Southern Italy: A Vacation From Vacation

I've been failing pretty bad at blogging lately. I know you all rely on me for bright shining rays of entertainment and adventure in your dull, dreary lives (this is mostly a joke. Wink wink!), and I'm sorry I let you down. But then, I do this also for me, so I can remember all the awesome things that happened to me. "Hey Rachel, remember that time we scaled a cliff?" "Totally! Remember when we met the love of our life on a train?" "Sort of... let me refresh my memory with my blog!"

Anyway this blog has been in the works for over a week now. So bear with it, and me. Also, I apologize for the length. Seriously, it is the longest blog post ever.  
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So I'm on vacation! Which is great... mostly See - I'm sick. I was feeling like I was hovering on the brink of a cold on my birthday, last Tuesday. And, unfortunately, it didn't get any better, despite staying home from school one day. It actually got worse. I thought it would be okay, except that it actually (and quite predictably) got worse when we left Siena and started travelling. 

But anyway, it's still great! I'm going to give you a day by day summary of what we did, and I promise it will be (mostly) interesting. Plus this way you can skip anything that bores you... Enjoy!
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Day One (Friday), Rome: We left Siena around noon on a bus - a big, long 3 hour bus to Rome. And for some reason, bus/train stations always seem to be in the gross part of a city. Rome was nasty nasty nasty. We wandered around lost a bit before catching a cab to our hostel - which was actually pretty cheap. The hostel was a hostel - bland, kinda depressing in its blandness. But not too bad - the bathrooms were gross though. 

Anyway, we headed out into Rome to meet Heather's friend from home who was in Rome for a week and left early Saturday morning. We meandered past St. Peters and the Fountain of the Four Rivers. And Libby and Hayley and I saw the Pantheon! Which is one of my favourite buildings ever! It was nighttime, so I got to see it in a different light, which was great. 

We had a good dinner at a strange international student restaurant that didn't have Lewis and Clark on it's big long list of American schools. One of the waiters took a fancy to Heather and demanded a picture with her, which might have been why they gave us free 'sexy wine' - bubbly red wine. 

Around 10:30, we went to meet Francesco (my host-brother from 4 years ago) at Trevi Fountain. It was so strange to see him again after so long! It's pretty obvious we've both grown up a lot since 2007... Talking to him really made me realize how far I've come with my Italian. The last time we were together, he spoke English and I spoke no Italian at all. This time, I spoke Italian to him, and no English. It was a sort of eye-opening moment. And it was so great to see him and get to catch up - we pretty much just blabbered on for two hours non-stop.

What the entire time we were together was like!

However, there was an adventure I should relate... We were near the Spanish Steps and one of those flower selling dudes came up to me and tried to sell me a rose. I said, "No, grazie." But he sort of shook his head and insisted, as though he was just giving it to me, then he handed me two more, for Heather and Hayley who were a little way away. He asked Francesco if I was his girlfriend, and Francesco said no, we were just friends. He asked me where I was from, and when I told him Canada, he got really excited and began a long monologue on how the Canadians are really wonderful people. I was super flattered, until he started whispering to Francesco for a bit of money for the flowers. Francesco refused, and said he didn't have any money (clever). When he asked me, I felt bad for being a sucker and just gave him €3. Francesco shook his head and said I was "too nice". 

But I should have known better, and I really do feel bad when I have to ignore the sellers as though they don't exist. Francesco explained that there are just no jobs in Italy, but it's better here then in the countries in Africa where most of the immigrants come from. They arrive, and they're desperate and often face racism and prejudice. It ends up just sort of being this vicious cycle - Italians don't trust them because they're desperate and they're desperate because they're ostracized and there's no work. 

Anyway, we arrived back at the hostel pretty late, and I could definitely feel the achey cold coming on. To make matters worse, around 2 am a bunch of older dudes arrived at the hostel and were very very loud. The next morning they hogged the bathroom and made the whole place smell like damp man. Gross. 

