My Journey to Italia

Sorrento and Capri

There were a couple of exciting/shocking/crazy things that happened last weekend. The first of which was at the very beginning of my trip down south.

After much debate the weekend before I decided it would be all right if I returned to the South of Italy to see Sorrento and the island of Capri with a bunch of schoolmates. ("Returning" meaning, going to places near Naples, were I was for a week five years ago, so its not like I'd really been to any of these places before.) Eleven of us set out together on Friday afternoon, all dreading the horribly long train ride of six hours to reach the central station in Naples. The ride was long and boring, but the train was nice and traveling a long way on a train isn't nearly as bad as traveling a long way in a plane. We arrived in Naples at around 8pm and were immediately on guard, making sure to closely watch all our stuff since everyone had been telling us how dangerous Naples was and that we better pay attention at all times. We used the bathroom and I was very happy to be able to use my travel toilet paper for the first time! Every other bathroom I've been in here has had toilet paper but this Naples one didn't! Oh yeah for the travel toilet paper!

After that the first really exciting/shocking/crazy thing happened. My friend Mike wasn't feeling very well and wanted to use a nicer bathroom then we had been in so he said he was going to go into one of the hotels located right outside the train station and use the bathroom really fast. I said ok and that we would meet him at the ticket window where we were buying our tickets for the connecting train to Sorrento. After some time he finally called and Sameer went to meet him. I was a little stressed because we had just missed the connecting train and had to wait another half hour for the next so I didn't notice at first that Mike was holding his lip when he walked up and what he said didn't make much sense at first. He had been beat up by three Italian guys. Yes, really, in the 15 minutes we were in Naples he was literally beat up! He had gone into a hotel bathroom without asking because he felt like he was going to throw up and while he was in there someone started pounding on the door. He opened it and before he knew it he was being pulled out of the bathroom and head butted in the face. Shocked, scared and angry he pushed back and was thrown to the ground where the guys proceeded to kick him repeatedly and yell at him. The whole time he didn't know what he had done wrong or why the guys were yelling at him. Then the shoved him out the hotel door and yelled at him while he walked away stunned. Luckily Mike had enough sense to not fight back, although he said he wanted to, because he knew they had the upper hand and that there were no police in sight. It is seriously shocking that this happened and quite crazy. Hard to believe it really happened but it did. What a story to tell huh?? We can't understand why they would have done that, if they were some kind of unmarked hotel security, if they were mafia guys, if they just saw his California t-shirt and didn't like him because he was American… we don't know. It's not like they took any of his stuff either… Needless to say, after that everyone, especially Mike, was pretty shaken and ready to leave Naples as soon as possible.

The ride from Naples to Sorrento was pretty easy and took around 40 minutes. Half way through the trip one of the girls I was traveling with said she really didn't think she cold hold it anymore and she had to pee right then or she was going to pee her pants. None of us were very smart and we didn't think of getting off the train to go in a bathroom at one of the stations on the way. No way. Instead, she decided to pee in the back car of the train into a bottle. Luckily there was no one else around in the car and we closed her up in there. Pretty disgusting, huh? After all that, we finally made in to Sorrento and found the way to our hostel. We were so happy to finally get there; by then it was around 11pm. I was pretty worried too because I had stupidly forgotten my passport, which usually you have to present every time you go to a hostel or hotel, some kind of anti terrorist law Italy has. Thus, I was really worried I would have to go to the police station and have them certify that I was a US citizen who was allowed to be in the country. Lucky for me, they didn't ask for our identification or our money that night! I was so, so lucky and so dumb for not brining my passport! Next time I will for sure remember!

We didn't get to bed until 1am that night because after we checked in we went out in search of dinner. This restaurant was nice enough to take 11 people in at close to midnight even though they were in the process of closing. We had delicious pizza, bread and water. It was a very satisfying meal, as was the meal the next morning. Our hostel came with breakfast included, and it was a wonderful breakfast. The place was family owned and run so in the morning there were the older Italian ladies making drinks and preparing the rolls. We were served hot croissants, a roll, could get cereal, fruit and any kind of warm coffee we wanted. They took our order for coffee and even brought it to us. I also got to drink orange juice out of beautiful wine glasses. It was wonderful and filling! The place was just cute overall, our room was cozy and had a warm heater, and they had a GIANT dog named Spike and a little ciwawwa named Lola.

