Tyler Andrews ’15 – Time flies when you are having fun. And it flies even faster when you are in some of the most beautiful coasts in the world. For my 4th of July weekend, I joined the rest of the students in my program on a trip to the Amalfi Coast. For those not aware, the Amalfi coast is quite literally paradise. Sandy beaches, from black, to white, to pink sand, Amalfi offers beauty unparalleled by other wonders of the world.
Thursday night, we set off at 7 PM (or 1900 hours if you refer to typical European time). After a long and winding bus trip, we arrived at our hostel at 3:45 in the morning on Friday, and passed out for 3 hours before waking up to travel to the island of Capri. Capri is home to some of the wealthiest individuals in the world. Indeed, as we cruised along on a boat tour, we passed multi-million dollar yachts including Georgio Armani’s super-slicked silver behemoth of a boat. Indeed, Denzel Washington owns a house on the island, just a few short miles from the Gerber baby house. Leonardo DiCaprio also happens the area on occasion. We did a full boat ride around the island before enjoying a relaxing dip in the Mediterranean Sea. The rest of the night was spent enjoying the local cuisine and local discotecas before returning to our hostel which had an incredible view from the roof terrace of the ocean and surrounding area. My independence day was one of a kind, unforgettable, and full of Red, White, and Blue.
Saturday began with a little bit more sleep, and then a trip to Positano, Italy, a location with immaculate black beaches, and some of the best cliff-diving and sea caves in the world. Several friends and I decided to rent out a private boat for the afternoon and got a private showing of some phenomenal spots. There is nothing in the world quite like cliff diving into the Mediterranean from 30 feet+ in the air. Life, in that part of the world, is seen from a whole different angle. Not to mention, you are swimming next to some of the most valuable coral reefs in the world. The day ended with a return to our hostel for dinner and an active nightlife. Over 173 students decided to go to Amalfi with Bus2Alps (www.Bus2Alps.com), so we were all in different accommodations. Word had quickly spread that our hostel was the prettiest and had the best night life, so everyone came to our location that night. A DJ played music while visiting hip hop dance groups break danced in the stairwells (there is a competition going on in the area called House Dance Europe, and many groups were staying at our hostel). Needless to say, it was an unforgettable night and evening.
Sunday, we packed ourselves back into buses, sad to leave this tropical paradise, but excited to see the mysteries of Pompeii. We stopped off at the ancient city on our way back to Florence and received a phenomenal guided tour. The city has been kept in such good condition considering how old it is. The images of the place are surpassed only by the sheer intrigue of the stories about this old civilization. Of the 15,000 people who lived in Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted, 3,000 died, and everything that had been built in this strong city disappeared for centuries.
Sunday night, we all passed out early, exhausted from our incredible adventures of the weekend. Italy has much more than history. When you get past tourist traps and pickpockets, and focus more on what Italy has to offer, you find things like the blue grotto (a sea cave that is one of the 7 wonders of Europe), beautiful cliffs and coral reefs, a cuisine of real Italian food that is mouth-watering to think about, and people who are passionate about the beauty that they live in. You stay classy, Amalfi Coast.
