Our trip from Naples to Florence was, compared to our other trips, actually pretty easy. We dragged our suitcases from Casa Susy to the Sant'Agnello train station, took an hour long train ride to the big Naples station, ate some McDonald's, and paid 68 euros (yikes) for our train tickets to Florence. But when we saw how much nicer this train was compared to the previous public transportation we had been using, the 68 euros seemed worth it. So, we got comfortable with our big, soft seats and wifi for the three hour ride up to Florence.
After an extremely confusing bus ride to the hotel (it was supposed to take about 15 minutes, but took ahout an hour), we were settled into the hotel by about 7 PM. We stayed at Hotel D'Azeglio, a really tiny, simple hotel in the center of Florence. The woman who runs the hotel with her husband was so sweet; she marked down sightseeing, restaurants, and shopping for us on a map before even checking us in. The hotel was just a 10 minute walk from the famous Duomo Cathedral, and only a bit further to the shopping markets, piazzas, Santa Croce, and more.
Anyone who was on my Italy trip last year knows that most of us did not exactly love Florence. The 2 and a half days we spend there were hot and tiring, and many of us had negative encounters with shop owners at the street market. But this time around, I got a completely different impression of Florence and fell in love with the city.
Florence is so easy to get around. Literally everything worth seeing is within walking distance from each other, and the Dumomo provides a great central landmark in case you get lost. After checking in, we decided to try one of the nearby restaurants that the hotel owner reccomended to us. We walked just a few minutes down the road to La Ghiotta, a simple and small family owned restaurant that has some of the best food I've ever tasted. I order tagliatelle with mushrooms and cream sauce and Myrissa had ravioli with meat sauce. This pasta was so incredible; it was on par with my favorite pasta from Novecento in Rome. In fact, we both loved our food so much that we ordered a third bowl of pasta, orchiette with vegetables, and split it.
That night, we decided to go to Space Electronic disco club, the same club the Jersey Shore cast went to when they lived in Florence (not why we went!) and that Myrissa's dad went to in the seventies! We stood in line behind a group of 15 year old Brazilian kids. The club manager came out and warned all of them not to drink because they're under 18, and I wondered for a minute if Myrissa and I were about to go to a club filled with kids who are my sisters' ages. But when we walked into the club, saw the crowds of people dancing, flashing lights, and groups of American students, I knew we made the right choice. Honestly, it was one of the most fun nights we had on the trip, and I think Myrissa agrees with me. We made some friends from America and learned from the Brazilian girls how to do the Ai Se Eu Te Pego dance. My pictures and videos from the night probably do a much better job of describing it than I possibly can!
We went back to La Ghiotta for lunch the next afternoon, then spent the rest of the day sightseeing all over Florence. We originally planned to go on a wine tour, but decided to save our money and enjoy the city instead. We saw Il Duomo, Santa Croce, Piazza Repubblica, Piazza Signoria, the old bridge, and did quite a bit of shopping at the open air market. Myrissa and I went from stand to stand, smelling and rubbing purses to try and determine if they were real leather. I eneded up with a really nice brown leather (hopefully) purse that I've been using since I bought it! My market experience this year was significantly less traumatizing than last year's.
That night, we went out to two bars that are pretty touristy and popular for Americans to go to. Neither of us wanted to leave Flornece, our adorable hotel, or our favorite pasta the next day. I expcted to come to Florence this time around feeling the same way I did last year, but my feelings are completely reversed now. Florence is such a liveable, comortable city, surrounded by Tuscany and molded by so much history, not to mention some of the best artwork in the world (which Myrissa and I both wish we could appreciate/understand more). Despite how breathtakingly beautiful southern Italy is, I know I could never live there, but I could live in Florence.
Two short nights in Florence really were not enough. I'm so happy I was able to experience Florence from a different perspective, but now I know I have to come back soon, especially since we didn't have time to see Tuscany!
Anyway, leaving Florence on Thursday wasn't so bad because we were beyond excited to finally reunite with our favorite Maryland exchange students in Milan. We walked around Florence for the afternoon, did a bit more shopping, and took a 4 PM train to Milan.
It was finally time to see Sofia and all our other friends! After all, they are the reason we came to Italy in the first place!
xoxo
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
A week in Italian paradise
So, I wrote a really long and detailed post about our week in the Amalfi Coast, but somehow due to the spotty wifi in my hotel it got deleted. I still have to write about Florence and our weekend in Milan, though, so I'll keep my second take on this post a bit shorter. I can't possibly write enough to sum up what a fantastic week it was, but I'll give it a shot.
