PARIS!

So, I'll always have Paris. Yes, yes I will. Just got home from Paris and I think it has to be my new favorite city, it was mesmerizing to just walk around. We were only there for 4 days but we packed in as much as we could. Jill and Jen's families were here in Florence for the week so it was just Morgan and me taking on on ol’ Par-ee. We stayed with her friend Michelle who is studying there which was really nice, especially after hearing about some of the hostels other people from our program stayed at. Plus Michelle is fluent in French, knows the (confusing and all in French) metro system and the city like the back of her hand. That and she is so much fun. Her apartment was quite different than ours, much smaller (like...much smaller. whole apartment possibly the size of our kitchen) but a small sacrifice to live in the heart of Paris.

We flew in Wednesday afternoon, dropped all of our stuff at Michelle's apartment and went out for "Turks." It was basically a gyro but they're literally on every corner of every street, delicious of course. After dinner we walked by le Moulin Rouge and the ever so amusing sex district which was nothing but bright neon lights with propositions everywhere. Moulin Rouge had a huge line and looked SO cool. Just judging by the outside I think next time I'm in France and am loaded (heyyy public health sector, I hear it’s on the up and up! that and combating le swine flu) it would be so cool to pay the $150 per plate for a show. We continued down the busy street and entered Montmarte. This was the artistic quarter where all the old poets, writers and artists used to hang out. There were plaques on the wall saying van Gogh, Matisse, Langston Hughes, Picasso, Sisley, Degas, Cezanne, Renoire, Manet... etc had all been there. I can absolutely see why they would go there, it was gorgeous and probably left them with great ideas and inspirations.

After that we got a bottle of wine and took it up to Sacre Coure. This gorgeous church was built as a gesture of expiation of the "crimes of the communards" of France and in honor of those who died in the Franco-Prussian war. The church sits high up on the outskirts of Paris and overlooks the city, the view was absolutely gorgeous. We hung out on the stairs for a while, enjoying our wine and the view as we were entertained by some very friendly local French drunkards. We had a few groups of guys come up to us, they loved that Michelle spoke French, but also wanted to practice their English on us. It was hilarious, they kept saying that France is their home and they absolutely love it, and they were so so happy we decided to come visit. Once we were thoroughly chilled from being at the top of the mountain and entertained-out, we headed back down to Michelle’s to get some sleep.

Thursday morning Michelle made us eggs, bacon (which I’m finding is different in every country) and a fresh croissant from the bakery next door. It was delicious and nutritious and we were ready to start our sightseeing. We walked around town taking it all in. The city is such a combination of old and new. The buildings looked old but then you walked down underneath them to a bright and modern metro. We took the metro to Versailles and did an audio tour. I had no idea how HUGE and how absolutely gorgeous it was. There were bright gold gates leading in, rooms decorated beyond belief and beautiful gardens, probably the biggest I have ever seen. Of course, though, my favorite room was the hall of mirrors. Between the full length windows and the elaborate chandeliers reflecting in the mirrors, the room was incredible.

We went back to Michele’s where she made us dinner, authentic Creole roasted chicken and potatoes, it was delicious. After dinner we headed over to the D’Orsay which houses the “rejects” of the Lourve. You know, the rejects (think impressionists) Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Degas, Renoir. It is an old converted train station which added to the funkiness of it and honestly, I enjoyed the art in here more so than the "older fashioned" art in the Louvre.

