Verona, Naples, the Amalfi Coast & Pompeii!

Hello luvs,

Sorry it's been a while since i've last posted a "personal blog". Shit's been hectic & crazy ;) Anywho, 2 weekends ago me and a couple of friends from the program spent 2 days in Verona, aka "the city of Shakespearean love". It was very picturesque and lovely but incredibly small and best utilized as a day trip. Furthermore, we made the mistake of turning it into a long weekend, and even more frustrating, our hostel was a 20 minute bus ride to the outskirts of town... wah wah. Nonetheless, we had a great time and saw many beautiful museums, churches, and other architectural fetes including: Casa di Guilietta (Juliet's house from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet) where we got to touch her right bronze-y breast and make a wish, Castelvecchio & the Ponte Scaligero (amazing medieval castle turned museum and connecting medieval bridge), the archeological museum and roman theatre, the arena, and some fantastic churches. We had every intention of visiting a few more tourist attractions but got stranded out by our hostel for over two hours on our way back into Downtown (because public transit is pretty much non-existent on Sundays), and ended up getting a taxi back to Verona's airport where we literally chilled for almost 5 hrs until we were ready to board our flight back to Rome... So, all in all, not a very great way to end our trip but still a great experience and now i can make suggestions about what to avoid when visiting the historic city ;)

Last Thursday our entire program made our way towards the southern belt of Italy...Naples :) Or Napoli in Italian. This interesting city has a notorious reputation for theft and robbery (we heard many frightening stories), and sadly one girl from my program had her purse ripped off of her by some a$$hole on a motorcycle when walking down a street with heavy foot traffic and in a group with 4 other girls! So, this crap happens often and goes to show that Naples lives up to its reputation. Other than that incident, however, we still had a great visit. Our instructors sheduled a two day walking tour with a native Neopolitan and professional guide to show us all the great sights and scenery that can only be found in Naples. We ate, ate, ate like none the other & walked until our feet nearly bled (just kidding...kinda).

After our two days in Naples a group of 7 of us decided to go on a day trip around the Amalfi Coast :) This was absolutely spectacular, and definitely tops the list of things i've experienced so far in Italy. The weather was perfect with sunny & bright blue skies, and around 60 degrees in the middle of the afternoon (which is actually quite warm from what we have been experiencing thus far). We hopped on the SITA bus which took us from the Naples port through the mountains and to our first stop - the coastal town of Amalfi. The views of the coast line and the Gulf of Salerno far exceeded my expectations.  The water was a clear turqious blue and the backdrop of the white Mediterranean villas and other architectural buildings that line the Amalfi coast was breathtaking. I honestly couldn't have dreamed of anything more pristine and alluring as Amalfi & Positano (both coastal cities). The last stop of our day trip was on the opposite side of the peninsula - Sorrento. We only stayed there for a few hours but Sorrento lays on the same bay as Naples so we attempted to catch a ferry back but apparently they stop running at 4pm during the winter months...meh :P So we decided to grab some gelato instead and hop on a train :)

Finally, we left bright and early Sunday morning for Pompeii & spent the majority of our day exploring the ruins and excavation site before we all "hit a wall" & decided to head back home to Rome. It was when we arrived back in Naples and were heading back to our hostel to grab our bags when the girl from our program was robbed of her purse (which included her camera, i-pod, phone, cards & cash...boo!).

Anways, we've done a ton of excursions this week :) We've all learned so much different and fascinating information while touring the Basilica of Saint Clement & the Arch of Constantine, the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel), and finally, the biggest Mosque in Europe (located on the outskirts of Rome) and the Jewish Synagogue located in the "Jewish Ghetto" of Rome. Needless to say, it's been an incredibly busy week!! But really fun and informative so i wouldn't change a thing (even though we're all practically on the brink of exhaustion at this point).

I'm gearing up to fly solo to Dublin, Ireland this weekend to check out the land of my daddy's daddy ;) Sike, it's more like my dad's great-grandfather x's 10's daddy... Anywho, i'm more or less just really looking forward to some "personal time" to rejuvenate myself self for the last 4 weeks of this program. I don't really have an itinerary yet for my trip, but i'll let you all know how it turns out =)

I'm going to try and post a "personal blog" every week to keep you all updated. I have another "class blog" due tomorrow and then i'll be in Ireland all weekend so expect to hear from me again by late next week.

Hope all is well back home & i'll talk to you all soon! Luvs <3

~Marissa