I mentioned in my last post that Myrissa and I spent our first evening in Sant'Agnello swimming at our "private" beach. Diving into that water after spending four days with little relief from the heat in Rome was exactly what we needed. We were surrounded by cliffs, topped with beautiful homes and hotels on one side, and a fiery sunset dotted with sailboats and yachts on the other. It truly felt like heaven, and after an equally enchanting trip to Positano the day after, we decided to extend our stay in Sant'Agnello from four nights to seven.
After our first day in Positano, we spent 4 days at the public beach in Sorrento. Each day, we arrived in Sorrento via a 2 minute train ride from Sant'Agnello, walked around town and ate lunch, and then walked down 150 stairs to the beach. The beach area in Sorrento is very tiny, and is portioned off into several private and one public beach. Most tourists opt for the private beaches that cost about 20 euros to enter, but we decided not to waste our money and spend our week at the public beach among Italians from the greater Naples area. Some people noticed Myrissa and I were American and gave us a lot of attention, which was uncomfortable at times. Guys asked us out on dates, wanted to take pictures with us, and asked us about America. We witnessed (and tried to help) a group of high school age American guys getting picked on by a group of young Italian boys who were trying to steal their things. Suddenly a group of about 30 people were surrounding the American boys and yelling at one another in Italian, and the American boys were completely terrified, picked up their things and ran away. I noticed right away that nearly all the girls wore teeny tiny bikinis, while the guys are extremely skinny, have perfectly sculpted abs, and wear the smallest speedos possible. I'm not just making a generalization, either! Anyway, I suppose spending 4 days at the public beach rather than the private ones gave us a taste of real southern Italian culture, which was really cool.
We stayed at a hotel called Casa Susy, an pink hotel run by an adorable mother/grandmother who cooks and cleans all day to satisfy her family, who lives in the hotel, and guests. She was so sweet and welcoming to us, and every morning and evening greeted us with "ciao bellas!". She was happy to hear we wanted to stay for 7 nights, but didn't have room for us on the 5th night, so we hurriedly booked a room at a hostel in town for night #5. The hostel was filled with American college students (many from Penn State, I noticed) and was very comfortable and well run. At night, they essentially converted the roof into a night club, and we hung out there for a little bit until going to sleep. Staying at the hostel was great, but it was nice to return to the homey comfort of Casa Susy the next morning.
During our week, I noticed that the public transportation system in southern Italy is truly confounding and probably has not been updated in about 20 years. At the train stations, there are no ticket machines, only tellers, and the trains and platforms are not marked. There are no announcements about times or locations; a train simply pulls up to a random platform at some loosely designated time, and you get on hoping to find someone who speaks English who can tell you if it's going to the right place. Sant'Agnello's train station was simple because there was only one platform, but it was much harder at Naples and Sorrento were there were multiple trains present at one time. The bus system is even more confusing. There are no bus schedules to be found anywhere. There aren't any clearly marked bus stops, and when you finally find a bus stop, no one there seems to know when/if the train is coming. We attempted to go back to Positano during the week, only to wait for 20 minutes past "departure time" and find that the bus was not coming any time soon.
But, other than the confusing public transportation system, the Amalfi Coast is truly amazing. The highlight of our week was without a doubt the last day. Susy booked a tour of Capri for us, but at 9 AM that day we were told the tour was cancelled due to rough waters. Well, Susy called her friend who works at the company, said a lot of assertive-sounding phrases in Italian, and a few minutes later we were on our way to the boat. We boarded a gorgeous, small boat along with about 10 other people. The ride to Capri was breathtaking, and we met some great people from America and really sweet couple from Holland. From America, we met Kendra and Mickey, Mickey's son Nick, and Chalisa. Myrissa and I spent much of the boat ride sharing our travel stories (and other random conversation topics) with them. Before docking in Capri, the boat stopped at a few caves, and we were amazed at how the cloudless sky and sun reflected off the water and cave walls, giving the water a strikingly bright blue color. The boat stopped in a cove where the water was calm, and Kendra, Nick and Myrissa dove right into the turquoise tides. But, since I'm terrified of deep water (something most people don't know about me) it was hard for me to find the courage to jump in with them. I sat with Chalisa and Mickey and dipped my feet in, and after everyone cheered me on a bit, I jumped in and floated in the perfect water for a couple of minutes. In fact, the water was so beautiful that I jumped in twice!
