Vivere La Vita: LIVE THE LIFE: Capri: Justifying Reasons Why Is An Absolutely Insane Resolution to Live By.

On Monday night, Ben, Clay, Kylie, Abby, Arleen, Hillary, Nicole and I were supposed to leave Orvieto for Capri which is an island off the Bay of Naples on the Amalfi Coast. Naturally, we missed our train. Because we missed the first bus. Because the funicular was closed. Great. So we stayed in Orvieto on Monday night and then left bright and early at 5:05am the next morning...meaning we got up at 3:30am in order to make our train. Yes. But it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We got on the train which was a direct shot all the way to Naples, so that meant that it had the little sleeper cars instead of the bus-like seating. Only problem is that at 3:30 in the morning, everyone is already on the train and asleep and angry and scary looking. Abby got on, took one look at the cracked-out (not really) guys sitting in the walk ways, and turned to Clay and said "Nuh uh." We eventually made our way down to some emptier cars, and rode for an hour to Rome in darkness - and fear - until everyone got off and we had cars to ourselves. So Ben and I sprawled out and slept all the way to Naples. Nice. Then we took the ferry from Naples to Capri and got to our hotel in Anacapri (the other town, think Highland Park - University Park, really close).

We then got some lunch, then went and found this great little beach. But they don't have sand, just cliffs and rocks. So we laid out on some rocks, and did some cliff diving from this little cliff that had been cemented to make it more legit (read: safe, no worries.) Then that night we went out for some dinner and then came back to pass out after our extremely long traveling day. Our hotel was super great - Hotel Bussola de Hermes - except for the no A/C part. LES MIS. I was up for a while just killing bugs that were flying through our balcony because we had it open to keep the (lack of) airflow going.

Next morning we got up and had breakfast (read: A croissant. Substantial.) Then headed over to Capri town to check out some famous sandal shop that the girls had heard/read about where they hand make sandals to your foot and lots of celebs have been there and made it all known and stuff. It was super cool though - this old man name Costanzo (name of the store) who is still there sits behind a bench and makes all the sandals right there after they fit your foot and you pick out a design. They're for girls obviously but they had some hand made loafers that they make in the winter and sell in the summer (because they take longer to make with the dye and such) so I snagged a pair! The old man was so awesome and took a picture with us and was hilarious the whole time without even speaking. So cool. Then we met up with Evan and Katelyn and ate some lunch before heading over to the boat to go see the Blue Grotto. Once we got on the water and made it around to the spot where we were supposed to get onto these smaller little paddle boat-looking things, the captain told us that the Grotto was closed because the water was too rough -- we looked at the entrance and the waves were literally filling up the entire opening so we definitely wouldn't have made it.

So after the boat got back, we headed to the beach spot from the day before and rented chairs and towels from this little club thing and just had a great beach day all day. We stayed for dinner and the sunset out there (AMAZING) and then went to this little cafe to try Limencello which originated from Capri. Limoncello = Gross. Everyone made it out to be better than it was. It's like lemon flavored whiskey. But not the good whiskey...the strong, unleaded premium plus at the Shell station kind. So we toasted, ("Cheers" in Italian is "Chin Chin!") then attempted to drink it. I managed to get most of it down in tiny sips, but not without those awesome this-stuff-is-terrible-but-I'm-gonna-try-and-fake-it faces...yall know the ones. Then we went back to the hotel for some rest. Great, relaxing, beach-filled trip to round off our last free days!

We got back to Orvieto last night and just had dinner and a relaxing, Gelato-filled night in Orvieto. 2 classes today, now I'm just hanging out fixin to do some readings for Rome tomorrow. Scary to think that we only have 6 days left of the program! This trip goes by soooo fast. Too fast. Like a blur. But then Ben, Clay, Kylie, Nicole and I are headed for our backpacking trip which is gonna be AWESOME simply because we have no schedule or class or anything.

I'm super excited to get back and see everyone though - I can't wait to be in America again and eat American food! See all previous entries for crazy food stories. More to come, I'm sure.

Can't wait for camp either -- I seriously think about it everyday and can't put into words the excitement I have to be back in Ceta and with all the campers. Such a great time.

Miss yall -- Eat a burger for me.

Peace,
R