The Ferry Stairs – 1 Me - 0

The amount that you can accomplish in a weekend never ceases to amaze me! Back at Northeastern, weekends consisted of late nights out with friends, sleepy mornings and mid-afternoon brunch. Homework was included in there too, but relaxation was ultimately the key activity of my weekends. I have seen more of Italy in one weekend than I think I have seen of Boston in my three years at NU.

This weekend, the town of Pompeii, the port of Naples and the Islands of Ischia and Capri were on the agenda. First up was Pompeii, the Italian city that until semi-recently (in comparison to its age) was covered in 25 feet of volcanic ash from the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius. I’d been there before, when I visited Italy senior year in high school, but still, the city amazes me! The fact that even though this city is in ruins and even though it was covered with twenty five feet of debris, it is still, in most respects standing, is literally unbelievable. Whenever I am in ancient cities that are in ruins like Pompeii I try to think about what life must have been like for the people who lived there all those years ago. The amount of people that had walked those cobbled streets before me and lived in each of the houses is insane. And unlike most ancient cities, some of the inhabitants of Pompeii are actually still living there. Clearly not actually several hundreds of year old people, but casts of their bodies, which had been preserved by the ash have survived. When Vesuvius erupted, it covered the bodies of the Pompeian’s with ash and after their bodies decomposed, there were hollows left within the layers of ash that excavators then poured plaster into. The result: casts of the actual inhabitants of the day that the volcano erupted. That was probably the coolest thing we saw there. This photo to the left is one of those bodies.

After Pompeii it was off to the hotel, on the island of Ischia, which was probably one of the nicest places I will stay while on my study abroad experience, as most of our stays are in hostels. Although I have had good luck with them thus far, not all of them are as clean and staffed with friendly people as my first hostel in Cinque Terre! Nothing too exciting to note except that I ate fish for dinner. Not so surprising of a meal when staying on an island, but as most people know, I don’t eat fish, ever. Shellfish, sure – but fish, fish, forget it! But new experiences include new foods, so I figured you have to try everything once and it was delicious!

The next stop on our weekend was the Island of Capri. We took a ferry from Ischia and the views from the boat were breathtaking. In the middle of the Mediterranean, surrounded by nothing but blue skies and blue water, it kind of makes you never want to leave! And the Island of Capri was even more beautiful! Most of the others on our trip went straight for the beach, but luckily my group of travelers was looking for something a little touristier. So it was off to the chairlift that we read about in one of the girl’s “Italy for Dummies” book. Expecting something closer to a ski lift that could carry several people at once, we were more than a little surprised to find a single-occupant chair that looked like it went at an almost completely vertical angle. More than a little scared, we hopped on one by one and rode up this giant mountainside. The payoff though was even more that imaginable! You could see for miles and miles of sea and other islands! I have never felt as small as I have these past few weeks looking at some of these endless views. But I also have never felt so lucky to be alive and be able to see and experience all of these wonderful things the world has to offer. After seeing all of the gorgeous water surrounding the mountaintop we were on though made me even more anxious to get in and swim! Luckily our next stop was the beach. The water is so salty that you barely need to tread water; with just minimal effort, you can float in place and soak up the sun on the top of the water. I hope I get to go back to the islands off of the port of Naples some day, because it is officially one of my favorite places I have seen thus far in Italy.

The last day of our trip was spent in Naples, the organized crime capital of Italy. You can imagine after having gotten this information from our tour guides, we didn’t quite relish our time in Naples. Window shopping consumed most of our time, and keeping track of our valuables consumed the rest. I admit, none of the people I was with lost anything important, nor did I see anyone get robbed. But from the stories we were told, it is not the nicest of neighborhoods. Forget the fact that it was Sunday, aka the Lord’s Day in most Italian towns, from the not so rosy picture we received from our tour guides, we did get the impression that we needed to venture far. I did however get the best pizza I have ever had, from Brandi Pizzeria, which is apparently where pizza was invented. And I am not even being facetious when I say that they invented pizza, because that is what this restaurant is famous for. And I believe them, because it was the most delicious pizza that I have eaten yet in Italy, and we eat a lot of pizza!

Well, I get exhausted just about every time I have to write about my ridiculously jam packed weekends. About as exhausted as I do after traveling all weekend, but I wouldn’t trade any amount of sleep for the experiences that I have had here. I very highly doubt that I will be as lame on my weekends once I return to Boston as I have been previously. If there is this much to see and do in a country the size of Italy, imagine what I have missed out on in my own state! I think I’ll be going on many more adventures next spring, because I’m not sure I remember how to sit still on a weekend anymore!

(The title for this blog entry came from one of my trips on the ferry; because apparently, even in Italy, I am clumsy and stairs and I do not get along)