Day 2 (Saturday), Rome/Sorrento: Heather, Libby, and I went to the Colosseum and the Forum/Palatine Hill (take that LCers) which I hadn't seen before. We communed with history. We're going back to Rome on a day trip later in the semester, which will be good for someone to tell us what about the Forum area is important. But the weather was lovely and the view great so it was not at all wasted. Olive trees and birds and flowers and the pyre where they think Caesar was burned. Although I take all that with a grain of salt unless it can be properly cited Chicago Manual of Style format, a la Kate Turabian (it's a nerdy history joke, don't worry about it).

We caught an afternoon bus to Sorrento and napped. But when we got nearer, we were driving along the coast as the sun set, which was the most gorgeous, as the sky turned pink and orange. We accidentally got off at the wrong stop - the man who owned the apartment we rented (for super cheap too!) was supposed to come meet us, but we had to give him directions. He was so kind. A tall thin man who chatted with us and looked down his nose in imitation of the snooty northern Italians. His wife was short and sort of round. She was less friendly - I could tell they're the kind of couple where he's the friendly, out going one, and she probably had to be the 'bad guy' to the kids - but still really kind. 

With her, I first noticed the southern accent. I noticed it on the Italian words spero and Spagna meaning 'I hope' and 'Spain'. In standard Italian, they're pronounced as they look - with an 's' sound. But the southern 'dialect' pronounces them shpero and Shpagna. I was mostly just super proud of myself for being able to pick out the accent at all, since someone had told me it's hard when you don't speak the language to tell accents. 

The apartment was really lovely - two double rooms, usually for two separate couples, with a shared bathroom and a kitchen, fully outfitted. And so windy. We were on the top of a little hill between the Gulf of Napoli and Gulf of Salerno, and the wind was trying it's level best to level the house (see what I did there?). But it was sort of cozy, as long as you weren't sitting somewhere there was a breeze coming in from under a door, or it wasn't raining and making the window in the diningroom leak. We had wireless, but only in the hall near the front door, so we'd spread a blanket out on the floor to keep our butts from getting too cold. Oh, and the other quirk was that we couldn't figure out how to make the hot water for the shower work. Hayley seemed to have really good luck, but Libby and I did not. And the heaters didn't work. I know I'm making this sound awful, but you have to believe me, it was not it was the opposite of awful it was so great. It was really clean, and recently renovated and adorable. Trust me. 

We had a fanflippingtastic dinner that night at a local place that was incredibly affordable and delicious. Heather and Hayley had seafood for under €10 I believe, I had a yummy ravioli and Libby had one of the best pizzas. We shared an appetizer of some kind of pita like dough with arugula, tomatoes, and sharp cheese, and the waiter was so friendly. We rolled ourselves the 3 minutes (literally) home and passed out. 

Day 3 (Sunday), Sorrento: Megan magically and miraculously arrived on Sunday! She managed to make her way on an all night bus from Siena to Napoli and then Napoli to Sorrento, which is impressive, but more impressive, managed to find us way up in the hills! I didn't mention this, but we weren't actually in Sorrento proper. We were a little more out on the peninsula (go look at a map or something so this makes sense) in a tiny community called Colli di Fontanella that is only reachable by 'pull-man' bus, and with a little help from some southerners (who, we were beginning to realize, are extremely friendly and kind) Megan appeared at our door, having figured it all out.

We wandered into Sorrento to have lunch with two other girls from the program who were also  staying in town and then did some grocery shopping. It was kind of rainy, and it became apparent that Sorrento is a fairly touristy city, even if it is fairly deserted this time of year. 

A yummy homemade dinner made by my lovely trip mates who were so kind to poor sick me ended a fairly uneventful day. 

