Lunch with the Family
I just finished lunch with my most parents, their son Massimo, his wife Michaela and their daughter Aerie. They where the first of my host family's family that I met when I had only been in Italy for a short while, almost three months ago that weekend I came back from Cinque Terre. It's strangely fitting that I should be eating with them again on my last weekend in Siena. This is officially my last Saturday in Siena and after sleeping away its morning, I have had a leisurely afternoon lunch with my family.
They are so great; I am really going to miss them. Of course leaving them isn't the same as leaving my own parents but in some ways it is harder to do. With one's own parents, you always know that you can go back home and see them, or call and easily talk. They will always be in your life. But with my family here, I can't easily do any of those things. I can't easily come visit again, I can't easily call and communicate on the phone, not only does that cost a ton of money but I'm sure my Italian skills will drastically decrease once I leave. Who knows when I will see them again after this next week? I hope I can keep mildly in touch with them, at that I do see them again on a return trip to Italy, but none of that is certain. People were right when they said at the end of three months you would finally feel comfortable here, in Italy, with your friends, with everything. They were right. Now as I have to leave to go home, I feel comfortable with my speaking skills, or at least the idea that they have improved and could continue to improve. I feel comfortable with my host family. I can easily hold basic conversations with them and talk about my days and thoughts. I am super glad I did this home stay. The past few days I've been hanging out at the mini residence Paradiso a lot and its fun, very nice to be able to hang out with people and talk and go out, but at the same time, I don't think I'd want to have to be there all the time. It's comforting to know my host family is here for me if I ever need them. I always have someone to say good morning and good night to.
Back to the lunch though, it was very nice. When they first got here I was thinking, why oh why did I say I was going to be here for lunch, because there was lots of activity going on and talking and laughing, which is great, I just didn't know how I fit into it all. Then my host mom Laura came into my room all happy and excited looking and told me to come with her and look at something. She led me into the boy's room on the opposite side of the house and pointed out the window to a beautiful rainbow. It was huge and totally complete. She pointed out that there were actually two even, one smaller and faint one echoing the large one. I was really happy to be included in this event, as the whole family was coming in and looking. I didn't feel like an outsider but like a shy member of the family.
At lunch I was able to understand most of what was said, and Michaela remarked that I seemed much better at Italian now than when she first met me months ago. That made me happy to hear. I was even able to have some polite conversation with she and her husband about travel in the US and such. Massimo said he had only been to New York when he was 21 but would like to see the Grand Canyon as he has see pictures of it and likes the look of the wide open spaces. They're just all such nice people, I wish I could speak better Italian or was more confident in it, but at the same time I've made so much progress just to get where I am that I can't complain. I'll just have to come back! Their daughter was still a little afraid of me like last time, but not nearly as bad. She's been running around the whole day without pants on, only underwear. She kept walking behind me when I was eating and staring at me. Her mom started laughing and said that she was admiring my long, pretty hair. How cute! It doesn't look that great right now, but at least someone likes it. Blonde hair is pretty rare here, and my hair has gotten pretty long, its fun to know it impressed a little girl.
Now it's almost three and I think I'm going to walk into town for a bit and try to do some Christmas shopping. I am pretty tired now but I think I need to leave the house sometime today. I would like to hang out more with the family, but I don't want to intrude too much on their family gathering, plus, I think they want to catch up and relax and even if I do understand what they're saying, literally, who and what they are talking about won't really effect me or make much sense. Laura is very particular about her ways though and would never let me help do anything in the kitchen. She told me today thanks but no thanks when I offered to help, and that in the kitchen it was better with one, otherwise there is too much confusion. (Sorry Mom, no learning to cook!) So if I wasn't helping to clean up now and I wasn't able to partake in the conversation I don't know what I'd really be doing…. So I should probably go to town!
Adventuring in Italy with Andy Part 1
It's a good two weeks since Andy was here and I am just now finding the time to write about our journeys together. It's very strange to look back on that time right now, as I only have one week remaining in Siena, and to think that I anticipated it for so long and now it is over. I hope I can remember everything that happened while he was here…
The Friday night before he arrived I went to the Tea Room with a couple of friends and ended up staying out pretty late, which was ok because my bus to room didn't leave until late morning. Then, I couldn't sleep at all because I was so excited for Andy to arrive. I felt like I used to feel as a kid when I knew we were going to Disneyland or Christmas was the next day, so excited and unable to sleep because of the excitement. But the next day, I don't know if it was a side effect of the late not or not, I woke up with a stuffy nose. By the worst luck ever I ended up with a cold right when Andy arrived. I caught my bus to Rome all right and spent the next three and half hours in a half sleepy daze. I didn't feel well, it was cloudy out and I could hardly concentrate on anything but the fact that Andy would be there that night!
