Where do I even begin? Maybe I start with this:
Or this:
No? Ok, ok… This:
Hmmmm… Well, this was nice too:
Ok, ok, well all know the real real deal was THIS!
Enough of being a tease. I’ll try to sum up Italy as quickly as possible without leaving out any of the important details. I may insert a few pictures, because I’m not sure how I’d tell you everything without illustrating the awesomeness. Yep, I just said awesomeness. If you’ve been on facebook at all, you’ve probably already seen these pictures (or if you’re like me, you’ve seen them more than 100 times), but here are the stories that accompany the pictures.
We flew into Rome, found our hostel, took the advice of the desk boy and walked down the busiest, most expensive street in Rome. Here we had our first run-in with a “Bar.” We find out a few days later that 1. They want you to sit down 2. You don’t pay for than 1.50 euro for a cappucino 3. You have to buy something to use the toilet 4. They all have fresh squeezed blood orange juice and fantastic sandwiches that are all placed on a press to be heated and toasted.
After deciding we do not like this street, we veer off the beaten path to avoid the crowds and find the gorgeous streets of Rome. They look like alleys. There are no green street signs; their names are engraved in stone on the walls. We find the overcrowded, kinda cool, but “whats the point?” Spanish Steps. We had a similar experience with the Trevi Fountain. I threw my coin in hoping to feel something special, Rome already calling me back to visit, a slight tinge of that loving feeling… All I felt was “Dang, there went 50 cents.” I hope they use it to keep up the fountain or something. One good thing that came out of Trevi: our first gelato experience! Pistachio was my first flavor and it was phenomenal!
After the Trevi fountain we wandered to the Pantheon. We didn’t go inside as this was also a super duper ridiculously crowded scene. We took a few pictures, wandered around, got lost (the cute little illustrations of the monuments are NOT drawn on the maps in the proper positions, they are drawn always facing towards you– or south. Do not attempt to use them for directional purposes), tried to figure out the bus sytem, decided to walk back to the Trevi Fountain and catch the train back to the hostel.
Showers, bus ride to Traverste neighborhood, then the very hungry search for a highly recommended restaurant. It was closed. Holiday? Who knows. No sign. Just flat out closed. We stop at the very next restaurant we find. Bread, wine, calamari and a pasta carbonara later, we are headed back to the bus. On the way we stop in another “Bar.” BIGGEST CANNOLI I’ve ever seen!
Day 2: Coliseum, Non-Catholic Cemetary, Jewish neighborhood (see pasta picture above: fried rice balls, fried artichoke, best. pasta. ever.). After we ate in the Jewish neighborhood, we decided we wanted to see the outdoor market in Camp di Fiori before it closed for the day. Plenty of time. Well, maybe for the average person. An example of what we did along the way:
We also discovered the route we took from the Jewish area to the marketplace was one mile of the best. shopping. ever. Afforadable, yet really nice stuff. Between the three of us we bought about seven scarves, two pair of shoes, tried on ten pair of jeans, sunglasses… Need I go on? Yes, I bought the Italian leather boots I had seen in my dreams every night from the day we booked our flights.
When we finally arrived to Campo di Fiori, we saw a movie being filmed, bought Italy’s version of two buck chuck, ran into the people that sat in front of us on the airplane (and played tonsil hockey the. entire. time.), and ate some more gelato. Ok, I had two cups. Raspberry mixed with lemon, then I couldn’t pass up the dark chocolate I saw in a store a few blocks later. We also discovered that the large Nutella jars are actually FULL OF NUTELLA!
We did not see the market. We had a mile to walk, a few hours to spare but we just did not make it. No worries, we had new shoes!
Later, we decided to do our night walk, in which we learned:
- Trevi Fountain is more crowded and just as uninteresting at night
- You can buy bottles of wine from street vendors, they’ll uncork it and give you cups
- Niki has a small bladder and Rome has very few bathrooms
- How to use the busses, or at least which bus lines we needed
- How to get out of a stalker/possible pick pocket situation (and that Niki’s evil eye does NOT scare people in Italy)
- The coliseum at night is AMAZING
- Drinking a bottle of wine and getting on a bus route through cobblestone roads… not a good combo
- The bathrooms at the Termini all close at night
- Late night pizzerias are WAY better than Krystals, Steak n Shake, or any 24 hour taco place in the US
- The guy running the late night pizzerias will sing and dance to Michael Jackson– ooowwwwww!!!
the road to farmstay
The next day, we went horseback riding on a pretty trail. The area around farmstay looks a lot like Colorado, but they have castles and old ass buildings. The guy who owned the ranch (?) did not speak a WORD of English, but he looooooved Garth Brooks. After rididng horses, we watched live DVD’s of Garth back in his glory days. This was our favorite memory of Farmstay.
