really long day (at least I slept soundly... no one else seemed to).  

La mia amore, Isola di Capri

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early to take the ferry to Capri.  I was beyond excited because as we all already know, Capri is my favorite place in the world.  It was very overcast, but wasn't raining, so we boarded the hydro-foil and left the port.  The sea was choppy-- very choppy.  The waves had to be at least 20 foot swells.  The boat was full of French tourists, all of whom decided to get sea-sick simultaneously.  That was interesting.  There was basically a chorus of the typical throwing up noises, along with the usual sights and smells of such an event.  The 45 minute ride felt more like several hours, but no one in our group got sick, and we all made it there in one piece.  By the time we got there, it had started raining.  

Capri

We decided to climb up to the center of Capri from the port.  It was a long walk basically straight up the mountain.  I was dying by the time we made it to the top, but of course it was worth it because of the views from up there.  Absolutely stunning.  We stopped to take pictures and then decided to head to Marina Piccola, in hopes of going swimming.  The walk there is long and winding and downhill most of the way, but in my opinion, has some of the greatest views on the entire island.  It rained off and on during our walk.  When we got there, we realized that swimming would be impossible.  The waves were huge and the tide was really high.  We walked around the beach taking pictures and when it started pouring, we went into the restaurant/cafe on the beach to get out of the rain and eat lunch.  There was 6 of us, so we split 3 Magherita pizzas.  I had eaten the same exact thing in the same exact cafe when I was there before, so I already knew it was going to be good pizza.  We sat in there for awhile, bonding and watching the rain.  The worst of the storm passed while we were inside, so when it was done raining, we left and took the bus to Anacapri.  

sign in Anacapri

My previous knowledge of the island was very helpful.  I ended up being quite the tour guide for the day.  When we got off of the bus in Anacapri, I literally felt as though I had returned home. I absolutely adore it there. We walked through all the little shops in town before deciding to go to Faro.  No one knew what Faro was, but it was one of my favorite places from my last trip to Capri, so I suggested we check it out.  Normally, people would take a bus down there, because its quite a long walk, however, the group I was with really wanted to walk, so we did.  

Faro! 

It's a long walk, but it was actually really pleasant.  I don't know how long it took us, but we had lots of beautiful views and entertainment.  When we got down there, it was quite obvious that we wouldn't be swimming.  The waves were absolutely crazy, but beautiful at the same time.  It got so bad that they actually had to close the beach! We went into one of the bars on the beach and rested for a little while.  We were running short on time, so we took the bus back to Anacapri.  Basically each of us had something we had seen that we wanted to buy, so we each went and made our purchases quickly, because it was almost time to go.  I bought a blue bracelet that reminds me of the color of the blue grotto, and a charm so I can start a charm bracelet! Then we had to hop on a bus and head back to Marina Grande to meet up with our guides.  The bus ended up getting stuck on the road a million times because the streets are so narrow and there were so many buses running at the same time.  We were late, but we made it onto the hydrofoil in time.  The ride back was choppy too, but there was far less puking.  

boat off of Capri

Once we got back to Naples, we had some time to rest/change/shower before we went out for a group dinner.  This time, we went to the pizza place that we had gone for lunch the first day. I ordered pizza again, because it had been so delicious the first time.  It was less delicious this time, which in no way means it was bad. Just not AS good.  We went for gelato again, which was better the second time around.  That evening, we went back to the hotel, and some of us went up to the terrace on the roof to hang out and enjoy the beautiful Napolitan night.  

Street in Naples

The next morning (Sunday), we checked out Naples.  First we walked to the church of San Severo, which has the statue of the veiled Christ.  Right as we got there, a group of 140 Italians arrived, and got to go in before us.  It was pretty crazy, because its a tiny church.  When we got in, we all got yelled at for having our cameras, because theres no photography allowed, but I used my super-stealth ability to snap a pretty awesome picture of the statue of the veiled Christ.  The church also has an strange room in the basement.  A scientist person hired by San Severo found a way to inject bodies with something that makes their circulatory system harden and safe from decomposing.  The basement now houses 2 bodies which have completely decomposed, except for their perfectly intact circulatory systems.  That was pretty cool, but to this day, scientists haven't been able to figure out exactly how it was done.  

Statue of the Veiled Christ

After seeing the church, we walked to the archaeological museum.  It's a pretty big and pretty famous museum, with all sorts of really interesting things.  Unfortunately, I could not understand the map at all, and the one exhibit I really wanted to see (mosaics) was closed for renovation.  Me and Lorraine wandered through the museum and saw some pretty cool statues and paintings and an exhibit of coins.  When we were done there, we walked to the Medieval Royal castle in Naples, which I found really really cool, and then to the royal palace that replaced the castle.  At the palace, we walked around through the rooms that were all elaborately decorated.  We were really tired at that point, and my camera battery died, so the day sort of just ended there.  After the palace we went back to the hotel, collected our bags, and headed to the train station to go home to Rome.  

Me in the museum with some frescoes from Pompeii

All in all, it was an amazing weekend.  I didn't really know any of the people I was traveling with when we left on Friday morning, but now I feel like I genuinely know them and they know me.  We really bonded, and got along really well.  Our group just meshed well.  We get to go on another school-sponsored trip in October, this time to Florence, so thats definitely something to look forward to! This weekend may have even been the best weekend I've had since I've been here (the Capri weekend definitely gives it a run for its money though!!).  I'm also excited because these people will be here all semester.  I was worried because most of the friends I've made here are leaving on thursday (my 21st birthday) because they are DTW.  So all my friends from the weekend have agreed to celebrate my birthday with me. :)

Arch at the Castle

Today was Monday, so that means volunteering at the nursery school.  It was still very difficult, but I suppose it is getting a little easier.  I'm more at ease talking to the children, but switching back and forth from French to Italian is killing me.  I think today my Italian was better than my french (I practiced all weekend) but that did nothing to help the french kids out.  The little girl was trying so hard to tell me something, but I didn't recognize the word.  One of the Italian boys (probably my favorite) was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand what he was saying.  It's so difficult.  And the nun kept yelling at him. Poor kid.  Today the nun had me draw leaves onto paper and have the kids color them in.  I have no artistic talent, but I could handle leaves.  She only wanted some of the kids doing that and some of the other ones tracing boxes on graphing paper.  I wasn't sure of the distinction  between the two groups, and neither were the children.  Things are certainly different here.  But it was fun.  I'm looking forward to going back next week and continuing to get better.  

Inside the palace courtyard

Well, that's all for now. Feel free to comment so I know that someone is actually reading this... Ciao!