Day 4 (Monday), Pompeii: As you have no doubt already noticed, Monday we went to Pompeii! Which is fairly near by - about half way between Sorrento and Napoli. I was a little apprehensive about just wandering the ruins alone, since it's a) huge and b) just a lot of stuff. You don't really know what you're looking at unless you have something to tell you - a guide or a book or something. And there were guides wandering around, but it was €10 a person for a tour, which is around $13 and a little steep. But a nice old guide named Pasquale (remember, you gotta pronounce all the letters) offered to take five of us for the price of 3, so only €6 each. And I'm so glad we did that, because it made Pompeii so much more enjoyable since he was telling us all the important stuff.

Us in Pompeii! Unrelated to the blog except that it's hilarious.

We saw fountains that still work and are totally potable (although with new valves), the funny street crossing stones, the pipes that delivered water to houses (bigger pipe, more expensive, more water), the public baths, and (of course) the brothel. It's one of the better preserved buildings, but don't worry I didn't post the pictures on the internet. Pompeii as a whole though is very strange. I had a weird feeling wandering the streets of the city and layering in what happened there 2000 years ago when Vesuvius erupted. Like those books from when I was a kid with the pictures of the modern ruins and over top was layered a piece of clear plastic with the ancient city on it, so you could flip back and forth from past to present. It felt a little like that. 

Afterwards we walked along the road to a big super-store like grocery to buy food for lunch instead of eat at a restaurant. It was very strange to be in what felt like a very American style store in italy. But they managed to Italicize it anyway - there was a huge group of Italians standing in one isle, jamming traffic and chatting away leisurely. So Italian.

Day 5 (Tuesday), Capri (and also 6+7): We decided that we had to go to Capri. Yeah, we heard it was touristy, but how bad would it be if we returned to the States and said, "Oh, we were 30 minutes from Capri, but thought we wouldn't go..." Pretty bad, is the answer. 

The weather was absolutely perfect, if a little windy. We took the super short, super grungy ferry (let's just say I have a new found appreciation for BCFerries) over to Capri fairly early in the day. No view to speak of, since the windows were weirdly scratched up. But the water dear lord the water is the bluest of blues. The closest comparison is that water they put in the fountains/rivers of minigolf courses that is so filled with dye. It's like that but real.

I'm about to go down there.

We could sort of tell Capri is a tourist trap, although compared to what I'm sure it's like a few months from now, it was deserted. We decided to meander through the smaller roads of the island on our way to the top - it's a pointy little hill island - so we got to see the adorable little winding streets. We had a windy grocery-store lunch which was delicious and cheap, but the highlight was following Heather down a cliff!

See, we found this old trail which we followed until it started to die, but it didn't quite die it just lead down this extraordinarily steep hill. Which Heather bravely decided to continue along (Libby and I last). It was a little sketchy at some points, but there were ropes and so forth tied to help us down, so we knew people do this with some sort of regularity. At the bottom were these big rocks, no sand, of the tidal pool type variety, but the waves were too strong to actually leave any tidal pools, so it was just a sort of rocky platform. We clambered around, amazed at our luck, jumped up and down in excitement and took a bunch of pictures. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful - we paid an exorbitant amount for coffee near the port where the ferries arrive, and went back to Sorrento pooped. 

Wednesday was a stay-in-and-never-get-out-of-your-pjs-day, and Thursday Heather, Libby, Hayley and I made our way to Ischia, an island an hour away from Napoli by boat. The only story worth telling that day is that the ferry was tiny and there was "lots of sea" to quote the ferry dude. Hayley and I wanted to stay with our stuff, so we sat at the front, where he told us we shouldn't sit. Stupid me was going, "I know boats, I live on an island, how bad can it be!?" Very very bad, is the answer. I'm convinced that hell is being seasick on a boat, and feeling like you're going to puke, but maybe not if the boat just stops right now but it never does. I think the only reason I didn't upchuck is that I was staring at the horizon like a mad man the whole time (thanks for that cookie-saving tip Dad). Hayley and I were both miserable, Libby said she had really felt it to. But Heather, who really knows boats (her dad is a lobsterman in Maine, and she helps him out) was happy as a clam. 

