We spent another Friday night out in Trastevere and once again had an unbelievable time After a long, yet very successful, first week of teaching most of us felt a strong urge to get out of the apartment and revisit the city. We went back to Carlo Menta, which is officially my favorite restaurant in Rome, for dinner. I was craving something that did not include marinara sauce so I ordered gnocchi with pesto and was so happy with that choice. The gnocchi was cooked to perfection and the pesto was seasoned perfectly. If only I could cook like the chefs in Italy (though I have to say I made an incredible pasta dinner last night!)
We explored the side streets a bit more and actually ran into a few teachers from one of our cooperating schools. They were so welcoming and very helpful, giving us tips for the travel weekend ahead. It was great to finally have a conversation with people outside of our group who speak fluent English (not that I’m complaining, I am starting to get pretty decent at conversational Italian—especially if you include pointing and awkward hand gestures as part of the conversation). Later on, part of the group went back to the apartment to rest up for the early day ahead, but Alyssa and I decided to stay out a bit longer. We became friends with a group of 6 natives who were so much fun. They were all about our age and so happy to meet Americans. Likewise, Alyssa and I were super thankful for their graciousness in hanging out with us. We are definitely going to try and coordinate another rendezvous with that group.
After a late night out it was difficult getting up in the morning, but I was too excited about the traveling ahead to actually mind. We left for the train station around 7:30am. Our first destination? Napoli. Getting to the station is a bit of a blur, but we made it with no problem and hopped on the 8:30 train with plenty of time to spare. We departed for Naples and had around two hours to sleep, catch up on work and play train games. I snuck a few pictures of the group sleeping; blackmail.
We arrived in Naples, the original birthplace of pizza, around 11:00. This was not our ultimate destination, but we did want to walk around the city a bit, so we stopped at a few vendors for pizza. We also grabbed some pastries—which were incredible—before having to leave. We found the smaller train system in no time and got a ticket (only about 3 euro!) down to Pompeii. Unfortunately, we had to stand during this 30 minute train ride, but it was a lot of fun to practice train surfing and play a few games. We all got a little separated once teaching started, so it was really nice to be (mostly) all together for the trip.
We arrived in Pompeii and began the search for our hotel. Surprisingly, this was the only time during the entire weekend trip that we did not immediately find our way. We took the wrong fork in the road for about 100 meters, but were soon helped by two friendly polizia who pointed us in the right direction. We made it to our hotel, Hotel Forum, and were immediately in awe of the beauty and gratuitousness of the concierge. They were so helpful at the front desk in terms of planning the rest of the trip, getting to and from places, and suggesting restaurants where we could eat. Definitely a top rate hotel and it was extremely cheap for the night.
We dropped out belongings off in the room and got ready to explore Pompeii. The excavation site stops allowing visitors in at 3:30 and is open only until 5:00. Being that it was already nearing 1:00 we knew we’d want to get in as soon as possible. Even after three hours we had hardly seen everything. What we did see, though, was astonishing. I’ve included just a few pictures, but even the really amazing ones cannot do this place justice. I remember reading about Pompeii as a child, but actually being able to see it was truly mind blowing. We were given a small handbook and map to help explain some of what we were looking at, but the whole place really seemed to speak for itself. In some ways, there was this constant sense of heaviness as we explore the site—knowing that the entire ancient city was destroyed so suddenly. I think I was most amazed by how similar their society was to ours. You would think that a group of peoples who lived so long ago would operate under a totally different system of life, yet so many things were easily recognizable and very much akin to what we have today. The best example of this I can give was in the ‘street’ system (not that they had cars) but they did number each of the homes just as we do today! There was also a house with a larger backyard and room for a fountain/pond in which the residents might have kept fish as pets. What a shame that such an advanced society was so suddenly annihilated (annihilated is one of my students’ vocabulary words for this unit!)
The left picture has our entire group (minus the few who stayed home for the weekend) with just some of the ruins and the streets I mentioned behind us, and a beautiful view of Vesuvius in the background. The picture on the right is one of the more famous artifacts of Pompeii. Essentially these are people frozen in time. It was hard to imagine and even more difficult to believe.