Around 9pm we were kicked out of the D'Orsay and headed over to the Eiffle Tower. Walking up to/under it I realized it was way bigger than I was expecting. Quite a massive structure for something that was only supposed to be temporary. The tower was originally built as a World's Fair exhibition and was to be torn down 20 years later. It proved to be a valuable communication hub and the government said it could stay. Fancy that. We were there at night and it looked so beautiful lit up. Now you're all thinking that the next thing I did was climb the Eiffle Tower. You are in fact correct, but I'm not sure you have the correct definition of "climb." I CLIMBED it, as in, all 43 stories, 686 steps. It was so cool and I'm so glad I did it...as were my legs the next morning. We had to take an elevator to the tippy tippy top, which we did, and the view was incredible. Everything looked so different (but gorgeous) lit up at night, especially along the Seine (river). While we were at the top it started to sparkle (it does so every hour on the hour) and it scared us to death when it first began. I thought it was pretty lit, but when it sparkled it was unbelievable. So we climbed back down and ran to this Tower overlook in time to catch it sparkling again. We got crepes (blueberry and nutella, the guy told me it was like vodka-going to knock me off my feet...he was right) and sat up on the ledge to see the Tower glimmer. I know it's just a tower, but it really is beautiful, makes me laugh when I think about how the Parisians hated it, calling it an "eyesore" when it was first built. There was even this novelist Guy de Maupassant who claimed to eat inside the tower everyday and when asked why he told everyone that it was the only place he couldn't see the wretched thing. Haha! Back to Michelle's to sleep and prepare for day 3...

Friday Morgan and I got up early while Michelle went to a job interview and headed over to the Catacombs. Going there I knew I was going to see quite a few bones, but I never knew the history of it. Apparently as Paris began to grow and these new inhabitants began to die, the cemeteries quickly became overrun with...dead bodies. The city became stricken with, um, disease, as open mass graves with improper burials and other shady business was occurring, so something had to be done. The police chief came up with the idea to move all of the corpses to the hollowed out mines under the city. I cannot describe to you in words how many thousands of bones there were in these massive piles, you have to see a picture.

Next we went to St. Michael’s fountain to regroup on our way to Notre Dame, I recognized it as soon as I could see it from all the pictures I’ve seen (and the Disney movie). We went inside, which was of course beautiful and saw the famous stain glass. The size is very deceiving, I was not expecting there to be as much as there was inside. Along with the many smaller chapels inside, I really liked the biblical scenes carved out of wood on many of the walls. Morgan went to catholic school and knew many of them, so she was a great little tour guide.

Notre Dame is right near the Latin Quarter so we walked around there afterwards. We stopped for some “Paris' most famous” ice cream, and, well, yeah, I guess it was really good. How exactly can something be “Paris-best” or “World’s-best” anyway? Supposively there is a list some group assembled rating many of the world’s largest cities’ best ice creams and this made the top ten. I got French vanilla and caffe, mmm.

We hopped on the subway and headed over to Père Lachaise Cemetery. I have never seen so many graves in one place. There were no typical American headstones here, all of them were big, elaborate…things. The thing is there were so many of them that there was probably only up to 6 inches between some of them! It kind of looked like lego graves from far away. Anyway, while we were there we figured it would behoove of us to pay our respects to Mr. James Morrisson, and so we did. His grave was not nearly as elaborate as the rest, but he had quite the crowd around him. There were cigarettes and roses all over, as well as love poems addressed “To Jimmy.” Next stop was Oscar Wilde’s, yes I did kiss it with red lipstick. I had a little hesitation, had to put that Rutgers Public Health knowledge aside for a moment after seeing the mass amount of red lips on it, but when in Paris… There were some really interesting things around his grave, let’s just say people left some notes in red lipstick on the grave. The last famous grave we paid our respects to, yes, that is in fact what we were doing? Anyway, it was Bach. It was really cool to see his grave, I had another one of those “study abroad” moments. I never thought I’d be able to say I saw the grave of one of the most influential musicians in history. One other thing I noticed about European graves was that there are always fresh flowers. They seem to respect…worship? their dead more so there, to the point where there are actually pictures in frames on top of many…