Day 8 (Friday), Ischia: Heather and Libby went to the hot springs, and Hayley and I stuck around town and goofed off. By which I mean, we shopped a bit and I bought local honey with blackberry (I am looking forward to peanut butter and honey on toast when I get back to N. America) and maybe an article of clothing or two. We just sort of wandered the town enjoying the view and the people and some coffee. We decided to pop in to a travel agent, since we all wanted to leave Saturday to get back to Siena early Sunday morning, and we were told they're extraordinarily inexpensive here. At which point, we discovered that the bus we'd been hoping to take was full, and we'd have to find something else. I also had a phone conversation with the rudest person at EuroLine, where he got very frustrated with my limited Italian, told me I couldn't get that bus, and then said "Arrivederci" and hung up. 

So Hayley and I spent the evening researching trains to get us home as easily and cheaply as possible. Which meant, we would discover, taking a night train to Grosseto (which is something like an hour from Siena) and then waiting from 2 am until 5 am for the train to Siena. Fun. 

Day 9+10 (Saturday + Sunday): Heather and Libby managed to get a hike in on Saturday before we left Ischia around 3. The ferry, if you were wondering, was perfectly fine - we probably didn't even need the sea-sickness pills we'd bought. In Napoli, we stored our luggage at the train station for a few hours and went looking for a pizza. Which we found at Da Michele, the pizzeria where they filmed Eat, Pray, Love. We sat by Julia Robert's photo. They only do two kinds of pizza: Margherita and Marinara. It was good, but I don't know that it was the best pizza I've had. I would have liked more basil. But it was cheap, and it brings me closer to Julia Roberts (who for some reason reminds me of my Aunt Karyn... she's probably reading this right now. Hi Aunt Karyn!). 

We finally got on the train at 9ish at night. I joined Hayley in her compartment, because the train was fairly empty and I figured being alone on an all night train was a poor choice. There were two really adorable guys in her compartment who were friendly, and luckily, not at all creepy. They (re)taught me to play a card game called 'scopa' which I'd learned and then forgotten last time I was here. 

All was well until about Rome - we'd turned the lights off and were sleeping/listening to music. A controller had already come by and punched my ticket and not said anything about me being in the wrong compartment, so I thought I was fine. But there was some commotion when we got to Rome and our compartment filled up and one of the guys we'd met left because he was in the wrong place. I pretended to sleep. Hayley says some guy was mad because he was supposed to be in our compartment, but there wasn't room because I was there. But instead of turning on the lights and figuring out who was in the wrong place, there was just a bunch of frustration and wild gesticulating. As I understood it later, the guy didn't have the right ticket. He sat near our compartment in the hall and explained it to another guy in our compartment. 

But here's where I fall in love. At first, there was a lot of noise going on down the hall of the train, shouting and so forth. And all the guys in our compartment get a little concerned and lean forwards/get up. And the remaining cute guy from before gets up, removes his belt, wraps it around his hand, and moves to the door. Like he's going to protect us all from certain death. And there was something so heroic and yet impotent about that action that I was smitten. We barely talked the whole rest of the journey, but in my sleep-deprived state, he was the best person I've ever met. He'll be the one that got away, probably, since I don't know his name and he was going on to Turino (I'm mostly kidding about this dude, but I'm not saying I wouldn't elope with him if the opportunity presented itself).

In Grosseto, there were a bunch of pigeons inside the train station which stopped us from sleeping because they're gross and wanted to eat us. And the toilets were closed, because they have hours, so I may have had to use the bushes. Imeanwhat. 

I finally got home at some deathly hour in the morning - seven or eight or something. I literally started to tear up when I came in - break was fantastic, but it was such a relief to be home especially after so much travel. Siena has never felt more like home.

<3