We spent the rest of the boat ride to Capri laying out on the boat deck and watching the coast, in all of its paradisal glory, pass us by. We ate lunch with everyone on the island, and I had delicious pasta carbonara and a Rosini cocktail as I overlooked the picturesque landscape, home, water and boats that Capri is known for. The whole experience was quite surreal. During lunch, Kendra told us about a vacation tradition her family has called your "orchid" and "onion". Your orchid is the best part of your trip, and your onion is the worst. Before finishing lunch, each of us shared the orchids and onions of our trips, and Myrissa and I shared them from both London and Rome. In London, my orchid was seeing Wicked in the West End, and in Rome, it was seeing the Trevi Fountain at night.
After lunch, Myrissa and I took a team car up to the main square of Capri, where we bought coral and Murano glass bracelets and followed an enticing smell that led us to a bakery with the most delicious lemon and nut cookies I've ever had. On the boat ride back, the waves were quite rough and we got really wet from them smashing against the side of the boat. One of our tour guides, a hilarious Italian man who wore super short swim shorts and a tight red shirt, invited us all to dinner at his cooking school. 18 euro for a 4 course meal? I'll take it.
A couple of hours later, we arrived at the cooking school to find our tour guide still wearing his swim shorts and red shirt, but with a leather jacket on top and Vespa helmet in hand. Myrissa said he looked like an Italian version of Alan from The Hangover, and I could not agree more. We ate eggplant lasagna, homemade pasta with meat sauce, pork filet wrapped in mushrooms and a pastry, and apple cake for desert. After dinner, we spent the night in Sorrento with everyone we had met that day. We had drinks at a rooftop garden terrace called the English Inn, and talked and enjoyed the gorgeous night before going back to Casa Susy for our last night. It was really so great to meet all of you!
The next morning, we packed our (heavy) bags to leave for Florence. With one final "ciao bellas!" we said goodbye to Susy, our view of Vesuvius, our perfect beaches, the pizza place down the road, and a week of total relaxation. We left with dark sun tans, lots of limoncello, cookies, and heavy hearts, but knew we had great times awaiting us. That evening, we would arrive in Florence and just two days later, in Milan to reunite with our friends.
Thank you, Sant'Agnello, for an incredible week. I know we'll be back soon.
Xoxo
I mentioned in my last post that Myrissa and I spent our first evening in Sant'Agnello swimming at our "private" beach. Diving into that water after spending four days with little relief from the heat in Rome was exactly what we needed. We were surrounded by cliffs, topped with beautiful homes and hotels on one side, and a fiery sunset dotted with sailboats and yachts on the other. It truly felt like heaven, and after an equally enchanting trip to Positano the day after, we decided to extend our stay in Sant'Agnello from four nights to seven.
After our first day in Positano, we spent 4 days at the public beach in Sorrento. Each day, we arrived in Sorrento via a 2 minute train ride from Sant'Agnello, walked around town and ate lunch, and then walked down 150 stairs to the beach. The beach area in Sorrento is very tiny, and is portioned off into several private and one public beach. Most tourists opt for the private beaches that cost about 20 euros to enter, but we decided not to waste our money and spend our week at the public beach among Italians from the greater Naples area. Some people noticed Myrissa and I were American and gave us a lot of attention, which was uncomfortable at times. Guys asked us out on dates, wanted to take pictures with us, and asked us about America. We witnessed (and tried to help) a group of high school age American guys getting picked on by a group of young Italian boys who were trying to steal their things. Suddenly a group of about 30 people were surrounding the American boys and yelling at one another in Italian, and the American boys were completely terrified, picked up their things and ran away. I noticed right away that nearly all the girls wore teeny tiny bikinis, while the guys are extremely skinny, have perfectly sculpted abs, and wear the smallest speedos possible. I'm not just making a generalization, either! Anyway, I suppose spending 4 days at the public beach rather than the private ones gave us a taste of real southern Italian culture, which was really cool.
We stayed at a hotel called Casa Susy, an pink hotel run by an adorable mother/grandmother who cooks and cleans all day to satisfy her family, who lives in the hotel, and guests. She was so sweet and welcoming to us, and every morning and evening greeted us with "ciao bellas!". She was happy to hear we wanted to stay for 7 nights, but didn't have room for us on the 5th night, so we hurriedly booked a room at a hostel in town for night #5. The hostel was filled with American college students (many from Penn State, I noticed) and was very comfortable and well run. At night, they essentially converted the roof into a night club, and we hung out there for a little bit until going to sleep. Staying at the hostel was great, but it was nice to return to the homey comfort of Casa Susy the next morning.
