Initial Hostel-ity

Brief introduction: Hello, everyone! I am a student at Marist College from Ellington, CT who is studying abroad in Florence, Italy for the fall semester. I have been keeping a travel blog since I arrived, and this is my most recent. To see the posts (and pictures) from earlier in the semester, feel free to visit the following link documenting my travels: http://goingwiththefloinfirenze.blogspot.com/. For the remainder of the semester, I will be adding my posts to this site. Enjoy, and thanks for reading! :)

Blog Post

Ciao, my lovely readers! This is going to be a very detailed post, so if you're not ready for some serious reading, I'd just close this now (unless you want to look at the pretty pictures. That's totally cool with me.). I have finally hit that time in October, and my traveling around Europe is officially in full swing. Florence is beginning to feel more and more like home the more that I leave it for a few days at a time. It's nice to have a home base to return to after gallivanting all over Italy and the continent in general. The first weekend of October, I went to Como Lake & Bellagio, Italy, as well as St. Moritz, Switzerland, and I just returned from my 4 day trip this previous weekend to the Amalfi Coast. This Friday, I will be taking a day trip to Perugia for the annual Eurochocolate Festival with my Italian cooking class, and the following week is my fall break trip to Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, and Paris in 10 days! It has been and will continue to be hectic, but you know what, I'm having some once in a lifetime experiences and gaining plenty of stories to tell you all.

So here's the rundown of my weekend in the fewest words (yet most detail) possible. We left from the train station in Florence at 7:30 pm, and after a 7 hour bus ride, arrived at our hostel in Sorrento, Italy at 2:30am. I'm telling you, after my semester abroad is over, any form of travel and any road trip will seem like nothing after the countless hours I'll have spent on buses. I've never stayed in a hostel before, and so, for the record, I was a little scared (and rightfully so). I ended up in a room with 10 other people, only 4 of which I knew prior. We had to be up and out by 7:20am the next day to head to the island of Capri with the student travel group we went on the trip with, Bus2Alps. Therefore, every single girl on my floor of the hostel got up at the exact same time and decided to huddle around the few  sinks in the bathroom with mirrors doing their hair, makeup, and whatever other useless nonsense we all do. I tried to squeeze my way in with little success, and so I felt pretty gross the first day. I was frustrated (hence the title), but I soldiered on. We caught a ferry to Capri, took a boat tour around the island, and then when we returned, began a 20 minute steep, uphill trek, which I was not prepared for in the least, to the center of Capri. From there, we were able to explore the island, see the beautiful views, and visit the August Gardens. Around noon, we met up to take a bus to Anacapri, the higher point of the island, where we ate a delicious lunch (I had some amazing mushroom pizza) and visited a custom sandal and limoncello shop. The sandals ran from about 60-150 Euro, so there was no way I could afford them, but the old man who made the shoes was amazing to watch. I tried my first sip of limoncello, and I have to say, it was way too strong. The lemon is a popular export on the coast, and so almost everything is lemon flavored. Despite my dislike for the limoncello, I found solace in the amazing homemade lemon chocolates at the shop instead. After that, clouds and wind began moving in, but we decided to man up and go on a chairlift to the highest point in Anacapri, Mt. Solaro, anyway. Well, we got up there, heard a clap of thunder, took about 2 pictures, then ran back to the chairlift. Halfway through the 15 minute ride down, it started thundering more and pouring rain. My roommates and I started cracking up while shivering and swaying in the winds of the storm. "Is this real life?" was muttered multiple times. Well, we made it, and apparently, shortly after, they shut the chairlift down because an area on the top of the mountain had been struck by lightning. Good timing on our parts, for sure! After that, we huddled back in the limoncello shop, freezing, until the rain stopped. Then, of course, the sun came out out of nowhere, and the weather was great the rest of the day. For the rest of our time in Capri, we browsed the shops, went back to the hostel, struggled to get in the shower before everyone else, hit up a group dinner in town, and crashed.

The next day, we got a bit of a later start, and my hostility towards the hostel diminished a bit. I'd bonded with my roommates the previous day who ranged from my roommates in Florence from Marist to people from Australia and Brazil. I'd also arranged my schedule around the bathroom rushes, so it worked out a little better. We headed by bus (of course) to Positano that morning. We were dropped off at the top of the mountain and had to trek down about a half an hour through winding streets and shops to reach the beach. Everyone's legs were shaking afterward from gripping the cobblestone with our flip flops with zero traction. We then took that time to jump into the Mediterranean Sea and relax on the beach. We then paid 10 Euro to go on a boat ride around Positano, where some people participated in cliff jumping and cave swimming, but I'll admit, I was too chicken because the waters were so rough. I stayed on the boat and just enjoyed the views. Others decided to get seasick, though, which was lovely for all of us. Overall, the boat ride offered stunning views and allowed me to just relax and take in the scenery. After we returned, we laid out on the beach, looked around some shops, then took a trek back up to meet the bus. That evening, we stayed in at the hostel, where we were able to pay for a delicious pasta buffet and see a live blues band in the bar. It was a really fun night, even though I was dead tired, and I bonded with people from all over, as well as the trip leaders who were incredibly welcoming and helpful.

The next morning was my final one in hostel hell, and so I didn't even care when the bathrooms were clogged with people. I got ready, headed down for breakfast, and hopped on the bus with my luggage to head to our final stop, the ruins in Pompeii. Fun fact: Pompei is the correct Italian spelling, but for some reason, everyone in America (including my spellcheck) spells it with two i's. How curious. Anyway,  we ended up going on a two hour guided tour once we arrived in Pompeii, and I have to say, it was definitely worth it. If I had just walked around the ruins, I would have been confused, but the tour gave insight into what each destroyed structure once was and how it was used. I also got to see Mount Vesuvius live in person after playing a song in band in high school dedicated to the disaster. It was pretty surreal. Everyone's favorite part, though, was the brothel (of course). Pornographic paintings on the walls displayed the services offered, and the male anatomy was carved into the walkways leading to the brothel for those who couldn't find it back in the day. Now that's convenience. After our tour, my friends and I had a quick lunch, haggled with some old women to get some beautiful coral jewelry for less than half the original price, then hopped on the bus for another 7 hour drive home. When I returned, I collapsed and realized what a ridiculously amazing weekend I'd just had.

The next couple weeks will be spent preparing and taking midterms (Wait...I'm studying here? Oh yeah.)  and getting excited for my upcoming trips. Also, my boyfriend and a few friends will be coming to visit right after I return from my fall break adventure. Basically, I have a whole lot to look forward to. I'm pretty much at the halfway point, and I can't believe it! Stay tuned for some new posts. :) Arrivederci!