On Friday nights after 6pm the Lourve is free to students so we took full advantage of that. We had a scenic walk through the Tulieries, which used to be the gardens surrounding Catherine Medici’s (viva Italia! Even in Par-ee) palace…before the palace was burned down. Now it’s just a pretty area leading up to the Lourve. Walking up to the museum was incredible, not only is it gianormous, but seeing the glass triangle in person was surreal. While we were waiting in line even looking up through it was incredible. Keep in mind by this point we were already exhausted, so walking around the Lourve was done at a much slower pace and accompanied by the occasional groan from our poor little feet. So main sights that we did see was the Hammurabi code, dear God I have no idea how anyone was able to read that! It’s a big rock covered from top to bottom in an organized mess of columns of hieroglyphics. We hung with Mona for a while, she’s actually quite a bit smaller than I was expecting. The crowd around her was huge and to be honest, her eyes really are creepy. We experimented; they do actually follow you as you walk around the room. Mission accomplished Davinci. We saw the Venus, which made me laugh because it was the Italians who destroyed her, the tiny gnome/snail and Napolean’s crown/sword. We saw tons of other things, but next time I would love to devote a whole day in there and just roam around for hours.

By this point we were even more exhausted and now starving. We headed back to the Latin Quarter for one of the famous “meal deals” where you get a 3 course meal for cheap. Of course I tried the escargot (I liked! That is, after I figured out how to use the funny looking “snail holder”) for my meal Beef Bourgione and a traditional apple tart for dessert. It was delicious and I enjoyed my meal next to the restaurant’s cat. Yeah, that wouldn’t fly in the Stati Uniti, but it certainly added to the Parisian ambiance.

After dinner we stopped at Michelle’s favorite piano bar. The three of us shared a “fish bowl” (any Stuff Yer Facers?) which of course made us laugh. It came out with sparklers and between that and the awesome outdoor atmosphere we really enjoyed ourselves. Good music, good drinks, good people. By then we were spent so we headed back to Michelle’s to pass out.

Saturday was another early morning as it was our last day in Paris, but we awoke like broken-backed grandmas hobbling to the shower. We had the traditional pan de chocolat (chocolate croissante, so good) for breakfast and went to check out the Opera house. This was Michelle’s favorite building in Paris, it really was absolutely gorgeous. We wanted to tour the inside but it came down to doing that or the Arc de Troimphe and we opted from the latter. So we walked from the opera house to the Arc and for those of you who know Paris that is REALLY FAR. It was nice though, we really got a taste for the different neighborhoods in Paris. So we saw the Arc, it was weird seeing traffic going through such a famous historical landmark! While there we walked down the famous Champs de Elyse and drooled over all the pretty things we couldn’t afford. It started to rain which was fine because we had to get going back to Florence anyway, we were just happy we had such great weather for our other days.

After packing up everything at Michelle's we headed out for a last hurrah of Parisian food and attempted to try a Thai/Asian/Creole infusion. I imagine that food is delicious, unfortunately we did not pick the best of places to get a good taste. Next began our journey back home to Via Ghibbellina by metro, bus, airplane and then another bus. We returned home, exhausted, around 11pm.

I am SO glad I got to go to Paris, it may be my favorite new city. Thinking about it now, having someone who lives there and knows the area so well provided us with such a first hand experience, without having to fight with the French language, the metro and having to make any major decisions on what to see and what to skip. I think I could have spent another week, or month, whatever, visiting the city. We packed in so much in those few days we were there, definitely my best spring break ever!

