A Weekend on the Amalfi Coast

Classes finished well last week and by Thursday night we were looking forward to our weekend on the Amalfi Coast. We wanted to make it an early evening, but Hannah, Meghan, and I ended up on the wrong bus for an hour and a half before it took us back to the same exact place we got on, and we had to wait for another... So didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night as our train left at 6:45.

Checked into Sorrento after two train rides and immediately headed out to Positano. The drive was crazy, and the driver was crazier. We arrived in one piece (if not a little motion sick) and made the long descent down the stairs to the beach. It was gorgeous. The Amalfi coast is a collection of little towns strewn in niches in the mountainside. The water is beautiful and refreshing, so went for about a two hour swim with Alyssa, Meghan, and Pete, then decided to chill out at one of the waterside bars. Did some shopping, grabbed some nice Italian food, hung out on the beach for awhile longer, then decided we should probably head back to Sorrento to rest up for Capri.

Took a ferry to Capri at 8 in the morning, and the ride alone was enough to know we were in store for something amazing. The sun was rising over Sorrento as we headed out, and the water was beginning to acquire its deep blue color by the time we made it to Capri. Got breakfast and found a boating company that would take us by ourselves in two cute little boats on a tour of the entire island and leave us at the Blue Grotto. The ride was so beautiful, and we got to get out at two places to swim, and ended up cliff diving off a 40 foot cliff at the first spot. We're all a little bruised (well, some more than a little...) and sore from it, but it was awesome.

The Blue Grotto was incredible... we got into tiny boats and had to lay flat in each others' laps in groups of four to make it in, and it was completely dark except for the water glowing the most brilliant shade of blue. The gondoliers sang and their voices echoed. Flashes went off everywhere as people tried to capture something that photos could never reproduce. Afterwards we got lunch, made our way to Anacapri for a second, came back down to the gardens and eventually the beach, and got home in time to catch the sunset in Sorrento.

Had a good time last night... got some pizza from the place across the street and decided to check out the Sorrento club scene. Pretty much took over one of them and danced forever practically, and no one was too thrilled about the 10 am checkout time this morning. Alyssa, Pete, and Jeff were down for another day at the beach but everyone else was entirely worn down. Aside from our cliff jumping injuries and soreness, Ben somehow acquired pink eye, and by the end of the train ride Kat's feet and ankles had swollen up strangely.

An absolutely perfect weekend... I think we'll all sleep soundly tonight. For the rest of the photos click here.