Rain Can’t Even Make Italy Look Dull

Hello darlings! This past weekend I survived my first bus2alps trip to the Amalfi Coast… thank god! I have four more bus2alps trips so I’m very excited that I loved this trip. Not that I was worried. Bus2alps Amalfi Coast trip is actually rated #1 for best European tour!

Thursday a big group of my friends and I headed up to Florence to catch the 6 hour bus ride to Amalfi Coast (that includes the 45 minute rest stop). We got a bite to eat at Gusta Pizza in Florence. Micky and I split gnocchi and vegetables. It was my first time ever eating gnocchi and I loved it! It’s kind of like mini pierogis!

After we got dinner, we rushed to where bus2alps was meeting us. We literally ran across Florence to make it in time. It was well worth it. If you’ve never been to Magnum ice cream before, it is similar to a froyo place. They allow you top pick three toppings, ice cream favor, and a chocolate coating flavor. They dip the ice cream bar into the chocolate and dump all the toppings on it as the chocolate hardens. It is very similar to the delicious Häagen-Dazs bars I mentioned over the summer.

The drive was not bad at all. Courtney and I made friends with two random guys sitting behind us and we got to watch movies the whole ride. It makes me a lot less nervous about our upcoming trips to Budapest and Prague that are 12 hours long.

Friday morning, we woke up at 6am to catch a ferry to Capri. From Capri we took a guided boat tour around the islands featured in famous movies like Wolf of Wall street. We saw the amazing Blue Grotto. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw how beautiful it was. In complete darkness you just see this vibrant blue water and the small tunnel you were launched into. I kept joking with my friend, Courtney, that I want the color of every water surrounding Italy. It’s unreal. While you’re inside the Blue Grotto, the man driving the little boat sings to you in Italian. So far, it is my favorite experience of Italy thus far.

We went back to Capri and ate pasta and pizza. Many people got handmade leather sandals. I figured I would save my money for Italian leather boots. Trust me it was a lot of will power to resist buying the sandals! I did buy a Christmas Ornament. I’ll be doing a post about souvenirs/gifts I’ve purchased once I’m home so be on the look out for that in December!

Later that night, we went out to a restaurant where I got antipasto. It was very good.

After eating, we went out to an American karaoke bar. There was a DJ who let us play our crazy american songs and dance on stage. The DJ even randomly started wearing this giant wig and dancing and singing with us! We had the time of our lives singing and dancing to all the classics. After the American Karaoke bar we headed to the planned bus2alps bar where there was a million people dancing. It was so much fun.

The next day we got to sleep in until 10 because it was raining. We jumped on the bus to Positano to see the beautiful houses and black sand beach.

When we arrived, we were famished. So we ran to Vini & Panini and got the best panini ever. Since I’ve been in Italy, I have not had turkey once. They had turkey! I can’t explain in words how excited I was. I ended up getting turkey, provolone, pesto, tomato, and lettuce. That is the same sandwich I get at home with the addition of the delicious pesto. I would go back again just to eat that again.

We kept running into different stores because it was raining so hard. Since all of Positano is a mountain, you could only imagine how soaked we got when we were climbing up the hill or crawling down the hill. Here is a picture of the river down the stairs:

Later that night, we bought food from the super market for incredibly cheap. If you’re traveling, I highly recommend doing that for some meals because you’ll save a ton of money. If you save money that mean you can see more things! We made sandwiches in the hostel’s restaurant and the power went off four times. We cracked jokes and talked about everything under the sun. It was a very low key night but one of the best. Sometimes you need a low key night to appreciate what you have.

The next day we packed everything up and headed to Pompeii. We couldn’t really see the mountains because they were covered by clouds, but I could only imagine what they looked like based on the little we could see.

The picture above is actually my iPhone home screen. I just loved how pretty it was. This was from the flooring in the biggest home in Pompeii.

Have meaning welcome in Latin.

To end the perfect trip we watched Pitch Perfect, Wedding Crashers, and Dodgeball on the way home. We also got to see this beautiful sunset in Tuscany.

Next weekend will be very low key. My study abroad program is taking us to a wine tasting on Friday and on Saturday to a chocolate festival in Assisi. Saint Francis is actually from Assisi so that is going to be really cool to see. I go to a Franciscan catholic college for those who do not know.

The week after, I’ll be going to Barcelona October 23-26, Paris October 26-29, and London October 29-1. It’s going to be a very crazy week! I can’t wait to show you all those pictures! I’m incredibly excited for Barcelona! Tapas, Churros, Casa Batllo, and the Picasso Museum! I really can’t wait for every place but especially Barcelona.

I hope you’re having a wonderful week and are enjoying nice weather wherever you are.

As always,