Amalfi Coast, Italy

Have you ever had those moments where you just stop and look around in complete amazement? That's what this entire weekend was like down in the Amalfi Coast.

We arrived at our hotel Friday morning around 2:30 AM and got a few short hours of sleep. We left around 8:00 AM for a private boat to the island of Capri. We sailed around the island and stopped off at the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Europe. The Blue Grotto is a small cave that the sunlight passes into through an underwater cavity and creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cave, very Avatar like. My friends and I got into very small wooden boats and we entered the cave through a tiny entrance. Some people even went swimming in the Grotto.

Entrance to the Blue Grotto

Inside the Blue Grotto

After the boat tour, we got docked at Marina Grande on the island of Capri. We walked up to the top of the island to Augustus' Garden for a great view of Capri. We then took a bus to the town of Anacapri to spend the day. Here, we grabbed lunch and walked around. A huge mountain, Mt. Solaro, has a chairlift that takes you up to the top for 360 degree views of the island, and the view from the top was incredible. We sailed back to the mainland and that night we went to dinner in Sorrento and then to an outdoor beer garden. 

Saturday morning we left for the beach town of Positano. The bus ride there was an adventure in itself with the narrow, winding roads hugging the cliffs. We walked down stair after stair to finally reach the black sand beaches. It felt weird spending the first weekend in October at a beach, but the temperature was in the upper 70s and the water was even warmer than Cape Cod during the summer. The water was unusually salty so we were all able to easily float and look back at the incredible coast line. Not bad for October! Although I wouldn't mind a little Fall golf right about now...

That afternoon we had the option of taking a boat out to go cliff jumping and cave swimming, which turned out to be my favorite experience of the trip. The boat pulled up to a beach, we all jumped out, and the fun began. There's a narrow path up the side of the cliff with a few places to jump from. Each time I went I kept trying to find a higher and higher place to jump from and maxed out around 25-30 feet. Lots of fun! The rest of the day was dedicated to a well earned nap on the beach.
(Video below is the view from the boat)

Me cliff jumping on the right

Sunday we packed up from the hotel and went to Pompeii for the day. We took a tour of the ancient Roman ruins that were covered by nearly 20 feet of volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvis volcano erupted in 79 AD. The archaeologists discovered bodies of the victims of the volcano and to preserve them, pumped the moldings with plaster. These people had no where to go when the volcano erupted, so most sat down and waited for the ash to cover him/her. It was very interesting to learn about ancient Roman life.

This weekend I spent catching up on the homework and readings that I had procrastinated on for midterms (starting October 16). But after a few days of hard work we get rewarded with a 10 day Fall break that I'll be spending visiting Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague. Some life, huh?

Arrivederci!

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