Naples, Italy: Days 1 and 2

We arrived in Naples yesterday morning (saying this makes me realize that time is a strange concept, as yesterday now seems like two weeks ago), and I awoke at 7 to get ready for my hike up to the crater of Mt. Vesuvius, the culprit of the 79 AD destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In actuality, I learned, it was not Mt. Vesuvius which erupted and destroyed these cities, but a different volcano whose name escapes me (it starts with an S).

We drove forty-five minutes from the port, through Naples, and up 3000 meters of the volcano. We got out and began walking up, stopping every few minutes to look at rocks (I think…I was marveling at the view) in the beginning of the hike. Then, however, we had a long stretch of straight incline, which flushed my face and numbed my calves. After about fifteen minutes of walking upwards, we stopped to decide if we wanted to go the tourist route (shorter and easier) or the crater route (more challenging and more expensive). Immediately, most of the group shouted for the longer trail while I remained silent. Leave it up to everyone else to hash out, because I was conflicted myself. Of course, we ended up taking the more difficult route, which ended up being, well, difficult.

We began by entering a small crevice in the cliff next to us, which opened up into an extremely tiny pathway. One step to the right would place you inside the volcano, and one step to the left would plummet you to the ground below (after much rolling). In the first few minutes I found myself shaking and fighting back tears, as it was the exact moment I realized I was afraid of heights. More so, I think, I felt trapped, as there were people behind and in front of me and I could not go left or right. When the guy behind me asked if I was scared of heights, I did not even answer because I couldn’t speak. After about ten minutes I grew some balls and discovered my hiking groove. We reached the top and looked into the crater (I wish we had more internet time, I would upload a picture!), which was AMAZING. Our guide led us down a little ways to demonstrate the actions of the volcano. He lit a cigarette and blew the heat into a small cave, from which steam immediately poured. As he was walking down off the path to a bigger cave, he slipped and banged into a rock (which we all gasped at), cigarette still in his mouth, and didn’t even flinch. It was the general consensus that our guide was insane, because he was not only chain smoking the entire hike, but he was virtually skipping down the volcano on the way back; I barely made it walking and nearly fell to my death countless times. It was challenging, of course, but absolutely the best thing I have done on this trip so far.

On the bus on the way back to the ship, I got a text from Corey (a Semester at Sea vet on his second voyage) asking me if Jill, Steph, and I wanted to go to Capri with he and his friends for the night. Jill and Steph were both on Semester at Sea sponsored trips, but I accepted. I showered quickly, threw a dress in my purse and left, having no idea what we were doing in Capri. We had to take a hydrofoil ferry (16 euro each way) to get to the island, and on the way I learned that swimming was what we were doing in Capri and I was absent-minded to not bring a swimsuit to an island.

When we arrived, I bought a 30 euro swimsuit and then we attempted to find a hotel. As it is summer, every hotel we checked was fully booked, so the only room we could find was a VERY expensive suite for two people. Corey offered to cover most of the price and he and I left our things there to help his friends find a different room. The entire ordeal took about three hours, after which I was dirty and exhausted. We showered, changed, and left for dinner. The gnocchi I ordered was too soft and not very flavorful, but the wine that we ordered was a delicious white. At one point, another group from Semester at Sea showed up and sat next to us, so we joined them. Around midnight, we left the restaurant to walk around Capri (the Beverly Hills of Italy; I could only dream of even walking into any one of the stores) and then headed back to our hotel with several people in tow. We went out again around 3 AM, and it was as crowded in the streets as it was at 3 PM; it was nicer, though, because I didn’t feel like my face was going to melt off or my feet were about to crumble. I fell asleep on the couch in our room at around 4 AM, and I must say that as an avid sleeper, I am incredibly proud of myself for staying awake nearly 24 hours yesterday!

We awoke this morning around 10 AM to visit the blue grotto (a famous cave area in Capri where the walls look blue) and swim. We ate lunch and found a private tour boat to take us around the island, including the blue grotto. The first hour or so was lovely; I sunned and we saw the white, red, and green grottos, the latter of which we swam through to the other side. I began feeling nauseous (damn you, spontaneous sea sickness!) about ten minutes before we reached the blue grotto, and by the time we arrived I was shaking and light-headed, fighting back vomit. To enter the blue grotto before 5 PM you must pay 10 euro to have a small rowboat take you through it. We got in the boat and paid for our tickets, and I had had enough. All I could say was “land…now” and the boys asked our guide to take me ashore to wait. I am sorry I missed the grotto because it is supposed to be amazing, but also (mainly) because they refused to refund my ticket.

After our tour was finished, I immediately begged to return to the ship, and the boys, feeling sorry for me, obliged. We returned close to 4 PM, and tomorrow we have one day of classes before CROATIA!