I arrived in Rome around one and marveled at the flashy train station, then wandered the streets for a while trying to find the B & B in vain. After half an hour of wandering I found it and checked in. Then I was so tired and felt so bad, I was going through Kleenex's like crazy, that I took a short nap. The whole time I was flashing for hot to cold so it was very uncomfortable. Around four I decided to go walk around a bit by myself and visited a Church near the train station, walked down one of the main streets of Rome and ended up meeting a couple of friends at the Trevi Fountain. They were exhausted from a long day of sightseeing and we hung around the Fountain for a long time. After parting from them I headed back to the train station to catch the train to the airport where I was to meet Andy. After a quick snack and forty minute train ride I was at Leonardo da Vinci airport. Andy's flight wasn't supposed to get there until close to 9 and it was only 8:30 so I decided to head into the airport and meet him at the gate instead of at the train stop like we had planned. The airport was deserted at this time of night and after short while I figured out what arrival gate he should be coming there. I stood behind the bar just outside the gate looking anxiously through the guarded door that led to baggage claim, trying to catch a glimpse of him getting his luggage. Then I suddenly received a text message from Andy, turns out his flight had gotten in early and he had started towards the train station already. He turned back towards the airport and I started back towards the train station and we met each other half way. It was so strange seeing him at first. It wasn't like he looked that different, his hair was short, he was thinner and had some nice, new clothes on, but besides that he was the same. It just couldn't get over the fact that it was just strange to have him in Italy. It was like he was out of place, like he belonged with me in California but not in Italy. It was just a very strange feeling all together. But of course I was glad to see him! I was really glad in fact (it was hard to see him leave in the end.)
We arrived back at the train station in Roma and made our way to the hostel, which I now knew exactly where it was. We settled into the room a little and then headed out into the Roman nightlife. By this time it already after 11 and I felt pretty awful health wise, but I really wanted Andy to see some of Italy that night. We ended up back at the Trevi Fountain and I was really happy to see how stunned Andy was by its beauty. He was very impressed with everything in Rome actually and I was really happy to see that. I held out as long as I could but eventually went to a Farmacia and bought some cold medicine. I wish I'd do so earlier because I think it helped a lot. Sometime after 1am we arrived home and settled into a deep sleep. I was surprised how upbeat Andy had been the whole night, no traces of jet lag or anything and was disappointed that I had to be sick and couldn't match his vigor.
The next day we awoke early, got our free breakfast of juice and toast, and check out of the hostel. We had to store our luggage at the train station for the day and I grossly under estimated the amount of people who would be doing the same so we were met with a huge line at the baggage center. That caused us to just miss seeing the Pope in Saint Peter's Square, although we did hear him utter "buona settimana" (have a good week) before he went away. We looked around Vatican Square for a bit but it was really hot in Rome and we soon where carrying our large wool jackets. I was still going through Kleenexes like crazy and when I look back on things now, don't think I was thinking very clearly. Head colds are the worst.
The rest of the day we walked about Roma. Saw the Spanish Steps (weren't very impressed) saw the Pantheon (were totally impressed! They had the tombs of old kings of Italy as well as Raphael's!) and then frantically made our way to the train station, jumped on the subway to the bus station and found our seats on a very crowded bus to Siena. Andy crashed at this point, slept the entire way, while I listened to music and slept as well.
Arriving in Siena the weather was definitely colder, being much farther north, and it was raining. It had rained a little on Saturday in Rome but Sunday it was beautiful and clear. We checked Andy in to his really cute mini residence (conveniently close to my home) and went to this pizzeria near the both of them for dinner. It was really good dinner, we got pizza was mozzarella and basil on top, along with wine and bread. The people there were really nice and took us in even thought it was crowded and late. The only thing they were offering by that time was pizza and that was fine with us. I've noticed in Italy that while restaurants aren't officially closed, once it gets late at night they will only offer pizza any more, probably because most of the cooks have gone home and pizza is the only easy things left to make. We made plans to meet the next day before my class for a quick breakfast.
Bright an early at 8:00 Monday morning we were eating at a café from the mini residence. Café latte and croissant, as was the usual breakfast menu. Then it was time for me to go to class. Andy came up to the room with me and met some of my classmates and teacher. Then I gave him a map of Siena with a walking trail on it and sent him out into the city. Class was hard to get through because I felt so sick, which made it hard to think straight and concentrate. I was also worried about my test later that day and my oral exam two days later. Andy and I met up again at noon and I took him to one of our favorite cafés for lunch. We had really good sandwiches and pasta while I studied for the test I had in an hour. After my second class I showed him the Campo and we sat there in the cold until it was time for my last class. Andy was super impressed with everything and was very calm and understanding even though I was being annoying and grumpy, worried about tests and being sick and all. That night we had a light dinner at another of my favorite pizza places and Andy tried the nutella pastry I had been telling him about. The one with nutella inside and on top, covered in powdered sugar. He totally loved it and I was very happy for this. I knew I would convert him to a nutella lover as well!