After breakfast we walked down to the main port of Sorrento to catch a ferry to the island of Capri. The shoreline of Sorrento is beautiful as you can look north and see Mount Vesuvius and the Naples port in the near distance. It was a beautifully clear day too so you could see everything. We ended up running the last distance to the ferry and missing the 9am anyhow so we had to wait to for the 9:45. There we met Jerry. Jerry was an old Italian man who spoke perfect English. He was born in Naples and now lives on Capri. He offered to take us around the island of Capri for 20 euros each in a private bus, providing us with transportation, some bits of information about the island, a lift ticket to the top of the island and cable car ticket to the bottom. He was kind of quirky and funny but nice. After some discussion we decided to take Jerry up on his offer. Since tides were high and choppy the famous Blue Grotto was closed and it would have been difficult to explore the numerous grottos around the island with a choppy ocean. (I'll have to go back and do this someday.) So we decided Jerry would be a good choice.


The ferry ride over was fun, hair flying everywhere because we sat on the top deck. Once we got to the island we climbed into the tiny bus that Jerry was taking us around in. First stop was the smaller city of Ana Capri where they have a chair lift up to the tallest point on the mountain. The buses on the island were so funny! They were so think because the streets on the island were so small and curvy! And the rode was so close to the ledge the whole time… but the view of the bay and the island was breath taking from so high up on the mountain. At Ana Capri we all got on the chair lift to the high point, it was a fun ten-minute ride up.


As I walked up a few stairs to get to the viewing point I knew I was in for something amazing. And it truly was. It was one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Before me stretched an endlessly clear blue-green ocean. But the way the sun was shinning off of it was the most amazing. The sun created this pale, cream-colored glow all over the surface of the sea. It seemed as if sun and ocean were almost one I the same. It was the most beautiful and soothing sight I have ever seen. I stood transfixed watching it for some minutes. It was fun watching as everyone came up one by one from the chair lift. As soon as they saw the view their expressions were priceless, filled with immediate joy and excitement. It was there that I suddenly felt and realized how much I loved Italy and this trip. I was so glad to be there and to witness such a beautiful sight. It affirmed in my mind that I have to come back to Italy again. It is such a beautiful country and there is still so much to see of it. I realized then how much it all means to me.


Everyone was so happy for the half hour or so we stayed up there. We took lots of pictures from different views. It was simply stunning up there, with the island spreading on behind us, then the coast line beyond that and the crystal clear water everywhere else. It was one of the best moments of the trip.


After that we had a quick lunch and happened to run into some other girls who were from our program who were also there for the weekend. We had a quick look in this fancy designer store there and I fell in love with the beautiful wood tables and chairs, as well as the super expensive porcelain figurine lamps. Then it was down to the main town of Capri. There we got to sample some Lemon cello at a store Jerry took us too. It's such a strong drink! But famous in Capri because that's where it originates from. We also got to try some lemon and chocolate flavored chocolate. That, was really good so I had to buy some. Then it was time for our tour to be over. We said goodbye to Jerry and took a picture with him. Most of the group decided to head back to Sorrento while four of us choose to remain on Capri a little longer and hike up to the Roman ruins on one of the hills.

The "hike" wasn't really a hike. More like a semi-strenuous walk through some beautiful Mediterranean neighborhoods. Ali and I were talking about how baffling and strange it is to as that people actually live in places like the towns we've visited in Italy. It's almost incomprehensible to us how these beautiful places we've been can be someone's reality. There are no places in the US like the ones we've visited here. Here its like we're living in a fantasy world, like Disneyland, because places like Disneyland are the only places at home that even come close to capturing the feel and presence of these towns. I can't quite explain it but its amazing where I'm living and traveling and so, so different even just architecturally. The Italians have it right though, with all these cities that you are totally able to walk about without problems.