Niki is glad the horse part is over.
Antonello, who runs farmstay with his family, dropped us off at a small, um, well… I don’t even know what to call it. Deli? We bought sandwiches for the next two days and a bag of cookies. So you get this amazing fresh bread, an entire ball of fresh bufalo mozzarella, and fresh proscuitto (sp?) all in a fantastic sandwich for about two euro. Sora was good to us. Most of the meat was pork, so Naama had to get creative in asking for Turkey.
We went for a hike that involved quite a few stairs (always stairs!!!), an old church, and at the top were the ruins of a castle. You, know, the usual… Just a castle on top of a hill. No big deal. We walked the long, uphill walk back to farmstay. On the way we stopped in a market and learned that unlike the states, they don’t like it when you touch the produce. I also had a lady insist that the dried mango I wanted to buy was actually papaya and it was just labeled wrong. It was definitely mango. We relaxed, took naps, and ate dinner at the farmstay where we discovered lentil balls. The word “balls” was used entirely too many times during dinner. I guess Italians also have an excellent sense of childish humor. 
farmstay house
The next morning we woke up at 5am, got a ride to the bus, took the bus to the Naples train station and met the nicest Italian old man working at the train station. He basically planned our next three days for us and itemized what each activity would cost. We should have taken a picture with him. I almost gave him a hug. Things we learned in Naples: This is where the loud Italian stereotype is born. “The Situation” will feel at home here. The phrase “Let’s check out the situation” — also used way too many times.
We took the train to Eculano (Herculaneum), then a bus to nearly the top of Vesuvius. I had the pleasure of sitting next to the “mini bus” driver right in the middle seat, shoulder to shoulder. A song came on the radio– finally some Italian music! The girl was singing about a bastard! I asked the bus driver, whose English was very limited if I had just heard it correctly. He taught me how to say it properly and with passion. ”basTARdo!” Ok, I get it. Also, the ride to the top of Vesuvius puts Hoosier pass to shame. Literally. I covered my eyes a few times. Mini bus driver thought this was funny. Niki, not so much.
Top of Vesuvius (yes there were pockets of steam coming out of this crater):
Contrary to your history textbook’s teaching, there are not plaster formed bodies all over Pompeii, much of it looks like ancient ruins, kinda cool, but only for about half a mile. Another old chatty Italian guy and 30 minutes of conversation with him led us to the holy grail of Pompeii:
Awesome. Ok, enough history, I’m hot, tired and I want to go to the coast. More public transportation, a surprise private room in the nicest hostel ever, and we’re on the Amalfi Coast!
Highlights:
- Buying coral jewelry – many many many inside jokes and stories that only the three of us will understand.
- Huge lemons EVERYWHERE!
- Scary bus ride, getting stuck between a wall and a truck because neither our driver nor the truck would give in and back up
maybe i didnt mention that this road was on the edge of a huge cliff.. candid photo, no joke
that bush is growing off the edge of a cliff. co-pilot necessary.
- The beaches have pebbles not sand, black colored pebbles
- The maid folding every last item of clothing in our room, including dirty clothes that were in our bags
- The most gorgeous views ever (see above… and below… I’ll limit myself to two.)
- More shopping in Sorrento!
- A gelato making class where we learned how to find good gelato, how to make lemoncello, and got to eat orange/lemon gelato right out of the machine
- In Positano we ran into the tonsil hockey couple from our first flight. Again. This time the chick took our picture. Then the guy stuck his tongue down her throat. Just kidding. But I wouldn’t have been surprised.
- Our picnic on the beach that included amazingly fresh strawberries, fresh mozzarella, fresh ricotta (with added powdered sugar), and box wine (of course!)
for erin. because she loves cats. especially positano cats.