09-04-15 Paris

Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Pompeii

We booked this amazing trip to Sorrento, Capri, Positano and Pompeii through this company called Bus2Alps, it's a cheap travel company for students where they provide you with transportation, lodging and guided tours for all around 189 euro, it's great. So the day started out great, I got a text message that my only class was cancelled (good and bad, see here in Italy if they cancel class they have the authority to reschedule it, so the day after spring break (and my birthday!) I have a makeup class after the rest of my normal classes). yay. Anyway, having no class was great, I relaxed all day and got my stuff ready. We left Thursday night around 8pm on a big coach bus and got there around 3am. We were scheduled to stay in the #1 hostel in Italy, literally called 7th Heaven, we checked out the website and it looked like a 5 star hotel (note hoStel vs. hotel). Anyway, when we're almost there our guide told us that we were actually staying in beach bungalows (yes, with the W). Cool, right? I'm going to reply yes here, but not in the 'cool' that you think I'm referring to. So we get off the bus, it's 3am, we're tired, the bus driver is taking forever to come check us in, we just want to go to bed since we have to be up for 8am tomorrow.... we're freezing and cranky. Finally we get checked in and are the first to be taken to our bungaloW. Umm, it's a campground. We're staying in...army barracks? mini-cabins? I don't know what it is but the freakin heat didn't work and it was miserable. Insert obscenities ending in "NOT IF WE WERE IN 7TH HEAVEN HOSTEL". So I slept in leggings, sweat pants, socks, t-shirt, long sleeved shirt and jacket AND I had the sheets over my head the whole night. End complaining about fabulous trip, HERE.

We get up with the sun and mosey over to our included breakfast. It was a pretty walk, through the very hilly forest including both evergreen trees as well as orange and lemon trees. It's in this glassed in room in the center of the camp and consists of rolls, jelly, corn flakes, barley expresso, brown orange juice. Typical small European breakfast, not what I prefer, but I've grown accustomed to. After breakfast we walk down to the water where we caught our ferry to Capri. It was a nice ride, the sun was out and took about 40 minutes.

The first stop was the Blue Grotto. Totally not what I was expecting! The ferry pulls up close to the side of a cliff and there are a whole bunch of older Italian men standing in these little row boats, slightly reminiscent of a much less classier Venetian gondola. We all hop into these row boats and they take us to this 4 foot by 4 foot hole in a cliff? He says duck down on three, 1...2...3...and pulls on this rope, contorts his body in a matrix pose so he's low enough to not have his head clipped and then we're in this pitch black cave. I look out at the water and it's an electric, indescribable, absolutely gorgeous, bright blue. The boatmen take you around in a circle while singing in Italian and it was such a cool experience. He said the water reflects into this tiny little hole, off the bottom and results in this unbelievable illumination of the water. So pretty, we were in and out of there in 5 minutes. We heard about an hour after we left, the waves were too high and they had to close it for the day. We were so lucky! On the way to the area of Capri we were being dropped off we also stopped at the Green and White Grottos. They were pretty, not as pretty as the Blue Grotto, and also not in a cave. Same thing with these, the way the water reflected onto the cliffs which were naturally tinted these colors, the water looked the colors.

Next we docked at Capri and got off the boat, we were to meet our tour guide at the top of the town. Okay... 40 minutes later we made it up! We trekked up some serious hills with random concrete stairwells interspersed and definitely got a workout. It would have been a little rough had the views not been SO gorgeous. It was such a unique town, like nothing I've ever seen. There were literally no streets form where we docked to the top where the center of town was. We were walking on people's "streets" but then there were stairs so there was no way cars could get down there. The views out to the water were beautiful and while we were more towards the center on our winding way up, the authentic homes looked very Greek with the white stucco exteriors, fun roofs and unique gates at their entrance. Not to mention all of the vegetation, fruit trees, pretty flowers and palm trees. Once we got to the top we were pooped and had to stop for these frozen ices we saw everywhere. I got melon, Jill and Jen got lemon, they were so delicious and refreshing. During the rest of the tour we learned about the natural architecture of Capri, how they had to figure out ways to build into the mountain. You know, something that wouldn't fall off the cliffs or be gone in a few years. Saw lots of shops, not as many churches, and the local buildings etc. Honestly, just looking around was mesmerizing, everything was so pretty. Our guide told us not to get too excited about Capri, and not to buy anything down here because at the top of the island was Anacapri where things were prettier and less expensive.

