Amalfi Coast and Pompeii
2006-11-06
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast
This past weekend I went to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast with Amber, my roommate and friend from Baylor Dance Company back at school. Zena’s parents and sister came to visit for a few days while Mack and Ashley went to London, so Amber and I had the weekend to ourselves. The rest of the time I am here I will be traveling with Mack, Ashley and Zena so it was nice to have a change traveling with Amber. There could not have been a better choice than Pompeii and the coast for my last traveling weekend in Italy.
Amber and I went to the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence at 9am Friday morning to reserve seats on a train I had looked up online. It turned out that the train was full so we decided to catch a regional train to Naples and then find one to Pompeii. Not a wise decision. We ended up traveling on trains literally all day. We decided not to visit Naples (*DO NOT VISIT NAPLES BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT AND WILL BE STOLEN FROM*) since we have heard so many horror stories, but since I had read my guidebooks I was able to figure out how to use the rail system that goes along the coast and we were soon dropped off at the Pompeii Scavi (ruins.) It was about 5:30.
Southern Italy is much different than the North (Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, etc.) In the 1940s and 50s the Italians had an “Economic Miracle” where all the people started moving North to have better jobs and quality of life. (I learned all this in anthropology.) The people in the South are more traditional and visiting the South was like visiting a different country. They are very family-centered, much more friendly and very happy to see tourists that can aid their economy since their living conditions are starkly worse. Italians call the North-South divide the “Southern question” and there is a lot of animosity between the two regions. As for me, I would choose the humble South.
Upon arriving in Pompeii we walked through the freezing cold to our hostel (female dorm,) ate at a typical Southern restaurant surrounded by families and then decided to call a few people back home. There is absolutely nothing to do in Pompeii other than see the ruins. Our hostel was the only one open in the entire city.
The next morning we had “breakfast” at our hostel and then headed off to the ruins. We went in the coliseum entrance and simply walked around without any sort of guide. The city was fairly small and every here and there they had a house with intact frescos on display and sometimes a couple of the famous bodies in plastic cases. There are baths in Pompeii with very erotic frescoes. There are temples to Apollo and several other gods. At the edge of the city is the House of Mystery that you can only reach after going through the street of tombs. The forum held hundreds of pottery pieces and the famous Pompeii man thinking. Maybe it was because it was freezing or maybe it was because we did not have a guide, but either way we went through the ruins in about four hours and went to catch the train for Sorrento. It was haunting to visit so many houses and see the bodies, but you can only take so much before it gets old.
Amber and I really enjoyed Sorrento. It is very much a resort town and most people could speak English. It is said to be the home of the three Sirens. At our hostel, Le Sirene, we met three girls from Canada and one from Australia that are taking 8 months off to backpack after they graduated. This is more popular among them than it is for Americans. After checking into the hostel Amber and I went to La Favorita O’Parrucchiano, a restaurant off Corso Italia where stars go to dine. It was amazing and affordable. I had tiramisu in a restaurant for the first time and I was in heaven. We did not want to leave.
We finally did leave when the family of the owners started playing in the garden terrace around the restaurant, taking it as a signal. We had planned to go to Capri on a ferry upon reaching Sorrento, but since we would only have a few hours we decided to explore Sorrento. The people were friendly and we both bought several bottles of Lemoncello (the famous Italian alcohol that tastes like a lemon drop and originated in the South) for friends. The South is famous for this drink along with beautiful wood embosses and cameos. The view of the sea was gorgeous and we could hardly wait to travel on the famous winding road that connects all the coastal cities the next day.