During our week, I noticed that the public transportation system in southern Italy is truly confounding and probably has not been updated in about 20 years. At the train stations, there are no ticket machines, only tellers, and the trains and platforms are not marked. There are no announcements about times or locations; a train simply pulls up to a random platform at some loosely designated time, and you get on hoping to find someone who speaks English who can tell you if it's going to the right place. Sant'Agnello's train station was simple because there was only one platform, but it was much harder at Naples and Sorrento were there were multiple trains present at one time. The bus system is even more confusing. There are no bus schedules to be found anywhere. There aren't any clearly marked bus stops, and when you finally find a bus stop, no one there seems to know when/if the train is coming. We attempted to go back to Positano during the week, only to wait for 20 minutes past "departure time" and find that the bus was not coming any time soon.
But, other than the confusing public transportation system, the Amalfi Coast is truly amazing. The highlight of our week was without a doubt the last day. Susy booked a tour of Capri for us, but at 9 AM that day we were told the tour was cancelled due to rough waters. Well, Susy called her friend who works at the company, said a lot of assertive-sounding phrases in Italian, and a few minutes later we were on our way to the boat. We boarded a gorgeous, small boat along with about 10 other people. The ride to Capri was breathtaking, and we met some great people from America and really sweet couple from Holland. From America, we met Kendra and Mickey, Mickey's son Nick, and Chalisa. Myrissa and I spent much of the boat ride sharing our travel stories (and other random conversation topics) with them. Before docking in Capri, the boat stopped at a few caves, and we were amazed at how the cloudless sky and sun reflected off the water and cave walls, giving the water a strikingly bright blue color. The boat stopped in a cove where the water was calm, and Kendra, Nick and Myrissa dove right into the turquoise tides. But, since I'm terrified of deep water (something most people don't know about me) it was hard for me to find the courage to jump in with them. I sat with Chalisa and Mickey and dipped my feet in, and after everyone cheered me on a bit, I jumped in and floated in the perfect water for a couple of minutes. In fact, the water was so beautiful that I jumped in twice!
We spent the rest of the boat ride to Capri laying out on the boat deck and watching the coast, in all of its paradisal glory, pass us by. We ate lunch with everyone on the island, and I had delicious pasta carbonara and a Rosini cocktail as I overlooked the picturesque landscape, home, water and boats that Capri is known for. The whole experience was quite surreal. During lunch, Kendra told us about a vacation tradition her family has called your "orchid" and "onion". Your orchid is the best part of your trip, and your onion is the worst. Before finishing lunch, each of us shared the orchids and onions of our trips, and Myrissa and I shared them from both London and Rome. In London, my orchid was seeing Wicked in the West End, and in Rome, it was seeing the Trevi Fountain at night.
After lunch, Myrissa and I took a team car up to the main square of Capri, where we bought coral and Murano glass bracelets and followed an enticing smell that led us to a bakery with the most delicious lemon and nut cookies I've ever had. On the boat ride back, the waves were quite rough and we got really wet from them smashing against the side of the boat. One of our tour guides, a hilarious Italian man who wore super short swim shorts and a tight red shirt, invited us all to dinner at his cooking school. 18 euro for a 4 course meal? I'll take it.
A couple of hours later, we arrived at the cooking school to find our tour guide still wearing his swim shorts and red shirt, but with a leather jacket on top and Vespa helmet in hand. Myrissa said he looked like an Italian version of Alan from The Hangover, and I could not agree more. We ate eggplant lasagna, homemade pasta with meat sauce, pork filet wrapped in mushrooms and a pastry, and apple cake for desert. After dinner, we spent the night in Sorrento with everyone we had met that day. We had drinks at a rooftop garden terrace called the English Inn, and talked and enjoyed the gorgeous night before going back to Casa Susy for our last night. It was really so great to meet all of you!
The next morning, we packed our (heavy) bags to leave for Florence. With one final "ciao bellas!" we said goodbye to Susy, our view of Vesuvius, our perfect beaches, the pizza place down the road, and a week of total relaxation. We left with dark sun tans, lots of limoncello, cookies, and heavy hearts, but knew we had great times awaiting us. That evening, we would arrive in Florence and just two days later, in Milan to reunite with our friends.
Thank you, Sant'Agnello, for an incredible week. I know we'll be back soon.
Xoxo
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)