So, we take a bus to Anacapri. That alone was an experience. We buy our 1 euro ticket and are packed into this mini-bus, think sardines. The very rugged southern Italian bus driver gets in and we're off. I'm standing next to, or should I say on top of, an older white haired Italian woman who was lucky enough (and totally deserved) a seat. Begin ascent to Anacapri. It's steep, and winding, and steep, and winding... He's going fast. How fast? I peek over to the speedometer since I'm basically standing on the driver/the old woman next to me and well, OH! the speedometer doesn't work. Around some more turns, now we're on the edge. He's not slowing down though, taking these turns like a racecar driver, I look over the my friend the old lady and she's doing the sign of the cross, saying an prayer in Italian and closing her eyes. I wish I was kidding. 20 minutes of this insanity later and he finally stops and opens the door. I get off and apparently our faces said it all, the guide laughed and said he loved seeing people's faces the first time they take this ride up. It's starting to become funny now.

Now we're in Anacapri, we thought the views were gorgeous down in Anacapri, but here we're higher so we can now see more beautiful views. We're taken to a shop at the top of a hill and given a Limoncello and chocolate tasting. YUM. The regular Limoncello was much stronger than any I've ever had, the cream one was sweeter and the melon one was interesting. The chocolates were delicious, dark, white, milk, then all of those covering orange and lemon peels. Ultima! (delicious) The store also made homemade sandals. We investigated to see if they were worth it, they were of gorgeous very pleasing to look at but provided no support. As in, don't buy them and plan to walk around in them all day. The poor college students forwent the sandals and opted to eat lunch that day.

We were given some free time so we take the chairlift up to the tippy top of the island. So cool, it was a long ski-lift type thing but you had your own seat It took about 15 minutes each way of just a relaxing ride to see the entire island. At the top there was a little park with a cafe overlooking the Mediterranean. We vegged up there a bit, took tons of pictures, drooled at the sights, and then took the chairlift back down. So cool. We were a little hungry so we picked a cafe and had a quick lunch. Jill, Morgan and Jen tried the pizza because it claimed to be the original Neapolitan pizza (it is the next town over) but I opted for the Gnocchi Sorrentina. My gnocchi was delicious, it literally melted in my mouth. Their pizza was also delicious, thicker and greasier than Florence's, just how pizza should be. I love italian food.

We did a little shopping at the top and then took the bus, driven by a much calmer driver, back down to Capri. We hung out at the rock beach by the marina where our boat was to pick us up. Although it was rocky, we were just so happy to be at a beach and of course stuck our feet in the Mediterranean. So we spent the day in Capri and got our first taste of what southern Italy is like. The people were just so nice, nothing was rushed, we saw the coca cola scooter boppin down the street making deliveries where all the shop owners knew him by name, etc. i don't know how to describe it other than people just really enjoy their lives and don't mind working there. A very pleasant change from the frustrated-with-foreigners Florentine shop owners.

So we took the boat back to our campground for a much needed nap and shower. We met up with everyone and took the bus down to the center of Sorrento for a group dinner. We had the 3 course "tourist" dinner consisting of authentic minestrone, then a fish and tomato dish and chocolate cake for dessert. Of course it was delicious, after that we waddled back to our cabins where we passed out from exhaustion.

Saturday morning we assembled around 10 after our breakfast and got on the bus for Positano. We were on for about 25 minutes when they pull off into a big circle and inform us that tour buses are not allowed into Positano so we have to get off and walk for about "20 minutes" down. Right, so, it's cool that Positano is trying to keep it a less touristy town, I can certainly appreciate that, but this 20 minute walk was not 20 minutes, it was at least an hour. We walked up and down a windy road through the mountains. It was gorgeous to walk through, just not what we were expecting. We stopped at one of the many produce carts on the side of the road where we tasted a southern lemon. The thing was literally the size of my head and was the sweetest lemon I've ever tasted, not tart at all! Believe it or not, the most delicious part was the white rind. So we finally make it into town, but we're supposed to be heading to the beach. Another 30 minute walk down the steepest, oldest, most unique stairs. A lot of stairs, more than I think I would ever be able to convey to you via blog. Like, I wish I was told we were going to be doing this much up and down because I would literally have stretched first and now worn flip flops. Finally we make it down to the beach and it was so so so so worth the hiking, the view was gorgeous. This beach was sandy and of course as soon as we get down there the clouds roll in. Don't worry, we laid on the beach for hours anyway. I fell asleep for a good hour, it was so nice to just lay there in the warm sand.