We had “breakfast” again at our hostel the next day and caught the bus for Amalfi. The view was breathtaking and a little scary as we gazed over the cliff on the bus. Then a funny thing happened. Amber and I had not been sitting by each other since the bus was fairly empty and so we could both see over the sea to its best advantage. About halfway through our journey an older man started randomly telling me facts about the area and then proceeded to sit by me and talk my ear off the rest of our journey. He is the main tour guide of the Amalfi coast and told me stories about taking stars on his guides and the crazy things they would do. where Barbara Streisand has her villa and the most elite hotel where the stars stay along the coast. He also told me stories about taking girls out for coffee, having them stay at his house since he was single and the beauty of them all. It was interesting to hear about all his adventures, but I took a sigh of relief when the bus ride was over. He had decided to stay on the bus with me past his stop.
The man’s name was Angelo and everyone called him “Capitan.” Literally everyone knew him and called out to him when we got off the bus. Amber joined up with me and after finding that we were traveling together he invited us to coffee. Why not? I had the best cappucino I have had in Italy and split a regional pastry with Amber with a spicy cream in it. We met the mayor of Amalfi and after leaving the café Angelo opened a parcel of pastries to give us two more. All along the way people had been saying hello to Angelo and every male proceeded to examine me and give their “bella” approval to him. Even the mayor did this. It was an interesting little adventure and the entire time I was simply stunned.
We hung out at the gorgeous dock of Amalfi and then hopped on a bus to Salerno where the train was. We hung out there for awhile on the dock and boardwalk and boarded our train for Rome. It was the train ride from hell. We met a girl studying English in Italy, but that was the only positive thing of the 3 1⁄2 hour ride. There was only standing room and people were squished outside of the seat compartments of the EC train. If it were not for my mp3 player and music from my friend Andrew, I do not think I would have survived. We went to have our first real meal of the day in Rome and then took a regional train home to Florence and got home around midnight.
Other than the train rides, the trip was wonderful. The sea was beautiful, Pompeii was interesting and I got to know Amber a little better. This week I have my room to myself since Zena will be staying with her mother. I am going to start working on my papers that I must write in each of my classes. We got our midterms back and I got A’s in all of them but one. One of my professors is a terrible teacher and asked us how he could do any better after we got our midterms back. The language barrier does not help. Other than that school is going well and I can hardly believe time is passing so quickly.
Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast
This past weekend I went to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast with Amber, my roommate and friend from Baylor Dance Company back at school. Zena’s parents and sister came to visit for a few days while Mack and Ashley went to London, so Amber and I had the weekend to ourselves. The rest of the time I am here I will be traveling with Mack, Ashley and Zena so it was nice to have a change traveling with Amber. There could not have been a better choice than Pompeii and the coast for my last traveling weekend in Italy.
Amber and I went to the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence at 9am Friday morning to reserve seats on a train I had looked up online. It turned out that the train was full so we decided to catch a regional train to Naples and then find one to Pompeii. Not a wise decision. We ended up traveling on trains literally all day. We decided not to visit Naples (*DO NOT VISIT NAPLES BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT AND WILL BE STOLEN FROM*) since we have heard so many horror stories, but since I had read my guidebooks I was able to figure out how to use the rail system that goes along the coast and we were soon dropped off at the Pompeii Scavi (ruins.) It was about 5:30.
Southern Italy is much different than the North (Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, etc.) In the 1940s and 50s the Italians had an “Economic Miracle” where all the people started moving North to have better jobs and quality of life. (I learned all this in anthropology.) The people in the South are more traditional and visiting the South was like visiting a different country. They are very family-centered, much more friendly and very happy to see tourists that can aid their economy since their living conditions are starkly worse. Italians call the North-South divide the “Southern question” and there is a lot of animosity between the two regions. As for me, I would choose the humble South.
Upon arriving in Pompeii we walked through the freezing cold to our hostel (female dorm,) ate at a typical Southern restaurant surrounded by families and then decided to call a few people back home. There is absolutely nothing to do in Pompeii other than see the ruins. Our hostel was the only one open in the entire city.
