Spring Break at the University of Mommy!

(My own choosing #1)

After having to say goodbye to the beautiful city of Venice, Anna and I said "hello" to Rome. We took a high speed train from Venice to Rome and had the privilege to meet my mom and aunt in our nice hotel to start our ten day tour of Rome and the Amalfi Coast! After not seeing my mom for a whole month I was more than happy to give her a big bear hug. Even though I am almost 20 years old, seeing my mom after a long time will never get old.

At Monte Cassino

The next day we woke up early and our group of about 30 people (Anna and I being the youngest by about 30 years) went to the Vatican City and saw the cathedral and the Sistine Chapel. These things were absolutely unbelievable to see in person and the detail in the paintings was something I did not expect to be so blown away by. That afternoon, our group went to the Colosseum for an in depth guided tour. I have never seen gladiator or 300 so I honestly didn't know anything about it. I did not know how much violence took place there and it was something that i learned quickly was not a good place to be if you were a prisoner. It was one of those places that pictures didn't do any justice to the breathtaking architecture and age. That evening, the four of us went hunting for cheesy souvenirs and good food. We were not disappointed in the slightest. We stopped at a little bistro and we looked over the menu. As we were doing that, a waiter came up to us and was extremely nice so we decided to go in. I kid you not it was the best meal of my life. Our waiter made the experience so much fun on top of the delicious food. I actually cried at the teirimisu.
The next morning we were already on our way toward the Amalfi Coast. Our first stop was to a town called Monte Cassino. We took the bus to the top of one of the mountains and there was a Montessori that had a cool museum and pieces from the Rome Tower, a pretty cathedral and a lot of monks. It made for really pretty pictures and there was a beautiful view of the mountains. That night we got to our extremely nice hotel on the hills of the Amalfi Coast facing the ocean. It looked just like a picture in a travel magazine. We all had dinner together so we could get to know some of the people in our group. I met some pretty awesome people from all over the United States. It was really nice to hear American accents for a whole week as well.

The four of us :)

The view from our Hotel in Vietri

Early after dinner, we went to bed for the early morning we had that next day. That morning we went to a small town called Sorrento right on the coast. It was a nice city for shopping and we got to take a tour of a woodworking shop. That afternoon, we went to a Lemoncello facotry. Lemoncello is the popular liquor that is produced in southern Italy. Who knew that southern Italy had lemon trees because I sure didnt. Most of my best experiences in Italy had to do with the food. That night we went to a delicious seafood restaurant that had SIX COURSES and unlimited wine. It was so ridiculous how many courses that we had that every time they brought our more food, we would laugh because we weren't even hungry anymore. But I am so glad that we went to that restaurant and had that experience.

Lemoncello tasting!

Large lemons in Sorrento

With Anna and I being the youngest ones on the trip, our sleeping patterns clashed with the flow. We stayed up late every night just to get up early the next day. The next morning that we had was painfully early for the both of us, but it was the most fun day that we had on the trip. We got to go to a buffalo mozzarella factory! The buffalo were pampered and spoiled to produce the best milk. It is worth all their pampering because the best cheese, ice cream, cappuccino, and ricotta cheese inside of a canoli that I have ever had in my whole life were all made with the milk from the buffalo. I never would've thought that a buffalo would produce something so delicious. Later that day we went to the Greek town of Paestum. There was a recovered town from the ancient Greek days. It was really cool to see the old temples and amphitheaters, but I realized that after about an hour of looking at old buildings I get bored. For dinner that night we went to a hole-in-the-wall family-owned restaurant that made us all feel Italian. 

The precious buffalo

Winery on Mt. Vesuvius

Paestum!

The best ice cream and canoli of my life

The next day the group had the option to go to the island of Capri. The four of us decided to save our money and explore the little town of Vietri. We shopped at an unlimited amount of ceramic shops and ate pizza while walking on the beach. The beach was way to cold to swim in but it was just right to put our feet in. That ocean was the clearest water I have ever seen. When we got back to the hotel, the four of us treated ourselves to a spa day that was very relaxing.

The beautiful Mediterranean sea

On our last day on the coast, our group went to Pompeii! This is something that I have been interested in for the longest time. I have watched documentaries and learned in many of my classes about this giant discovery and I was so excited to actually see it in person. To think that an entire city could get demolished in such a short amount of time is insane. And to think of how long it took us to find it after it happened was even crazier. This was something that was taken to us by a tour guide and I do really wish we could have explored the city on our own. Like I said about Paestum, I got bored after a while and I wish I didn't. I would have really liked it, but it was so much slower with a tour guide and it would have been nice to go through it on my own pace. For lunch after Pompeii, we got to go to a small winery on Mt. Vesuvius. Having homemade spaghetti and wine made Anna and I feel so fancy. That was another one of my favorite things that we did. That night we went back down to Vietri, as if we didn't do enough shopping the day before and finished our night with a really good local pizza shop.

A seafood and gnocchi dish

The streets of Pompeii!

On our way back up the coast we stopped in Naples to go to the archeological museum to finish our tour of Pompeii. This time Anna and I went through the museum on our own and had so much fun. We found the erotic room from Pompeii and like the seventh graders we are giggled the entire time. It was fun to mess around. That afternoon, the group headed up the coast on our big bus. We ended in Rome and had a farewell dinner at a fancy restaurant that was another three plus course meal and a show that included opera singers! If we didn't feel Italian before that we definitely did then. After that, I had to say a very hard goodbye to my mom and aunt for another month. I am so happy and thankful that they came all the way to Italy to spend time with me and I am happy that I got to go on vacation with my three favorite people (besides my dad and brother). It was so special to get to experience all of that with them and I wouldn't have it any other way.