Monday: Beach Day
Monday was another day of no classes for me, my roommate Erin, and our friend Thea. We gladly took advantage of it with a nice relaxing day at the beach. Disclaimer: Most beaches here are not the usual sand-to-shore set up we Americans have grown to know and love. While there are some like that (and some stone-to-shore), a lot of them are boardwalk/pier-like area filled with lounge chairs and umbrellas that have stairs leading straight into the water. While you can’t always get as great of a sea breeze, the sounds of the water splashing up against the pier are so peaceful while you lay in the sun relaxing. Another thing is that the water is so clear and beautiful, it’s like a shock. No matter how many great pictures you see, none of them truly do it justice.
Tuesday: Class
Tuesday was yet another day of studiously going to both of my classes, totaling up to a whole 6 hours of straight lecture in hot rooms with barely any air flow. Believe me, I don’t mean to make classes here sound miserable at all. When you’re taking fun things like the History of the Mafia and Archaeology, a course based on Pompeii, the hear is completely worth it! Even doing my homework isn’t miserable considering I get a view like this while I work on our terrace:
Wednesday: Studying
Even in Italy, midterms are a thing. Knowing that I had a midterm in my History of the Mafia class on Thursday, I dedicated my day off to sleeping in and studying the origins and rituals of Italian organized crime groups. Sounds interesting, right? Yeah, it actually really is! I won’t lie though, all I wanted to do the whole time I sat at my desk in my room was stare out my balcony doors. How could I not when it looks like this in my back yard?
Thursday: Midterm and Panicking
As I said, I still had a midterm to take, but it turned out to be much easier than expected! However, most of my Thursday had been spent worrying about my safety. As many of you have probably saw on the news or read about on the always-informing social medias, Mt. Vesuvius has been covered with wild fires all over the sides and hills of the mountain. The fires, however, are not as “wild” (or random) as some thought. It turns out that the fires are mostly the Camorra (the Naples version of Sicily’s Mafia) has been dumping illegal waste on the sides of the mountain for years for a profit. Eventually they realized they needed to start covering their tracks once the holes were full (and also make room for more dumping space), so they began lighting the waste on fire to avoid any legal action being taken against them. While I found this super cool considering we had recently learned about the Camorra and its illegal dumping in my History of the Mafia class, the articles you’ve seen on Facebook weren’t lying when they said it looked as if the mountain had erupted again. Luckily the fires have gotten under control for the most part by now, but as of Thursday, it looks absolutely terrifying.
Friday: Field Trip to Naples
While Naples is a city just across the bay from Sorrento, taking only about an hour or so on the train, most people visiting Sorrento only think to stop at Pompeii during their stay, avoiding the city with a bad reputation for being “dirty” and filled with vice and crime. That reputation may not be wrong, the streets aren’t as clean as Sorrento and there is an entire organization of crime based out of the city, but a visit is truly worth it. Not only is Napoli basically the birthplace of Margherita Pizza (which was of course delicious), but some of the buildings, being an old city of much history, are absolutely beautiful. Our professor was born and raised in Naples, and he knows all the ins and outs of the best places to be in the city, so having him show us around and tell us more about the history of the place was perfect. It was a long, hot day, but I don’t think anyone on the trip regretted going.
And of course, my pizza from lunch:
Saturday: Trip to Rome
Early Saturday morning (and by early, I mean 7 am, which to Italians is early, the way Americans think 4 am is early) all of the Akron students headed to the train station to make our trip to Rome for the weekend. After the train from Sorrento to Naples, and a connection from Naples to Rome, we dropped our bags off at our place for the night and headed out for lunch. Then we went to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, which were more astounding than expected. These ruins are so old, it’s a miracle how well preserved they are.
After all the walking around and sweating we did, some cool air conditioning was a desperate necessity, but we figured, if we’re already traveling in Europe, why do anything the normal way? Everything should be an experience. So we went to the Ice Club, a bar and club made entirely out of ice. Even our drinks were in cups made of ice!
After cooling off so much that we were actually getting cold, we headed back to our place to shower and get ready for dinner. We all went to this amazing trattoria names Mama Angelo Trattoria. I had Carbonara Verde with broccoli and tomatoes, and of course a glass of sparkly Moscato wine becase it wouldn’t be an Italian meal without it!
No evening in Rome would be complete without stopping to take a few pictures… “On an evening in Roma!”
Sunday: Exploring Rome
After a delicious breakfast of eggs, sausage, potatoes, coffee and mimosas, we decided to get an Uber to take us to Vatican City. Little did we know that we would end up having the best driver ever! Mex asked if we had ever been to Rome before, and when he said no he instantly said he could show us around. It sounded super sketchy at first, but we realized that 25 euros a person around Rome by private van is actually ideal for 8 ladies whose feet hurt and only had 4 hours to see so much. So we took his offer, and it was amazing! We saw all the big sights, like the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Vatican City, but also places others tourists wouldn’t necessarily know about, like the first Catholic Church ever built from 400 AD and a fountain with a view overlooking the city. It’s practically impossible to do a place like Rome in two days, but we definitely got the most out of our weekend in this beautiful city!