The next morning we had “breakfast” at our hostel and then headed off to the ruins. We went in the coliseum entrance and simply walked around without any sort of guide. The city was fairly small and every here and there they had a house with intact frescos on display and sometimes a couple of the famous bodies in plastic cases. There are baths in Pompeii with very erotic frescoes. There are temples to Apollo and several other gods. At the edge of the city is the House of Mystery that you can only reach after going through the street of tombs. The forum held hundreds of pottery pieces and the famous Pompeii man thinking. Maybe it was because it was freezing or maybe it was because we did not have a guide, but either way we went through the ruins in about four hours and went to catch the train for Sorrento. It was haunting to visit so many houses and see the bodies, but you can only take so much before it gets old.
Amber and I really enjoyed Sorrento. It is very much a resort town and most people could speak English. It is said to be the home of the three Sirens. At our hostel, Le Sirene, we met three girls from Canada and one from Australia that are taking 8 months off to backpack after they graduated. This is more popular among them than it is for Americans. After checking into the hostel Amber and I went to La Favorita O’Parrucchiano, a restaurant off Corso Italia where stars go to dine. It was amazing and affordable. I had tiramisu in a restaurant for the first time and I was in heaven. We did not want to leave.
We finally did leave when the family of the owners started playing in the garden terrace around the restaurant, taking it as a signal. We had planned to go to Capri on a ferry upon reaching Sorrento, but since we would only have a few hours we decided to explore Sorrento. The people were friendly and we both bought several bottles of Lemoncello (the famous Italian alcohol that tastes like a lemon drop and originated in the South) for friends. The South is famous for this drink along with beautiful wood embosses and cameos. The view of the sea was gorgeous and we could hardly wait to travel on the famous winding road that connects all the coastal cities the next day.
We had “breakfast” again at our hostel the next day and caught the bus for Amalfi. The view was breathtaking and a little scary as we gazed over the cliff on the bus. Then a funny thing happened. Amber and I had not been sitting by each other since the bus was fairly empty and so we could both see over the sea to its best advantage. About halfway through our journey an older man started randomly telling me facts about the area and then proceeded to sit by me and talk my ear off the rest of our journey. He is the main tour guide of the Amalfi coast and told me stories about taking stars on his guides and the crazy things they would do. where Barbara Streisand has her villa and the most elite hotel where the stars stay along the coast. He also told me stories about taking girls out for coffee, having them stay at his house since he was single and the beauty of them all. It was interesting to hear about all his adventures, but I took a sigh of relief when the bus ride was over. He had decided to stay on the bus with me past his stop.
The man’s name was Angelo and everyone called him “Capitan.” Literally everyone knew him and called out to him when we got off the bus. Amber joined up with me and after finding that we were traveling together he invited us to coffee. Why not? I had the best cappucino I have had in Italy and split a regional pastry with Amber with a spicy cream in it. We met the mayor of Amalfi and after leaving the café Angelo opened a parcel of pastries to give us two more. All along the way people had been saying hello to Angelo and every male proceeded to examine me and give their “bella” approval to him. Even the mayor did this. It was an interesting little adventure and the entire time I was simply stunned.
We hung out at the gorgeous dock of Amalfi and then hopped on a bus to Salerno where the train was. We hung out there for awhile on the dock and boardwalk and boarded our train for Rome. It was the train ride from hell. We met a girl studying English in Italy, but that was the only positive thing of the 3 1⁄2 hour ride. There was only standing room and people were squished outside of the seat compartments of the EC train. If it were not for my mp3 player and music from my friend Andrew, I do not think I would have survived. We went to have our first real meal of the day in Rome and then took a regional train home to Florence and got home around midnight.
Other than the train rides, the trip was wonderful. The sea was beautiful, Pompeii was interesting and I got to know Amber a little better. This week I have my room to myself since Zena will be staying with her mother. I am going to start working on my papers that I must write in each of my classes. We got our midterms back and I got A’s in all of them but one. One of my professors is a terrible teacher and asked us how he could do any better after we got our midterms back. The language barrier does not help. Other than that school is going well and I can hardly believe time is passing so quickly.
Labels: Pompeii
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