An amazing weekend

Positano

Hey, everyone! I know most of you saw my pictures from last weekend and I've talked to most of you about my trip to the Amalfi Coast, but I still think it's worth a blog post (even though it was a week ago)....


I still can't believe that last weekend actually happened. It still feels like a dream. The views I witnessed first hand and the things I can now say I have done is mind boggling. All I can say is that the Amalfi Coast is absolutely breathtaking and should be in everyones top 10 on their bucket list.


The weekend started for me early Friday morning at about 3:30 AM. We had to get to the bus by 5AM across the city, and naturally Jenna and I had no idea where we were going. We met everyone at the bus and we were en route to Sorrento by 5:30AM and didn't get there until about 5 or 6 PM. It was a long time to be stuck on a coach bus, but once we got there it was totally worth it. Everyone on the bus was a student studying abroad in Florence or Rome from the USA. It was cool to meet new people in the same position as us.

Our bungalow! 

Once we got to Sorrento, I knew I was going to love it. Its a beautiful seaside city that is very clean, not SUPER touristy, and just totally enjoyable. We stayed in bungalows about a 5-10 minute walk from the city, which were super cool. I probably could've spent my whole semester there and been okay with it.

MMM!

Our first night we went out to dinner and I got delicious dish of ravioli stuffed with spinach and cheese covered in an amazing pesto sauce. The following day we went to Positano, which is even more beautiful than Sorrento. The day was INCREDIBLE. First we just layed on the beach, soaking up some rays, swimming in the Mediterranean, and then we went on a boat ride. The boat took us to this private little beach where we went cliff jumping into the ocean. It was insane. At first I didn't think this was where we were going to jump, but then I saw one guy start to climb up the cliff and without even thinking I was climbing up right after him. There was no thought process going on, adrenaline was pumping, I was about to jump off this cliff--- until I got to the top and looked down. Now, heres the thing... the Mediterranean is the most incredible looking body of water I've ever seen, and its absolutely crystal clear with REALLY BIG rocks deep down. That said, while I was 40 feet above the water standing on the edge of a very jagged cliff looking down, I saw these massive rocks below the surface right where I would be hitting the water. Obviously the rocks are AT LEAST 20 feet deep, but in my mind I'm thinking, "CRAP." At this point, there is no turning back. Those jagged rocks hurt my feet so badly on the way up and I'd rather jump off this cliff than scale my way back down with the potential of slipping and accidentally falling. That was NOT going to happen. So after about 20 minutes of sitting there watching everyone else survive the jump, being offered two free drinks, and contemplating my sanity, I turned to my friend Mary, told her I loved her, bit the bullet, and JUMPED. The free fall was NEVER ENDING. I had enough time to think, "THIS IS A LOT FURTHER THAN I THOUGHT, WHEN AM I GOING TO HIT?!" And then it happened... I hit... hard. If you think that Cliff Diver at Splish Splash gave you the worst wedgie  you've ever had, try jumping off a cliff. Once I hit the water I think my body was in shock. My first thought was, "Do I still have butt cheeks?" I was in pain. A lot of pain. I just let my body float to the surface. My butt was about 10 shades of pink and I couldn't feel it for a good 30 minutes. Nothing was broken, I knew that for sure. I thought I was just being a baby, but after a shower that night, I had a bruise about a foot long and 5 inches wide a very deep shade of purple and red. Ouch.

my gross bruise

Anyway, after the abuse from the jump, we were taken by boat to another spot around the cliffs and swam through grottos which was so crazy. Just thinking about it now, I'm having a hard time believing it all happened, but I know my own dreams couldn't think up such a spectacular day. The water was miraculous. Beautiful shades of blue, crystal clear, and warm yet refreshing at the same time. Incredible.


That night we had very drunk neighbors to entertain us. They were looking for their friend, Dave, who had come up to our bungalow earlier in the night to introduce himself right after a very intoxicated girl walked by thinking that a tree was a person. So this group of guys sees us spying on them out our window and start interacting with us, one says he's going to come in through the window.. and ACTUALLY does! He smelled like he was rolling around in grass all day. It was sooo weird. Luckily his friends made him leave right away.

One of the many grottos we saw in Capri

The following day we went to Capri which is also very beautiful, but not as pretty as Positano and also not as pretty as I remember it being. We hiked up to Anacapri and got lost on our way back down. Then we took a boat ride around the island. It was supposed to take us to see Blue Grotto, one of the seven wonders of the world, but for some reason we did not get to see that. However, we did see Green Grotto, White Grotto, and a few others. By the end of the day we were all super exhausted. Once we got back to Sorrento we hopped on the bus and headed back to Florence. It was back to reality for us, which I guess we can't exactly call reality.

Jumping off a 40ft cliff, no biggie.

Again, I know this took me a week to post, and I am really not very good at updating, and for that, I apologize. I'm working on it though! Italy just has so many distractions.




As always, I miss everyone and am extremely jealous of the cold weather you all are experiencing! Its still high 80s here. I know you THINK you wish you still had this weather, but you really don't. I'm jealous its almost pumping picking season! Pick some good ones! Can't wait to see pictures of gorgeous autumn days on the Island. 


Love you all!!


XO B