ITALIA!

Later tonight, we will leave Italy. Most of the past four days were spent coughing, sneezing, and fighting to speak with a broken voice. Despite it all, I smiled more than in any other port. This was the part of the voyage I waited for, where I could enjoy the warmth of the sun and the glow of the Mediterranean. After four days in the heat, I’ve gotten quite tan! And slowly, I’ve been recovering. Honestly, I think the scenery has healed me. On the first day, the majority of students on the MV Explorer left for Rome but I cannot tell you how happy I was to have stayed in the south. Naples and the Amalfi Coast had more than enough to offer and I could not imagine having a different week here. In the future, I will hit the more “popular” cities in Italy but I am so grateful to have spent my first visit in this area.

July 23

On the first day I had a SAS trip to Pompeii (the Italians actually spell it with one i, so pompei) and the town of Sorrento. It was an early start so fortunately, we were one of the first groups to get off the ship (if you can imagine, 600 students wanting to get off the ship at the same time, plus the faculty, life long learners…). We left right after the diplomatic briefing, around nine. Outside of the port, two buses were waiting for our trip and I jumped on number two, where the most wonderful tour guide waited, named Roberto (of course I did not know this when I was getting on the bus). As we made our way to Pompeii, about 25 kilometers, I was able to see my first views of Napoli. Naples is Italy’s third largest city, and has been in the news a lot this past year due to the trash/rubbish problems. I read many articles this past spring particularly about the crisis and I was eager to see the streets. Later on, when I actually walked through Naples, I did see trash almost everywhere on the streets, some places better than others obviously but the problem definitely still exists…

Honestly, my first impressions of Naples were not the best, because we passed many of the city’s slum areas. Everything seemed so cluttered and dirty, and yet there was a certain charm to all of it. Perhaps it was the variety of house colors and the laundry draping on balconies, or maybe just the excitement of being in Italy…I was enamored.

I had heard a lot about the traffic in the Naples area being absolutely horrible, and indeed, it took quite awhile to get to Pompeii. Luckily we were leaving the city and not going into Naples…there seemed to be a motorcycle crash on the other side of the highway…I saw a man lying on the ground right in the middle of the road…and then cars backed up for miles. There is major traffic in the morning, when everyone is going to work, but then when people leave for the siesta in the afternoon and also return, and then later in the evening after work. It’s a very busy area to be sure.

Anyway, we got to Pompeii a little after 10 and spent about two hours wandering the ruins. It was fabulous. Before visiting, I really didn’t comprehend what an extensive complex the ruins are…I imagined a little area with some columns…perhaps more than that, but I was not prepared for how large it was! If I were on my own, I would have spent hours wandering the streets, the houses, the small shops…and I’m sure I would have gotten lost. Since we had a short visit, we only hit some of the highlights…seeing the Tempio de Venere, the basillica, the Tempio di Apollo, the Lupanare (the brothel), among other things. For those who are not familiar with the story, Pompeii was completely covered in ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. It wasn’t until the late 16th century that the ruins were discovered and excavations still continue today. The volcano is still active and Mt. Vesuvius last erupted in 1944...I had a kick out of someone writing on our graffiti board on the ship “Don’t live in the Red Zone…Vesuvius will get you!” Supposedly this is one of the longest periods of inactivity and it will be interesting to see what happens in the future…scary to think 700,000 people live right under the mountain.

Pompeii was fantastic and such a surprise. I should have had a better understanding of the site having taken archaeology classes but honestly, I had no idea it was so large. I would love to go back on my own and simply meander…focus more on the feel of the place rather than all the distractions that come along with tour groups. I was very surprised when we finished and it was a couple of hours later…the time must have flown! After seeing the ruins, we went into a hotel nearby to try limoncello and some chocolate. Limoncello is a liqueur made of lemon peel, alcohol, sugar, and water and it was a lot stronger than I anticipated. Truthfully, it was a little painful to even finish my free tasting.

When we continued on to Sorrento, we saw limoncello being sold everywhere. Sorrento is a small town of about 25,000 people but is a popular destination for tourists. The ride from Pompeii to Sorrento took about an hour and was quite the drive. This summer I have gained a newfound respect for bus drivers all over the world. Really. The roads they have to work with are so much narrower and the fact that they deliver us safely from point A to point B is a miracle. The road we took from Pompeii to Sorrento swerved from left to right on a cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples. It constantly provided us with breathtaking views but the twists and turns right next to the edge took our breath away out of fear…our good natured tour guide, Roberto, who I bonded with during Pompeii (I adore 75 year old men) joyfully exclaimed, “don’t you feel like being on a rollercoaster or helicopter?” Ha, YES.

The first thing we did in Sorrento was have lunch. SAS always hooks us up with the best restaurants. The one we went to was called La Basilica and was on a side alleyway off Piazza Tasso, the main square. It was a fantastic, three course meal served with a local wine, called Solaro. After lunch, we were given time to explore the area. I spent the majority of the time walking on streets observing and taking everything in…to me, there didn’t seem like much to do in Sorrento but it would have been a nice place to go and relax. The restaurants all looked fabulous and there were several upscale stores for shopping. But all very touristy. I wish I could have seen more outside of the centro storico, the main area in town. I did visit the Villa Communale Park, a small area with great views of the bay. Around 3:30 we departed Sorrento and it took us an hour and a half to return to Naples, even though its like 50 kilometers. It was alright, everyone took the opportunity to dose off. Roberto’s thick Italian accent woke us all up by saying “wakey wakey.” I thought it was hilarious.

Back in Naples, I relaxed for an hour or so and had dinner on the ship. Later on, I went out exploring with some friends, and I had my first experiences of Neapolitan traffic. I thought St. Petersburg was rough. Oh my god, Russia has NOTHING on this. Crosswalking monitors barely exist. I didn’t follow one and never saw a green man go. The first night I almost died about three times. Red lights? Yeah right. There was never a time I crossed a street when cars were stopped. You have to walk through them as they are flying past. I’m so not kidding. I can’t imagine what tourists do with little kids…I would be terrified to cross the street. My MTV guide book did not prepare me for the experience when it wrote

“Stepping off the curb at first will seem like a death wish, but it is quite simple if you follow one basic rule: just go. Don’t step into the middle of the freeway or speeding vehicles, but generally cars and scooters will swerve around you.”

UM, yeah you have no choice but to step in front of speeding vehicles. I can laugh at it now tucked away in my cabin but traffic was a harrowing experience. I can’t imagine a worse place. I usually followed a local or two as they were crossing….I definitely have become more bold, which I suppose is good. The locals didn’t seem phased at all…they were perfectly fine. I would never want to drive in Naples…nothing could persuade me. It’s chaos.

Anyway, my friends and I found some great gelato and walked around the Piazza del Plebiscito, which was beautifully illuminated at night. The same can be said for the Piazza Trieste e Trento, which has a wonderfully nice fountain. After hanging out on the streets, we walked back towards the ship, which is right next to Castel Nuovo. The name is kind of misleading if you’re an outsider, because the castle was actually built in the 13th century (I’ve heard it’s also known as Maschio Angioino). Inside it’s now a museum and unfortunately I wasn’t able to go visit it but we were lucky to hear a concert going on inside the castle courtyard that night. We didn’t actually go inside and see the singers but we could still hear the opera outside.
At the end of the my first day, I felt sicker than ever. My voice was basically gone. But walking around Naples really piqued my curiosity. It seemed so different than the Italy I had always been shown in movies and pop culture. But the next day had been planned to see the town of Amalfi with Momoko and her SAS grandparents, Sue and Jim. Exploring Naples further would have to wait.