Jumping right back in:
After skipping around the rocks of Pompeii and hanging out with Mount Vesuvius and the Pompeii Dogs (which all have tags and are taken care of by the money the site brings in), we hopped on over to Sorrento.
Pompeii Dog!
Side note: If you are going to this area of Italy it is highly recommended that you hit up the Amalfi coast (of which Sorrento is a part of). I hear it is verra verra beautiful.
Once in the city of Sorrento we snuck through a hotel gate to see the ocean view (which was mind-blowingly gorgeous), and then went shopping on some of the small pedestrian streets. Each shop was tucked neatly against the next and bordered a cobble stone road that was barely as wide as a small car. Our most memorable stop was inside a Limoncello shop. The owner thought we were italian at first (score) and began speaking to us in rapid-fire italian. We just kinda stared at him (I find that happens a lot here in Europe...haha...it's the "Oh god, what are they saying to me" face.) until he realized that we, in fact, were not italian. After we told him where we were from, he offered us tastes of Sorrento Limoncello and Crema di Limoncello (which is basically a lemon flavored Baileys). He explained a little bit about how Limoncello is made (from lemon rinds) and asked us why we were in Sorrento. After a lovely conversation we bought some of his wares then left to wander the city streets some more.
That night we returned to Naples with plans to go to the best pizza place in the world: Da Michele. If you have seen the movie Eat, Pray, Love starring the lovely Julia Roberts, then you have seen Da Michele's. Unfortunately the line was eons long. (I just remembered I already told you about this). But anyway! While we were waiting for our food at another restaurant, Sarah and I went back to Da Michele's just to see how long the wait really was. We asked about how to get a number and magically ended up with a pizza (there was a lot of hand gestures going on and I can't exactly remember what happened). Long story short, we accidentally cut the whole line.....I have never been so scared in my life as I was when we were walking out of that restaurant with a pizza after only 5 min....death stares galore. Then, so as not to be rude to the other restaurant, we ran the pizza back to our hostel. Explaining all of this to Vic after disappearing for 15 minutes was probably harder than actually getting the pizza.
Thursday morning we caught the 8am train out of Naples and back to Rome. We went to many of the sights again since Vic hadn't seen them yet and because it was day time.
Pompi Tiramisu! Thanks Ali and Johanna for telling us about this place! I couldn't find it at first, so I asked a lady in a bank and she helped us out. It didn't really occur to me at the time that walking into an italian bank and saying, "do you know where the Tiramisu is?" was an odd thing to do. Luckily she helped us anyway!
Oh! Speaking of italians: Every Italian we encountered was very friendly and helpful - the bank lady is a prime example. She didn't have to help the crazy americans, but she walked outside with me and told us exactly where to go, which just put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Also there is a strange comfort that knowing that if you say, "Ciao" to a store on your way out, you will get a response of a million "Ciao's" in return (or a "ciao bella" if you are lucky).
Trevi fountain during the day.
Spanish Steps during the day. It was a semi rainy day (as you can see the umbrellas are abundant).
The front of the vatican. See those people? That is not even a fifth of the line to get into the basilica. Yeah it's crazy! Luckily the line went by really fast.
We climbed to the very top of the basilica (or the cupola), and about half-way up the stairs spit us out at the top of the dome. The people look like ants! Sorry about the wire....I wasn't tall enough to see over it for once.
Sarah and I at the very top!
Inside the Basilica.
The Pantheon at dusk.
Cappuccino's with chocolate and cinnamon.
That night we went to a restaurant called Miraggio's (recommended by Ali of course :) and we had another amazing italian dinner with some amazing house wine. We all got something different: Mediterranean Spaghetti for me, Veal for Vic (A for alliteration), and the Lasagna (Ali's favorite) for Sarah. We had Suppli for an appetizer, which is basically a deliciously glorified mozzarella stick. So again, thank you Ali and Johanna for helping us see and eat the best of Rome! It really wouldn't have been the same without your advice.
A Cannoli! Now that I have documented proof that I had indeed found a real cannoli, I can admit to the world that my mission of this trip was to find a real live CANNOLI. AND I DID IT! I would like to thank the movie The Master of Disguise for giving me endless inspiration and my brother Will for singing "...Mama is gonna make her little pistachio a cannoli tonight..." on a regular basis.
Saturday we decided to spend the morning at a cafe (see above picture). And later as a perfect conclusion to the trip, Sarah and I sat on the side of the Fountain of the Naiads on the Piazza della Republica for a good 2 hours in the sunshine. I could have stayed for the rest of the day sitting in the sun...except sweet sweet swedish Sarah got sunburned. She's ok now though, and she says hi!
This was such an amazing trip and I was definitely sad to see it end. However, coming back to Copenhagen was a comfort in and of itself. I hope you guys are having great days and enjoying life wherever you are! Talk to you soon!
Rebecca
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