April 1st
For my Easter break I left for the south of Italy with Megan, Kim, Jess and Kelsey. We were going to stay in Sorrento. We were on the bus to Arezzo when Kelsey gave us our tickets and realized that our tickets were actually for two hours earlier. Since we missed our first train we lost our seats, had to pay 8 euro, and ended up standing for about two hours in a crowded small aisle between the compartments in the train. After a couple of people got off the train we were able to sit in pull out chairs that were in the aisle. A five hour ride, on a crowded train is a long time when you don’t have seats!

When we got to Naples, we had to take a connecting train to Sorrento. We got off our stop around 9:30ish and walked to our Hostel. I thought it was really cool when we arrived, there was a bar that served drinks and food that played music and karaoke. After dinner Megan and I sat in the bar and had a drink with some people who were studying abroad in Madrid.
April 2nd
Pompei! We got on a transit train and headed for the ancient city in ruins. Pompei and its people were killed from an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius. The ancient city of Pompei is in ruins, but we were able to see some of what was left.

I saw two people who had died during the eruption and you could see the pain they felt as they were dying with their body stance and facial expressions.
After Pompei we went to Sorrento and did some shopping on the main street. We looked at souvenir shops, clothes shops and sandal shops. One thing that Sorrento and the south are famous for is hand make sandals. We went into some shops; you were able to pick what color leather, what style and how you wanted your sandals made. I would have loved to buy some, but as I am low in the money department, I didn’t.
That night we went to dinner, but as none of us have a lot of money right now we were looking for some of the cheapest food we could find. We were able to find a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce for 3.50 euro. The pasta was very good, and I was happy I was able to get the spaghetti at such a cheap price.
April 3rd
Our hostel had an Easter special where we could be picked up by bus, taken to a boat and given a tour around the island of Capri. The 5 of us girls signed up for the excursion and left by 9:30. At 10:00 the boat was taking off. It was such a beautiful day, but when the boat was moving it was a little windy and cold.

The boat ride around Capri has been one of my favorite things I’ve done since I’ve been in Italy. Our boat driver took us all the way around the island and we were able to see different caves.


He told us that we were able to walk up into one cave. I went to go walk up the cave, but for some reason he suggested not taking our shoes, which resulted in very painful walk as there were small rocks the whole way up. Inside the cave it was dark, wet and cold. The view down was so incredible, looking down I could see our boat in the bright blue water. After out lunch and drinks that were included in the boat ride, he dropped us of on the Island and we went to walk around. The shops were nice, but very expensive. There was one shop that had kitchen supplies that I loved. I really wanted to get some silver wear for my apartment next year, but each individual piece of silverware was 15 euro, so I didn’t get anything.
One of the famous things to do in Capri is to look in the Blue Grotto, or cave. Usually you are able to pay to take a row boat in and look inside, but the tide was too high so we were not allowed to take the row boats in there. He told us that we could swim into the cave, but told us he did not think it was a good idea. The tide was so high that it was smashing up against the entrance, which would also make it very hard to enter into Though I did not go in the cave, I would not let myself leave without jumping into the Italian ocean. I jumped in and it was freezing! I got out right away!

Kelsey had read in her Rick Steve’s tour guide book about a place called Delfinos, it was supposed to have the best seafood, for moderate prices. Jess and I split some seafood pasta and I got a salad. I thought it was good, but I ended up eating sand from some of my seafood, which I did not particularly enjoy.
Around 11:00 Megan and I went down to the bar for a drink. As we were enjoying our drink a weird Italian guy started talking to Megan. He kept trying to put his arms around her, play with her hands and get her to dance. I was looking at him as if he was crazy, and then looked over to my side and saw some guy staring at me. He then came over and talked to me and asked me why I was so sad. I was explaining to him that I was not sad at all, but the boy talking to Megan was weird, and just a little too much for my liking. Finally the weird guy talking to Megan left, and the guy (whose name I cannot remember, it was an Italian name that I could not pronounce) the guy who came to talk to Megan and I asked us if we liked ice cream. We said yes and he told us he would take us to the best place. We didn’t want to go just with the Italian boys, so we asked our friend Tom (the American we met who studies in Madrid- a very trust worthy type of guy) to come with us. Tom did, so Megan and I went with the Italian guys for Gelato at the famous place Primavera. It was fun to have the local Italian boys walk us through the city.

April 4th
In the morning I went to an Easter mass at the cathedral which was right next to our hostel. I got there early and was able to see everyone come in and greet each other. They all did the double side cheek kiss. I felt very out of place as the church was so small and everyone knew each other, but I was happy that I was able to attend Easter mass.
After mass Megan, Kim, Jess, Kelsey and I got on a bus to go to the Amalfi coast. The bus was so crowded we had to stand in the aisle for an hour long drive on curvy roads. We got off at Positano and realized we had a really long walk down to the beach. Finally making it to the bottom I got some pizza and a drink and sat on a blanket in the sand. With all the cold weather that we have had I was so happy to be able to lie out in the sun on an Italian beach.


We were not able to stay at Positano for very long; since it was a holiday the buses didn’t come as often, and we needed to be able to get back on a bus. We stood in line for about an hour waiting and when the bus came it stopped at the end of the line. All of the people that got there after us got on the bus before us and got seats. We were almost not even able to get on the bus until a dad, from America, who we had talked to before the bus came, blocked the people behind him and said “come on North Carolina, get on while you can.” The bus was so packed that I stood on the stairs inside the bus with two other women. I was literally not even able to move my feet for a good 30 minutes until people started getting off.

We made it back safely, showered and Megan and I went out for an Easter dinner. We each ordered both order pasta and then decided to split a fish. The fish came with its head, fins, tail and eyes. After our waiter placed the fish on our table we looked at the fish, then at each other, and back at the fish, as if expecting it to cut and debone its self. I cut of the head and tail and tried to debone it.
Apparently I didn’t do that great of a job with the deboning, as both of us were picking bones out of our mouth as we ate our fish. It was an interesting experience. I really enjoyed going to the south of Italy. It was so beautiful and I loved the coast!