Weekly highlights

These past few days have been fantastic.

»Our trip to Capri (apparently Tony Bennett is there right now.  TONY BENNETT.  I may have completely flipped my switch when I found out)

Marina Grande di Capri

»Sunday, I went to mass at the lovely Chiesa di San Francesco di Assisi, and then Katie and I walked up our favorite street to have breakfast.  I had a (I quote) "big cappuccino" and a croissant with nutella. Mi piace ♥

Mmm...

»After a long nap, we went out Sunday evening to one of our favorite spots for dinner.  I had mad cravings for some gnocchi.  However, it was so crowded that we ended up moving down to another of our favorite spots on the same street.  Periodically we heard cheering, and after wondering aloud what was going on, two (hilarious) British ladies at the table next to us informed us that it was a "football match," Italy verses Spain.  So after dinner, we walked up to a small bar to get some gelato and watch the rest of the match.  It ended in a draw: 1 - 1!

Go Italia!

»Monday I didn't have class, so I got a cappuccino at my usual spot, Bagni Sant'anna, and read some more of 1984, sat in the sun, washed and hung my clothes, and then puttered around the apartment until it was time to meet Katie at school.  We walked up to possibly our favorite spot to eat, BluWater.  Not only is the food and service good (and there's no coperto - a cover charge that most restaurants in Italy tack on), but the guy who works there is hilarious.  Our first week in Sorrento, he coaxed us away from a neighboring restaurant to eat there.  He's so dynamic and SO funny; we instantly adopted him.  This time, he sat with us for a while and asked about where we lived and how long we were in Sorrento.  And then he told us that this was our place, and we must come back frequently.  No problem, signore!  Next time we may even catch his name.

»Tuesday I walked into class expecting to take a test, and found out it's not until Thursday (giovedí).  Huzzah!  Instead we learned about possessive articles.  Afterwards, Katie and I ate lunch at the apartment, make a quick cappuccino stop at Bagni Sant'anna, and then sunbathed on the adjoining pier for an hour.  I listened to the soundtrack to Memphis: A New Musical and got sunburned, and it was glorious.  Later, we wandered around our little Marina area in search of dinner, and ended up at a... let's say, less than authentic Italian restaurant.  We're pretty sure Katie's lasagna was microwaved, and I'm not exactly sure what sort of "tomato," if any, was used in the flavorless orange sauce that covered my spaghetti.  At least the wine was good!

After that, gelato was in order, so we hiked up the steps to the center, and I led Katie to my favorite gelateria, Davide Augusto, where we got gelato and watched the calcio match.  Mmm!  I got dark chocolate (cioccolato fondente) and Nutella, and Katie got lemon and strawberry.  Katie immediately saw the light and announced we would be making several return trips to Davide.  Katie comes from Houston, Texas, and knows what good food is. 

Our pretty view

»Wednesday - today - there was a gelato making class offered.  We didn't so much learn how to make it as watch it be made... but we got to eat a ton of gelato free, so mi piace.

  

Lemon

Extra dark chocolate and Nutella hazelnut

It's been an excellent week.  Coming up for this week, there's an Italian film night (this week's selection is Ieri, Oggi, e Domani - translated, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow), lunch at the Trattoria da Emilia for the graduating students of Sorrento Lingue, and on Saturday, I'll finally make it on the excursion to the towns of Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello.

Ciao! xx

Capri 9 Giugno

I spent all day Saturday with my fellow SAI students on the island of Capri.  Depending on which ferry you take (i.e. how much money you're willing to shell out), Capri is 20 minutes to an hour and 1/2 away from Sorrento's ironically named Marina Piccola.

We had to meet at the Marina at 8 AM, and as I had never been there before, I left early to find it.  

I got there at 7:30.  

So, I did what anyone with any time on their hands should do

Eventually we all gathered, and took the 20 minutes ferry over to Capri

Kathy, Tianna, & Anna say "ciao"

... where we disembarked and followed our lovely and adorable guide Vincento (vin-CHENT-o) onto a bus that took us up to Anacapri.  And our first order of business when we got there was to, of course, immediately get on another bus that took us to the Grotto Azzurra.

Katy, Justin, & I about to enter the Grotto

It was beautiful and quite amazing, but it was hardly the most interesting thing that happened.  There was a whole incident regarding a jellyfish sting and urine. It's a great story.

Chrissie says it's all right

After the grotto & lunch, we decided to hang back from the tour group and take a chairlift up to the highest point in Capri

It, too, was rather spectacular

After we returned, we took a bus and a very long (and unnecessary... but that's a story for another time) walk back down to the Marina Grande.  We had an hour before our ferry left, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

All things considered, it was a nice day.  It started out very hot, but it cooled down as the day went by.  We kept very busy, and thanks to the chairlift, got to see the entire island.  However, Sorrento is equally, if not more beautiful than Capri, and certainly much less expensive.  It was worth the trip just for the Grotto Azzurra and the chairlift... but I much prefer my Sorrento.  And, let's be honest...

... this was the best part of the day, & it cost double what it does in Sorrento.  What even?!

Even so, it was a great experience, and we all had fun.  By the end, though...

... we were glad to be going home.

Home to Sorrento ♥

Che cosa fai oggi?

Today I:

Had my cappuccino at school

& had a lovely lesson

Spent a long time sitting in my favorite spot in the sun, reading

& then had a little pick-me-up

Mousse cioccolato e cioccolato fondente.  Mmmm.

I've had a good day.  How about you?

Ciao! xx

Foto

It is ridiculously beautiful here

Completely unreal

How can it even exist?

Only God knows

But I'm glad it does

Felicitá

Little things are making me happy today.

Tutti di giorni cappuccino

Reading in the Piazza di Vittoria

Hurrying through the winding streets to avoid the rain

Vesuvius (it was unusually clear today... until it rained and the fog returned)

Hot caffé macchiatos after lunch

Dinner of mozzarella sandwiches & crackers

& monuments to Mary everywhere

xx

Domenica

Quiet Sunday

Massa a Italiano ♥

Cappuccino ♥

Gnocchi ♥

Sleep ♥

And a gorgeous view

Vesuvio

Me & Katie

Saturday morning, I climbed to the top of an active volcano.  It was great fun.

My awesome roommate, Katie, invited me on Friday to with her and her classmate to the top of Mt. Vesuvius (Vesuvio in Italian) on Saturday.  I hesitated about going for a while; I was hoping to hit up Pompeii and Vesuvius when my family got here.  Also, I sprained my left ankle about 3 years ago, and it's been giving me trouble this past week. (too.many.steps.)  In the end, though, I decided to go for it.

I'm really glad I did, for two reasons.

1. No way in the WORLD would I be able to convince my mother, sister, brother, and BFF to climb that. Especially my sister, after the El Yunque incident.

2. I got to climb a freaking volcano.  It was pretty darn cool!  Exhausting and dusty, yes.  But from now until the end of my life, I can say that I climbed Mt. Vesuvius.

(A little clarity: when I say climbed, I mean a bus took us 9/10ths of the way up, and we had to walk up a "gentle slope" to get to the crater at the top.  No judging; it was a LOT of walking!)

Vesuvius before we conquered it

Il biglietto

The 2nd bumpy bus ride up.  It felt like a galloping horse!

The march

The top & the view down

The crater

Apparently some crazy guys find it fun to camp out on the inside of a volcano.
Whatevs.

Lastly, I have a joke for you all:

Vesuvius didn't really erupt at all

Chuck Norris sneezed.