The Italian villa was pretty cool, not much to it though but a lot of ruins. Still it was nice to see, and there were more wonderful views. We had to pay two euros to go in too. The guy that took our money was this really old, scruffy looking guy. He had on an old, overly large coat and a beanie, out of which stuck crazy, long gray hair. The table we had to pay at was literally just a folding table, with a chair, and he kept the money in an old tin. I wanted to take a picture of him more than of the ruins! He could have been running a racket up there too, for all we know, who knows if he was official?

After the villa we headed back down to the town to catch the ferry. The hike down took far, far less time then the hike up so we thought we had plenty of time to catch the cable car down to the fort. But, there were these HUGE tour groups waiting for the cars! (I am so, so very tired of tour groups. Everywhere I go in Italy there are the same annoying tour groups blocking the walkways, the museums, the churches…. It is time for theme to be done for the winter!) There is no way we would have had time to catch the car and the ferry so we decided to walk down to the ferry since it was only a 10 minute bus. Our walk turned into a run and five minutes later we were at the port. Sadly, the ferry we ran to catch was sold out so we had to wait another hour anyhow. Thus we decided we should use our cable car tickets and rode the cable car back up to the town, decided to not get off when the doors opened but to stay on (this is probably technically illegal) and ride the car down again. We had extra time so we went and sat by the dock, waiting for the ferry. It was dark by that time so we didn't have much to do. This old man started talking to us, telling us he lived on the island, talking about Naples and such. He was really nice. Actually, everybody we met down south was really nice. They were so much more open and friendly than the somewhat snotty Tuscan's.

When we got off the ferry in Sorrento there were some stray dogs running around backing and such. (The south is famous for its stray dogs and apparently in Italy it is normal for a family to just abandon their dogs when they go on a trip for the summer! Needless to say, stray dogs are a real problem in Italy!) We didn't think anything of them and started walking up to the town of Sorrento. One of the dogs, a big, sleek black male one, ran by us as we walked. When we turned the corner there he was, waiting for us. After that he stayed with us the whole way up to the town, about a 10 minute walk. Every time we started to fall behind, he would slow down and wait for us. It was like he was guiding us or something! It was all very mysterious and the superstitious side of me came out. We tried to go in a clothing store in the town, but the dog still didn't leave, instead he tried to come in with us and when he couldn't he stood in the door like he was waiting for us so we left quickly. Finally we got to a beautiful proceliem shope that we didn't stop at, but he did. There he finally left us. I think he wanted us to go in the shop though! I think of should have, perhaps it was my destiny or something! Or maybe the shop owner had trained him to bring customers back to his shop! This is highly unlikely but fun to imagine. But we left the dog and wandered around looking at the really good stores Sorrento has (Siena just doesn't have much) until we met up with the rest of the group for dinner.

That night for dinner I decided I was going to be really adventurous and have seafood. I thought Dad would be really proud of me. So I ordered pasta with scampi, fish and squid. I was thinking, ok, I've eaten all of these things before, how bad can it be? Oh it was bad. The scampi weren't the little shrimps cooked in butter like I was used to, they were giant shrimp, with heads and eyes and legs and tentacles! I was immediately grossed out. And the fish, the fish was a whole fish, with skin, fins, head and eyes. Looking at them on my plate I was actually physically grossed out. I don't think I've ever been actually physically grossed out by food, but this got me. It was their eyes I think. Little beedy black things on the scampi, pale white on the fish. The shrimp was ok, no heads to speak of, but this weird crunchy texture. I tried eating the scampi, but I couldn't figure out how to break into him and once I did a little he tasted like a mouthful of salt water. Not good at all. So I gave up on him and moved on to the fish. I piled a bunch of pasta on his head so I couldn't see him and then ate the back half of him, which was actually pretty good. Overall though, not an enjoyable meal. I barely ate any of it and then paid like 15 euros for it!

The next day we headed out early to Pompeii. The day was dark and gray and we were really happy that we went to Capri the day before when it was perfect, gorgeous weather. We stopped at Conad and bought some snacks and then bored to the train to Pompeii. Strangely enough, we bumped into the other girls from our program yet again. By the time we got to Pompeii it was pouring. Luckily I had brought my umbrella although many people hadn't. Some of them ended up getting pretty wet.

posted by Madeline Faye @ 3:46 PM