It started getting chilly with the clouds so we decided to get a warm snack with hopes that it would clear up in the meantime. We found a great little garden cafe where we got cappuccinos and warm ricotta and pear tarts. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. We stayed in there for about an hour enjoying the warmth and the sights and it finally started to clear up. On the way back down to the beach we perused some shops, things there were expensive but so fun to look at. When we got back down to the beach we of course had to retake all the pictures we initially took because it was cloudy then and everything looked so much better in the sun. We hung out on the beach for a while taking it all in and then it started getting dark. Walked back to the top of the island to catch the bus back into Sorrento. After waiting for a while we decided a bottle of wine was necessary to pass the time. The little old man selected a white wine for us (taboo in Italy) and told us it was not only local, but the best one he had. It was so good..and only cost $3. Sweet.

Back to Sorrento where we cleaned up, took the bus back into the center of town and went out to eat. We picked an adorable little restaurant with a very authentic Italian feel down to the table clothes. I got Spaghetti and clams because Florence doesn't have much seafood to offer. It was delicious, we stayed there for a while after enjoying the atmosphere before heading back up to "camp."

I loved Positano but wouldn't like to live there for the sole fact that I could never carry my groceries up and down those insane stairs. Natives there must have legs of steel. It was probably my favorite beachy town to walk around and just look. It's amazing how the houses are arranged on these cliffs, most of them are even very old. It was a relaxing day where I really started to get a feel for southern Italy.

Sunday morning we checked out of the army barracks, i mean campground, and headed for Pompeii. We had an hour or two to walk around the area outside of the ruins, but there wasn't much to see other than the many tents set up by the overly aggressive Moroccans trying to sell you everything in sight. Our tour guide spoke great English, knew the ruins like the back of his hand and was incredibly witty. He was our favorite tour guide yet because he included all of the incredibly interesting historical information, literally painted us a picture of what it used to look like, but also made us laugh with his jokes. His common theme was comparing the past to today saying "nothing has changed." He also knew way more about American politics/pop culture than I did. When talking about where the hunters used to be, he said, "you know, the Dick Cheneys."

So, about the ruins. Pompeii had a population of around 20,000 and only about 2,000 died from the 79 AD eruption. Way less than I thought! Also, the city is 8 miles from Mt. Vesuvius so no lava ever made it there, all of the damage was from the suffocating fumes and the 16 feet of ash that settled upon the city. They say the eruption had to be somewhat predicted as only 2,000 were left in the city, but there were still those stubborn Italians who stayed. They found fresh bread in the oven, dogs tied up and bodies found in areas which suggest they were conducting "every day life" type of activities.

Vesuvius actually had another bad eruption during WWII in 1944 but I suppose the activities of the war overshadowed the destruction. A few towns were destroyed, as well as a US bomber group of over 80 planes. Since then the volcano has been very quiet, believe it or not this is really bad and people are worried. When a volcano has little activity, occasionally quaking and spurting things it means it is releasing pressure. Since nothing is happening they fear the pressure is massively building up which could cause a big blow. The tour guide joked that there are Italian instruments monitoring the volcano at the top, but then he said if they're anything like other Italian machines we may be in trouble. Sure they haven't reported anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean nothing is happening...

