Amalfi Coast

So this update is behind, but by now you are probably used to that right? It's about the weekend trip we took at the beginning of the month (Feb 6-8) to the Amalfi Coast. We hit Salerno and Amalfi! Enjoy!!

First off... here is a map of the area where we were for those of you who are not familiar with Italy's geography. The Amalfi Coast is on the west side of Italy down in the southern area...


P.S. - you can also see the tip of Tunisia - where I will be for Spring Break!!!


Half of our group went on the school trip to Pompeii so Chelsia, Sam, Danielle and I got on a train Friday morning to meet them in Salerno. The whole weekend was pretty rainy - but we didn't let that get us down too much. We checked into our hostel, where there was no soap by the sinks. But Mom, you remember what you gave me before I went to Australia? Those disolvable pieces of soap - sooo came in handy ;) After that, we decided to go to a cafe and have something to warm up.





My first coffee drink in Italy. I'm not a huge fan of coffee in general. And a delicious lemon cake type thing...

Salerno is a nice town - very much a port town, but very beautiful :)





We wandered around a bit, popped in and out of some shops and then met the other half of our group at the hostel. Found a nice pizzaria to have dinner at - eating here is a bit different because Italians eat so late. However, our stomachs and brains are still on American eating times - so when we get hungry at 6:30pm and get to a resturant by 7pm - there is still no one there. We normally are the only ones there. By 8:30 or 9pm - the place is hopping and has many more people...



Matt and his Mt. Vesuvius pizza - I don't know if you can tell but it had a big bubble in the middle of it until he cut into it :)

I was really exhausted and ended up crashing pretty early at the hostel - but that's okay - I felt very fresh and ready to go the next morning.



We took our time in Salerno that morning and around noon caught one of the busses that goes up and down the coast. The ride was only an hour to Amalfi - but the whole ride I was a bit confused - simply because the coast isn't really what I picture when I think of Italy. I think of Rome - the congested city with crowded streets - not a beautiful coast line. To me it felt more like Greece!


yay! we made it!


Looking back over Amalfi

The hostel we stayed in was in a smaller town just down the road from Amalfi so we walked over, found it and got settled in. When you are travelling around to places like this you can't help but think how nice it probably is in later spring or summer - but an advantage to travelling at this time is things are not only cheaper, but because hostels and hotels aren't really slammed, often they will upgrade to a better room than the one you reserved - which is exactally what happend to us in Atrani (where we were staying).



Atrani

We were very hungry at this point - 2pm (now we are on Italy eating time!). So we walked back to Amalfi and tried to find a place to eat. It's kind of errie to walk through the streets of any smaller Italian town around this time because people take what is called "pausa pranzo" -- the equivalent to a siesta in Spain, where the shops just close down for around 2 hours to take a break. We found a place to eat where I had the best lasagna I've ever had in my entire life.



The cute streets of Amalfi

After lunch, waiting out some rain, and waiting for the shops to re-open we walked around and shopped some. I don't know if any of you know what limoncello is - it's an acholic beverage that is very typical in Italy - but I didn't know that it is from the Amalfi coast!! It's something you drink after dinner in a glass a bit bigger than a shot glass. It's not intended to be a shot - more something that you sip on as you continue your converstaion after your meal. We tried some in one of the shops and it is very strong, but I do like it. There are lots of lemons in Amalfi - and that is what limoncello is made out of (if you didn't catch that from the name). Many of the bottles of limoncello in the shops were also hand painted.


Shelves and shelves and shelves of limoncello...

After our shopping we walked back to the hostel and watched the Ireland vs. France ruby game. Do you know that they pick people up in that game? It was very intense. For dinner we walked across the piazza our hostel was on and at dinner there, they were really friendly. We ended up hanging out there for quite a long time talking and what not.

The next morning we woke up to a miracle. Sunlight. No clouds. It was phenomenal - a really fabulous way to conclude our trip :)


The beach :)


Me and Atrani


All the girls (using the fabulous tripod Mom and Dad gave me might I note).

More pictures - my words really won't do the beauty of it justice, neither can the pictures really...


b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l.


Don't the clouds look so cool?




Amalfi!!

With that we hopped back on the bus to Salerno, caught our train and came back to home-sweet-home in Rome :)

I know I've been pretty bad with this update thing lately but I'll try to get better. Last weekend and this weekend I stayed in Rome - which was really fabulous. I needed some down time with what my game plan looks like for the next 2 months!!!

Feb 27-March 1: Frankfort, Germany!
March 1-5: Mid-terms....eek!
March 6-15: TUNISIA!!!
March 16-22: Family comes to Rome!!!!!!!!!
March 27-29: Venice hopefully
April 3-5: Madrid, Spain!
April 10-13: Easter in Rome
April 17-19: PRAUGE!!!
April 24-30: Finals

It has really shocked me how much has gone by so fast! I look at that I that is sooo much to do in such a short amount of time - I'm almost half way through! Crazy!!

I'll try and get better about posting more often - some comments would always be encouragement though ;)

Here's a shoutout and thank you to all of you who have been reading and commenting. Especially a Mr. Luis Sanchez in Dallas who I haven't seen in forever (that needs to be fixed this summer btw...)

Love,
Amelia