The next day Andy set out with the map again while I was in class and this time came back super excited about everything he had seen in Siena! It was just so in awe of the city and its small medieval streets and beautiful views. He said he was ready to move to Siena and live there. It was so cute to hear about all of his adventuring that morning (he had actually managed to see parts of Siena I hadn't seen) and to look at the pictures he had taken. That afternoon we wandered leisurely through Siena, had a great lunch at this restaurant I knew of, Osteria del Gatto, of cheese appetizers, wild boar and pasta. Even though it was cold and rainy we saw some great views of Siena and the countryside. It was really beautiful and peaceful. Around four we went over to the Duomo, which was almost completely uncovered at that point. (They had been doing restoration on it for entire time I had been here and it was only at that point that they started to take down the scaffolding.) I had my internship at Santa Maria della Scala that day and Andy was able to go with me. The docent I work with did a lot of speaking in English that day for Andy and also for the mom of the other girl I work with, whom was also visiting over Thanksgiving. We spent almost two hours in the archeological section of the museum and by the end I was exhausted and barely had the strength to show Andy the rest of the museum and explain the frescos to him, but I did. It was pretty cool that he was able to come with me though and get a free private tour of the museum.
That night I had Andy over for dinner with my host family. That was fun. I played translator all night and it always took we awhile to remember that even simple phrases like "how do you like Siena?" or "everything going well?" needed to be translated. My host parents even kissed Andy on both cheeks in true Italian tradition and called him Andrea, since Andrew is difficult and almost impossible for them to say. My host mom had made a huge and fancy dinner for us. We had three different types of appetizers, a huge oyster pasta, and then salad and pork prepared in three different ways. Although I felt bad about it, this was the only dinner I didn't finish all of. It was just too much food! Andy couldn't finish either. I felt almost sick taking the last few bites I was so full! It was good, but not like her usual cooking. It was a little fancier than usual and I think I like the plain stuff better. There was also the usual bread and cheese. And after the meal there was still dessert to come, a fruit salad with sugar and… I don't even remember what else! Mario was drinking a little of some hard liquor that night and offered Andy some. He tried a little shot of it, didn't like it, so they offered him some lemon cello, which he also took a little shot of and liked even less. Thinking back on it a few days later I realized it was like he was talking shots with my host family! (In a way.) Very funny!
The next day I had my horrible oral presentation (I was preoccupied, tired and sick) and Andy again set out with the map and explored Siena. He came back just as excited as the day before! During the break between classes we got lunch and checked out the market. (Andy helped me pick out a nice coat.) Then he came to class with me because my teacher saw him and invited him to class. We learned about the mafia that day and Andy said he found the lesson very interesting. After class we jetted over to the Duomo to actually go inside. I told Andy all the history of the Cathedral I could remember and showed him everything inside. He was again super impressed with the beauty of the Duomo, but I don't know how one couldn't be. I told him the story of the mysterious crypt underneath the Duomo and he wanted to go in but we didn't have enough time because we had to head over to the City Hall for my art history class. That day our teacher took us on a small tour of Siena's city hall and we were able to see beautiful old frescos and have her explain them to us. Andy was again able to go on this free tour.
After all that, we got some chestnuts in town, ate a Pizzaland one more time (had another nutella pastry) and headed back to my place to pack and catch the bus to Florence. We successfully waved down the buss on the street and it stopped for us, I was very proud of that, and listened to a radio recording on the hour-long ride to Florence. We got there around 9, had some trouble finding our hostel, but eventually made it there. It was on a nice enough street, super close to the city center, literally like five minutes away, with a view of a Church right outside the window. The stairwell was a little creepy though, and we think we saw some people smoking pot when we walked in. The B & B was super cute though. The woman who runs it was sitting waiting for us, showed us our room and then talked with us for awhile after. She was very talkative and nice if not a little strange. She was on the computer and kept asking us how to do things on it which was amusing. I was disappointed to learn that breakfast wasn't included in the reservation, since I had thought it was, but we decided to have a good breakfast the next day and pay the extra money (Andy said he couldn't take another café latte and croissant, he needed more.) The room was super cute, with white linens (which the woman told us not to sent anything on for fear of stains, which was kind of strange) and green accent pillows. We went to bed early that night since we were both so tired.
The next day I was awoken earlier than I wanted to be by the sounds of people talking loudly and metal clunking around outside the window. The noise was constant and seemed like it was never going to stop so I eventually got up and looked outside the window. Lo and behold there was the Florence market! I didn't know when I made the hostel reservations that we were staying on the street of the outdoor Florence market, which is set up and taken down every day. It's not a small market either; there are hundreds of vendors lining many side streets. It was kind of cool to have the market at our feet, but than also really annoying because it made it impossible to go to sleep before 11pm or to sleep past 6:30am because of the constant noise of taking down and setting up the booths. If course Andy thought it was very cool though and was thrilled when the Church across the street started ringing its bells that morning.
The breakfast was amazing. There were fresh rolls, homemade jams, yogurt (oh how I'd missed yogurt,) nutella spreads, cereal, juice and fresh cappuccinos and tea. And it was all so perfectly laid out. There was no expense spared. Every spoon for every different dish and cup hand its own tray, everything was so cute!
To be continued...
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.