Our guide also did a great job at describing the way of life of the Pompeiians back in the day. He said they were a pleasure driven society between their purging and brothels, but were also ahead of their day intellectually. On the pleasure aspect, they were known to eat and drink until capacity, purge, and then come back out to do it again, all day long with company. As for the brothels, there were tons of them! We went into the largest one where they had stone beds (so they didn't stay too long!) with diagrams on top so you didn't even have to speak the same language, you could just point to what you wanted. Our guide said to us as we were walking in, "please, no flashing!" We of course all giggled until we figured out that these were painted on the walls as frescos so flash photography would have ruined them. Since we giggled he then proceeded to yell at us saying, "oh stop being so prude!" Such a jokester. So apparently the ocean used to be much closer to the city so on the main drag leading in they carved penises into the sidewalk in front of where you could find "nice, friendly women" for the sailors who had just returned. (ahhhem! don't get any ideas) Apparently morals were quite different than ours these days. They were the end of the Pagan era and were more of a social community than a typical Christian Italian city. Openly practicing homosexuality was not only widely accepted but almost encouraged: peace and love for everyone, homie. They promoted pleasure in everything, and were very open about all aspects of the pleasure in their lives.

As for intellectual and architectural accomplishments, the city of Pompeii was very advanced. It's such a shame it was destroyed, I feel like this would have been all over the history books. Not only was it so advanced, it was also all made of marble and frescoed everywhere so it was gorgeous. They didn't quite have street drainage systems (although they had the first form of sewage systems in their bath houses and aqueducts) so the sidewalks were much higher than the streets, and the city placed on a hill so the water would roll down. However, one still had to cross the streets so they were the first to invent the crosswalk. These were raised (2 feet-ish) large boulders placed sporadically across the city for the pedestrians to cross the street without having to walk in the sitting water on the streets. They also placed iridescent rocks within the cobblestone so light would reflect and illuminate the carriages way at night.

We also saw their town halls, museums (which I think were erected later on to house all of the artifacts they could save) and their bakeries which were also advanced for their days. There were over 40 elaborate stone water fountains which were used as landmarks in the city when people were trying to meet. It was a regular city with most of the things our cities today have, but it's crazy to think about how long ago the figured out all of the things we're still using today.

About two thirds of Pompeii is excavated and they have halted excavations. They're currently faced with some problems, they receive over 3 million visitors/year who touch and try to take home "souvenirs" so they're causing problems with preserving the ruins. They decided the best way to combat this is to leave the remaining one third preserved under the ash to keep it for future generations to remember.

While I loved the beaches, cruising on the boats, the funky shopping and gorgeous sights of Capri and Positano, Pompeii was amazing for the sights and historical aspect. Learning is so much fun when in Italy! Heh.

We got back on the bus for our 6 hour trip back to Florence Sunday night. We later found out that three hours before the earthquake we actually passed through that area. I was feeling so lucky to have experienced everything I saw this weekend, but then I started to feel much more lucky that the earthquake didn't affect me. My mom told me that when she tried to call my Italian cell phone it said, "we're sorry, the country you are trying to reach right now is unavailable." Scary! But we're all okay and had a wonderful weekend!! :)

09-04-02 Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Pompeii

Earthquake?!

I'm alive!

I'm sure you were all losing sleep wondering if this awful earthquake was near me, but it was in fact 150 or so miles south of Florence. On my trip back from Sorrento on the bus last night we actually were near it, saw some bad weather but luckily didn't feel anything. From everything I've been reading and hearing, the earthquake sounded pretty bad. USA says it had a magnitude of 6.3, Italy swears it was 5.8. 50 reported dead with thousands injured, and many more expected to be found. 10-15,000 buildings were destroyed and thousands were left homeless.

This was a really bad earthquake! It never occurred to me that coming to study in Italy put me at a risk like this, rather eye opening. Berlusconi declared a state of emergency, but Florence seems to be functioning on par.

So this week is midterms, and then spring break! Stay tuned for the Sorrento/Capri/Positano/Pompeii entry and pictures (after I ace these midterms of course).

Ciao!