The moments you experience in your life that make you stop and pinch yourself because there is seriously no way on Earth that you are where you are have almost become a regular occurrence. This, of course, began when I realized I would be living in Rome for four months, and hasn’t entirely worn off.
ISA has a few planned excursions throughout the semester for those in the program that take us to some places within Italy. Having unfortunately missed the first one, I was beyond ecstatic for the next one, on which we would travel down the coast of Italy and spend the weekend on the Amalfi Coast. Let me just say, to anyone traveling to Italy, you absolutely have to find a way to get here.
Our weekend itinerary included first stopping, and hiking to the top of Mount Vesuvius. Though the trek up the mountain was a challenge, the views every step of the way were certainly worth the burning calf muscles. Peering over the mouth of a dormant crater is something I can now add to and check off the bucket list. After making our way down Vesuvio, as it is called in Italian, we hopped back on the bus and headed to our hotel in Sorrento. The next day we took a 20 minute ferry from Sorrento to the incredible island of Capri. This was by far my favorite stop of the whole weekend, and I wish I could go back a million times. The views, the crystal clear sea, the limestone cliffs, and hidden caves and grottos all added up to an unbelievable and breathtaking experience. My favorite moments of our day in Capri were the private water taxi ride, which we took around the entire island, and the very vertical hike up to the top of the island where we could see where we had just been boating and swimming in the deep blue water.
To top off this unreal weekend, we concluded our adventures by visiting Pompeii, which was quite amazing to see in person. What an eye-opening experience.
As a reminder that this isn’t a dream, midterms came shortly after, but were made much more bearable in this study setting.
A presto!