The bus tour we took for the past two days was AWESOME!!! It was worth every penny (and trust... it cost alot of pennies)
It started far too early in hte morning (7AM!) and headed from Rome to Naples. They took us up a hill so we could take pictures, and then to a cameo factory. It was only mildly interesting to me, I didnt know they made them out of carved shells but... did the old ladies ever go nuts! they were getting violent! Then they took us to pompei for lunch. (included in the cost of the tour) they herded us and another tour bus into a big room and we could choose between pasta or soup for the first course, I had the pasta. just spaghetti and tomato sauce, nothing special but tasty nonetheless. then came the meat course. Id tell you what kind of meat, but really Im not sure. It couldve been pork, or perhaps turkey? Like we cared... this was the first full three course meal we'd had! as if we were going to let nondiscript meat prevent us from scarfing it down! then a vanilla cake for desert.
They took us on a two hour tour of Pompei which was very cool. they had a theatre, and big squares with temples, and houses and everything to walk through. some of the houses still had paintings on them! For those of you who dont know, because pompei was covered in ash(not lava) in a very short amount of time, the shapes of the bodies were preserved in the ash, so when they found them, they poured plaster into them to be able to see the shapes of the people how they died. it was haunting, you could see the looks of terror on their faces, one was crouching, covering his nose trying not to suffocate, there was a pregnant woman lying on the ground, it was really upsetting. Also, they showed us the brothel, and told us they know its a brothel because they found paintings on the wall of different positions and how much they cost! also, there was a fallis carved into the street outside, pointing the way.
Of the people on that bus tour, only four of us were doing the two day tour, so we got in a little mini bus with this nice australian couple and they took us to Sorrento. this was the best most awesome part of the trip! Sorrento is basically on top of giant cliffs... its just town, cliff, ocean, straight down. We stayed in the fanciest hotel Ive ever been to in my life! a porter complete with uniform and hat opened our door and took our bags upstairs!
Dinner was at the hotel and also included in our tour. I had Risotto to start, which I am now in love with. they brought it out with those metal lids on them and reveal your plate to you!!! it was amazing! for the second course was pork wrapped in bacon and pastry... my god... it was the best thing ever. I savoured every bite. then desert you get to choose off of a big three tiered cart and I had chocolate creme caramel. it was the bestest fanciest dinner of aweseome EVER!!! The dining room is outside and looks right out over the water. you could see the winding coastline, all cliffs and water. it was like a picture.
we wandered around the town after dinner and it was so calm and peaceful and relaxing... it was the most content Ive been. there were little shops everywhere, and huge tall palm trees, green hillside, and a beautiful view at every turn. If we werent on this bus tour Id have stayed there forever. (not in the first class hotel though...my god there were chandeliers everywhere! We were FAR too dirty for such a nice place!)
We had tea on the terrace over looking the water at night, and it was so wonderful. Breakfast at the hotel was buffet... five different kinds of cereal, yogurt, fruit, two different loaves of bread for toasting, croissants, ham, cheese, coffee, tea, juice, iced tea, hard boiled eggs, buns, and even sweets. awesome.
Today they took us to the island of Capri, which is basically a giant mountain in the water. again, its just cliff straight down until ocean. they took us on a walking tour of the little town, and Jenn and I took a big chair lift thing that you can take to the highest point. However it was overcast,and we were so high that we were actually in a cloud! it was freaky... we were up on this little landing and you look over the side in to just white cloud. We figured this must be what purgatory looks like. I think so... but it doesnt have much power for revelations if Jesus comes back in flames and ushers us all onto the chairlift one by one. but still... neat!
Then on a little boat ride to a place called the Blue Grotto. you have to switch from a motor boat to a little rowboat in the water, and sit on the floor of the boat. then a guy rows you through a hole inthe side of the cliff thats only a meter high... you all have to duck. at first it looks black, but when you turn around and look at the entrance, the light shines in in such a way that it makes the water shine absolutely bright turqoise blue... its phenomenal. it looked like a pool does when it has lights underneath the water and you turn them on at night? almost like the water itself is giving off light. It was amazingly beautiful.
We're paying for our beautiful weekend though by having to kill six hours in dirty ugly naples before we can catch a train to Bari.
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