Port 3: Naples, Italy

Welcome to the interesting, old, somewhat sketchy town of Naples, Italy. With not a day to rest between our time in the two ports of Italy, we arrived into Naples thankful that we had our very own ticket on a Semester at Sea sponsored trip. Every once in a while, I find these extremely gratifying. No scrounging around for food like poor college students, no questions about where to go next, and no need to locate the most efficient mode of transportation between a train/bus/taxi/shuttle ride to our next destination.
At about what felt like the butt-crack of dawn the next morning, (8am is the new 4am these days), we hopped (like little bunnies) off the boat and got on our bus to the historically preserved and uncharacteristically humorous city of Pompeii. Our tour guides name was Elisa, she was fantastically knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. Everyone in our group wanted to be her friend…as for me…I wanted her to join my family. In fact, from the back, she looked exactly like Mom, or Jackie, which you may know her as. After the 14th double take, I think I just about got used to it…maybe the Italian accent helped. I was so intrigued the entire time, and simply wanted to hear more about the city that was left in ruins so long ago, yet preserved so well. We were taught about the first “fast food”, the design of homes, writing on the walls, familial history, and even about the neighborhood brothels and how to find them. Elisa called it “sex GPS.” In order to keep this, PG-13, if you want to know more…you will have to email me…or just wait for the pictures.
We returned from our half day in Pompeii, and decided that there was some much needed time for relaxation. We cleaned our gear, took some naps, caught up on blogs, journals, and homework, and took more naps. We decided to have a night out in Naples; a large group of girls took a shuttle to the “pier.” Once again, don’t imagine Santa Monica in the summer, more like old castles, rundown buildings and some water in front of it all, still it was a beautiful sunset under the warm sky and we couldn’t help being thankful for where we were sitting. (I sound like my mom) After dinner of pizza and a 3.50 euro half liter of wine for everyone, for some reason we decided to walk home. This was a good idea…(sense the sarcasm). It was about an hour walk, on which we found a Gelato store with a bar to boot. Drinks were not good, gelato was delish. Upon walking home, we were subjected to a high speed chase by foot. Don’t get too worried, we were being chased by 10 year old boys; it doesn’t sound too bad, but let me tell you, at the time I felt like a big weenie running from little boys.
The next day we had another SAS sponsored trip. This trip has been the most rewarding by far. We took a ferry to the island of Capri which was followed by a bus ride up to the tippity top of the city. The bus ride was exhilarating to say the least, and after 6 near death experiences, 3 close calls, and 8 thrilling switch backs at 40 miles per hour we were at the top. And after a 15 minute chairlift, over the river and through the woods, to an even higher point of the city, we were above the clouds, taking pictures of the little people below. After coming down the mountain we were offered a few options of things to do for the last 4 hours of our time. My group opted to take a boat tour around the island and swim in the Mediterranean Ocean. The warm water and the boat ride was just enough to make it an awesome finish to a great trip. That night, after we returned to Naples, it was time for more dinner and more wine. Our group of 5 girls grew to a mixture of 11 girls and guys which made for a hilarious dinner. We were the only ones in the restaurant and thankfully so. We were obnoxious, loud, and the whole waiting staff loved us so much they gave us free drinks! Lemoncello and Meloncello on the house! The walk home was a little more peaceful this time, no high-speed chase or bad drinks at a gelato bar. Before we knew it we were back and ready for our last day in Italy.
This final day was a perfect finish. We walked the city during the day, shopped around at local stores and had an interesting (understatement) lunch. Lauren and I specifically asked for pasta with “cream” sauce. We were quite excited because we thought we had thoroughly conquered the language barrier with the word “cream.” This obviously was not the case. When our food arrived, we were presented with spaghetti noodles, olive oil, a light garnish of parsley and about 5 shrimp on top. Actually, these shrimp were so small, I may even categorize them in the Krill family. I didn’t even know they came that small, and once I finally got the shell off, a large magnifying glass was needed to see them….and as for chewing…that’s just silly.
Ciao to Italy for now! It was beautiful beyond belief. Croatia next!