This weekend (yep you guessed it!) I traveled to the Alamfi Coast with my roommates, Bria and Megan, and two girls who live across from us, Emily and Alyssa. We left on Thursday night and got in around midnight to our Hostel, Seven Hostel in Sorrento. It was another great hostel!
The rooftop terrace of the hostel.
The bar area.
That night/morning around 5am I was woken up by a marching band then silence then a choir. I decided to get out of bed to see what all the commotion was about and I almost screamed! It was a parade of people dressed in black and white robes with pointy hats. I thought it was the KKK! Friday night they had the parade again so I was able to get a picture.
They do these parades for Easter. Everyone, including the onlookers, are completely silent. At the end of the parade they have a bloody Jesus. It was quite the scene!
Early Friday morning we took a ferry to Capri, a nearby island.
The sun rising over the port in Sorrento.
Once in Capri we got on a smaller boat for a boat ride around the island. While on the boat ride we stopped at the three grottos of Capri. A grotto is is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans.
The White Grotto
Leaving the White Grotto
The Green Grotto
Coral at the Green Grotto
I saved the best for last... the Blue Grotto. To see the Blue Grotto we had to get into 4 person boats. A guide would then take us into the cave.
Everyone had to duck down so we would fit through the tiny opening.
Once inside...
I was absolutely amazed.
Sunlight comes in the small opening and reflects up making the water look like it's glowing. It was like nothing I've ever seen before!
The Amafi Coast (along with a lot of the Mediterranean coast line) is made of mountains that meet water.
We took our boat through this little opening in the rock... it's supposed to bring good luck.
The southern point of the island of Capri.
The town of Capri.
Once we got back to shore we hiked up from the port to the main town. 
We went to a garden that overlooked the cliff.
Sculptures in the garden.
We then took a bus to Anacapri, known for their limoncello and hand-made sandals.
Here is Limoncello Creama, Meloncello, and Limoncello. It is a lemon (or melon) flavored liquor. The lemons in Anacapri were monstrous - you can see them behind the bottles.
A building in Anacapri.
Saturday we went to Positano, a city on the coastline that has black sand beaches.
Bria and I took a boat to a beach that has good rocks for cliff jumping. We did the 8ft jump first and then went for the big kahuna, the 35ft jump.
The 35ft jump is from where the people are standing. Since the jump is from three and a half stories high you have to enter the water in perfect pencil form to avoid hurting yourself. I had no idea how intimidating the jump was going to be once I got to the top. I did it though!! I even did it a second time!
Once we got back we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach.
View of Positano from the beach.
On Sunday we went to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. Mt. Vesuvius is the volcano that errupted and covered Pompeii in ash.
View from Mt. Vesuvius.
After Mt. Vesuvius we went and saw the Pompeii ruins. The city was originally founded in 7th-6th century BC. It was accidentally rediscovered in 1599 and has currently only been 3/5 excavated.
The central market area with brick (instead of marble) columns.
The main town sqaure area. One of the buildings in the town square area had lots of artifacts from the city.
This body was perfectly preserved from the ash that filled the city.
As we were entering the baths building we saw a rainbow!
The 'hot bath' room
Frescos in one of the houses.
The 'bakery' - a flour grounder is on the right and the oven is to the left.
A 'bedroom' in the 'whore house.' Above each of the doors into the rooms there are paintings that 'describe' the woman inside.
The edge of the city.
On Monday we made a quick stop in Naples.
The main Piazza of the city.
Naples is where pizza originated so we stopped at a pizzeria and indulged!
One of the chefs and the oven that the pizzas are cooked in.
Naples (and Southern Italy) is where the Mafia originated. There is currently a power struggle between the government and these organized crime groups. One of the side effects (I'm not sure how it exactly relates...) is the garbage collectors go on strike all the time and piles of trash accumulate throughout the city.
This is one of the smaller piles of trash. Talk about discusting!!
After the short stop we got back on the bus to Florence. Sorry this post is late... it's finals week so I've beeny busy busy busy with school work. I'm now done with all of my classes except for Interior Design Studio! We present our projects next Thursday.
Tonight one of the girls from my sorority, Brittany, arrives from Jerusalem and I couldn't be more excited! She is staying with me until Wednesday.
Alright I need to head off to my final class here in Italy! I can't believe my time here is almost done. I'm so excited to come home and see my family and friends. I miss everyone sooo much!
Ciao ciao,
Hannah
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