Amalfi Coast, Italy

This has been the nicest week in Reggio by far! It is finally starting to warm up, and it only rained one day this week, which was a nice little surprise. We even got the chance to sit out on the terrace at our apartment that we named “Margaritaville”(the street we live on is called Via Margarita… so obviously the terrace had to be named “Margaritaville”). It was nice to finally see the sun again; hopefully it’s here to stay.

On a side note, school is going great! I finished midterms this last week and am starting to work on my final papers, which is fun… kind of. I have also started volunteering in an English class at UNIMORE (my school) to help college students learn and practice their English. It is actually super fun! This week we talked about the differences between Italian schooling and American schooling. Italian schooling is very difficult; in most of their classes, the professors don’t teach anything. It is up to the student to learn, and the teacher to test them on the information. Most of their tests are oral exams, where they have to stand up in front of the class while the professor “interrogates” them (their word, not mine). It was actually very interesting.

Anyway, in search of more sunshine, Emily, Jordan, and I left Friday morning for the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy. We got to take the fast train, which got us to Salerno, Italy in about 4 hours. Once there, we took a smaller commuter train to the small village of Vietri sul Mare. It was the cutest little village with an amazing view of the Mediterranean. We could have stayed there all weekend and loved it, but the adventure wasn’t over quite yet… Next we got on a city bus that would take us to the city of Amalfi. As the bus pulls up, the doors open to a completely packed bus! Molto Occupato as the Italians would say. It was so full that we had to stand up right next to the bus driver. We learned very quickly that the next 45 minutes would be the best workout we have had the entire semester. Picture this… a small European road, which is only wide enough for one vehicle, yet they somehow make it a two-way street. Then put a hot, over-packed city bus on this street. Then this road winds around the cliffs of the Amalfi coast, through small villages and around corners so sharp that the bus driver has to honk to make sure there aren’t any other cars coming our way. Cars and mopeds are passing you on sharp corners and are inches from hitting the bus and somehow manage to get by without touching you. Each corner you turn has breathtaking views of the coast and the bluest water you have ever seen. But with each corner comes the slight possibility that you might not make it to see around the next; as the bus always turns at the last possible moment, making it appear as though you are going to drive off the cliff.  Then, to make things even more exciting, you are standing next to the bus driver, watching everything happen in real time. It’s like the craziest virtual reality rollercoaster you have ever been on. Soaring over California in Disneyland has nothing on this experience. It was nuts! Those bus drivers are superheroes and deserve a trophy or an Olympic medal for their driving skills!

After getting off the crazy bus, we went to a café in search of wifi to contact our air Bnb guy. Gerardo was a sweet little old man that has lived in Amalfi his entire life. He took us on a small tour of Amalfi and drove us up to our apartment where he welcomed us with wine, cookies, and an amazing view from the balcony that overlooked the city of Amalfi. After settling in, we decided to hike up to the city of Ravello. Ravello is known for being the city of music and was holding their annual music festival this weekend. Unfortunately we missed their performance and caught the clean up crew tearing down the stage. However, we did get to see the sunset over the mountains of the Amalfi coast, and that was good enough for us! We hiked down off the mountain to find dinner at a restaurant next to our apartment. We were the only ones in the restaurant, which was a little strange, but the waitress and bartender were so fun! They had great suggestions for food and offered to personalize pizzas for us. We had a delicious pizza that had cheese, proscuttio, and lemon zest… yes lemon zest. It seems a little strange, but it was so good. Side note: Amalfi is known for its lemons. So much so, that the hillsides are completely covered in lemon trees. Amalfi is the home of lemoncello and essentially Ashley’s heaven.  Anyway, the pizza was delicious, and of course we had some local lemoncello for dessert. We ended the night eating chocolate cookies out on our balcony just enjoying the view.

Saturday morning, we ventured down to the city of Amalfi. We had breakfast at a local café and sat along the beach drinking our coffee and enjoying our croissants. We explored the city for a bit and found some souvenirs and gifts for friends and family. While walking the streets, we came across a funeral procession leading up to the church. The entire city shut down for about 10 minutes and everyone lined the streets while the procession was going on. It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. After that, we went back down to the beach to sit in the sun. The beach was littered with green and blue sea glass. Emily and I had fun just collecting sea glass and sitting in the warmth of the sun. We could have been there all day and would have been happy.

After awhile, we decided to take a bus (yes, another crazy bus) to the city of Positano, another city along the Amalfi Coast. This city was just as beautiful as the last. The water was so blue and the beach was beautifully lined by pastel colored restaurants and shops. Positano was definitely more of a tourist destination and a lot more people spoke English. You would think this would be a good thing, but we honestly felt so out of place hearing and speaking English, it was so weird. We spent most of the afternoon just exploring the city and hanging out on the beach. By late afternoon, we took the bus back to Amalfi where we started our hike up to our air bnb, and yes I mean hike. It was a total of 936 stairs to get from the city of Amalfi all the way up to our apartment. It was so cool, and the views were amazing! We returned to our pizza place for dinner and got to see our favorite waitress and bartender again. They were so happy to see us. We stuffed ourselves with pizza and ended with lemoncello and meloncello drinks with our new friends It was a blast!

On Sunday morning, we woke up early, made breakfast, and packed up our stuff. Gerardo picked us up to drive us down to Amalfi. He was so sweet and bought us all cappuccinos from his favorite café before helping us find our bus back to Veitri sul Mare. We got on the bus and mentally prepared for the “roadtrip” ahead. This trip was just as bad as the last few. Luckily this time there were seats available for us, but the bus filled quickly, and soon there were people standing in the aisles again. This time was almost worst than the first. I’m not one to get car sick or any kind of motion sickness, but I was starting to know what that feels like. It was not fun. We couldn’t wait to get off that bus. An hour later we arrived in Veitri sul Mare and decided to take an easy walk down to the beach to get some fresh air and soak up a little more sunshine. Traveling home was surprisingly smooth. We made it back in time to make dinner and watch the sun set over Reggio.

This weekend was fun, but I can’t wait for next week. It’s spring break baby!! ;)