We were all famished after Pompeii, so we decided to walk to the nearest piazza for some grub. We encountered our first gypsy child who tried distracting some of the group with some ridiculous song and dance and a scarf. Fortunately, we are all looking out for each other and no one was pick pocketed or anything. It is really sad that such young children are sent to do these types of things. It is just a constant reminder of how lucky many of us are, in my opinion.
Dinner was at a steak house, quite the change of pace after all this pasta and pizza, and was delicious. It was a recommendation by our concierge. Despite being vegetarian, I found a delicious salad-inspired meal and was super satisfied. We also ordered two mini-bottles of wine and got the chance to have a taste test (by the way, wine really is cheaper than water in Italy). It was a really long day so we decided that we ought to get to bed relatively early…
But not until we had dessert. We stopped on the way home for some gelato and I got the two best flavors yet. Fragola and melone (strawberry and cantaloupe). This was the best gelato I’ve had so far (if I’ve previously said that in another post, I’ll have to go back and compare). It hit the spot. We went back to our beautiful hotel and went right to bed—I definitely got the best sleep of the trip that night.
We woke up early again on Sunday in preparation for more travel. The plan was to head down to Sorrento (where Persico’s hail from) for the day. We were treated to a delicious continental breakfast (much better than any continental breakfast back home) and left in search of the train station. We literally followed a stray dog all the way to the station. Thinking back, he was probably following us, but there was a cute puppy leading the way. It was another thirty minute train ride South. While we were on the train we kept catching quick glimpses of the shoreline and the sea. Needless to say, the anticipation to see Sorrento grew exponentially with each minute on the train. Once we arrived and felt the sunlight on our faces we knew we made the right decision in visiting this weekend. It was approximately 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 Celsius) and felt like a beautiful Spring day. Additionally, we were by the Mediterranean Sea at one of the most beautiful ports in the world. I want to have my honeymoon in Sorrento. It was indescribably gorgeous. We walked (with all of our luggage) down this long and windy road toward the sea, making occasional stops for photo opportunities. If I could live anywhere in the world, I might have to choose the coast of Sorrento as my destination. The pictures below hardly capture how astonishing this place was.
We made it down to the sea and witnessed this adorable little Italian man catch some type of fish right off the coast. It was evident that that would be his dinner for the evening (how nice to be able to just go in your backyard and catch dinner…). We ventured further along the shoreline and I actually took my shoes off to put my feet in the water. It was cold, but not frigid. Had I a bathing suit in tow I might’ve considered jumping in (though it would have been quite chilly) Nevertheless, the water was crystal clear. We were on a dock in what must have been at least 10 feet of water (3 to 4 meters, I’d bet) and could literally see all the way to the bottom. I loved it and wish we never had to leave.
Unfortunately, we had a 2:30 train to catch back in Naples so we could not stay at the water’s edge for too long. We stopped for lunch and a bit of shopping on the walk back, but just as quickly as we’d arrived it was time to head home. The public transportation was operating in our favor this weekend. We caught a small train back to Naples just in time to catch our final train to Rome. Other than having to ask where the train actually was (in perfect Italian, might I add) we made it with time to spare. At least a few minutes time.
We made it back to the apartment and stopped at a small pizzeria around the corner for a quick dinner. I had a spinaci Stromboli, which was amazing and once again, cheap. We spent the night together recalling fun stories from the weekend and planning our big trip next month. It looks like we will be visiting London and Barcelona for a few days each. I’m very excited to be going, but I don’t want that day to come as it marks the end of my time in Rome! Nonetheless, this weekend really helped show me how easy it is to travel in Europe. I’m amazed by the amount we were able to see in just two short days and I am seriously looking forward to our next adventure!
Funny Stories of the weekend:
The gypsy child, her scarf, fake tears and our huddling/running away
The gypsy bus
Playing ‘mafia’ on the train
“The dogs here are like the squirrels of America”-Laney
That friendly stray dog leading the way back to the train station in Pompeii
The brothel in Pompeii
Alyssa waking me up in the middle of the night because of her swollen finger and ring (haha, it is off now, no worries)
The crazy lady on the train ride home offering candy from her endless purse-reminded me of my grandmother's bag that never ends!
Words of the Day:
I'm hungry: ho fame
search: cerca
may I?: posso
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