Amalfi Coast- Cliffs and Caves

First I want to apologize for neglecting my blog. I have been so busy lately and the thought of trying to get it caught up is overwhelming me. I really want to share with you all that I have been up to the past month so I am going to try and summarize the best I can without leaving to much out so here goes nothing! Sorry it is so long… I just can’t help myself. I want to remember it too!

The weekend of October 8^th to the 11^th I traveled to the Amalfi Coast here in Italy. It is located on the southern side of the Sorrentine Peninsula. It has to be one of the most beautiful places in Italy. The coast is gorgeous and it has the bluest water I have ever seen! We stayed in Sorrento at a really cute hotel. On Friday we spent the day in Capri. Capri is an island that is famous for the Faraglioni (huge limestone formations sticking out of the sea, as seen behind me in the picture) and the Blue Grotto. The first thing we did was a boat tour around the island. This was a great way to see the entire island. We also stopped at the Blue Grotto. I decided that it was totally worth the 10 Euro to go inside. They don’t lie… it is a glowing blue cave! You have to enter through a small opening that can barely fit a small paddleboat. It was four other girls, a guide and me and we all had to lay flat in the bottom of the boat to fit through! Inside is indescribable. The sun reflects off the sand under the water at the bottom of the cave and it makes the whole cave glow blue. I took pictures, but they do not do it justice. Another highlight from Capri was the chairlift ride Isabelle and I took to the highest point of the island. We could see the entire island and the coast of Italy from up there. The view was amazing! Once again the pictures just cannot capture the beauty of this place. Capri was so amazing and we had a great day exploring the island.

On Saturday we took the bus to Positano, another town along the coast. I cannot get over how these gorgeous towns are just nestled into the mountainsides right along the sea. In some ways it reminded me of Cinque Terre. We got to go on another boat tour here, but this one I will call more of an adventure tour. First the boat stopped at a rocky seaside cliff. This was where I got my first experience with cliff jumping. The cliff was probably about 40 feet up and the climb to get up there was probably the most dangerous part. After watching a few people take the plug I decided I didn’t want to miss out on this. So I climbed all the way up. At the top I had a lot of second thoughts. It took me quite awhile but I finally jumped. What a rush! Unfortunately I did hit the water wrong and was in quite a bit of pain for about a week…Oops! Looking back now though I am still totally glad I did it!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was at the second stop on the boat tour. Here we got to swim in a cave. It was not quite as blue as the blue grotto, but the water there is unlike anything I have ever seen. Swimming in the cave felt like being in a movie. It was so neat and not like anything I had ever done before. I hope that I get a chance to go caving again someday. Preferably when the water is a tad bit warmer!

On Sunday we got to go to Pompeii. I am sure many of you know the story, but I will give a quick recap. Pompeii was a big city during the Roman Empire. In 79 AD it was covered in rock and ash after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. One positive of this catastrophe is that Pompeii is one of the most well preserved cities of that period. It went untouched for centuries and the ash persevered many of the buildings and some of the frescos on the walls are still visible today. It is unbelievable to walk the streets of this ancient city! I got to go into a theater, a wealthy house, a brothel and tour the city center. I wish we could have spent more time there since we barely got to scratch the surface. I was overwhelmed by the size of the city! Then it was back on the bus and back to Florence.

I have to add this as another one of my top places to sea in Italy. The Amalfi Coast is gorgeous and there is so much to see and do there. I would like to go back again and spend more time there! For more pics check out my facebook album.