Spring Break (part 1)
Spring Break was welcomed with wide open arms. Break started with an absolutely amazing trip to Pompeii! It was everything I imagined and more! I remembered the majority of the things that I learned about in my Roman archaeology class sophomore year. It rained a little bit in the beginning of our tour, but it eventually cleared up. Our guide was absolutely hysterical and unbelievably knowledgable. We saw 2 theaters (one was used for musical performances, the other for theatrical shows), “pedestrian crosswalks,” a gladiator training camp, a brothel (which was hysterical), the main forum, and a perfectly preserved villa. It was as if we had truly stepped back in time. We were also able to see some clay molds of people that archaeologists discovered. It was eerie and haunting to see how these people died. All the while, Mt. Vesuvius lingered in the background.
We left Pompeii and headed back north to Rome. On our way, we stopped in Caserta to see an absolutely stunning and majestic palace. The Palace contains 1200 rooms, 34 staircases, and the front facade has 143 windows alone! It stands 5 stories high and also holds 2 dozen apartments. It also contains a private library, chapel, and theater. Every room was spectacular though. Some were made almost completely out of gold. But what really amazed me was the ginormous garden in the backyard. It stretched for at least a mile and a half. STUNNING. Alas, we had to go back to Rome. They dropped us off at the Termini train station, where Devin and I begun our spring break journey to Sicilia!!
We took an overnight train from Rome down to Milazzo, Sicily. Our train ride wouldn’t have been that bad if only a couple things didn’t happen.
- The most rude and annoying woman in the world. She basically claimed the compartment, spreading out on the seats, asking for the lights to be shut off, for the curtains to be closed, etc. She was highly inconsiderate, and Devin and I couldn’t wait to get off the train.
- I deleted ALL of my pictures on my memory card, including the ones from Pompeii and the palace, ON ACCIDENT! I was (and still am) on the verge of tears. I had some amazing pictures. I’m just glad that all of those pictures (except for the Pompeii and Caserta pictures) are on my computer.
- I was having panic attacks because I thought we were going the wrong way. I was trying the best I could to ask people where they were going, and they gave me answers that should’ve calmed me down, but they didn’t… Needless to say, I could barely sleep on the train.
BUT, we made it to Milazzo and found this amazing older woman who helped us get to the island of Lipari. She was travelling from Norway (24 hours on a train) and is originally from Germany. We absolutely loved her, and couldn’t be more grateful for her.
Lipari was so adorably beautiful. We stayed at the B&B Da Patrizia, which was very difficult to find. Patrizia was very kind, and her B&B was nice… Just very very VERY cold. But Lipari was extremely quant and has beautiful views of the nearby islands and the ocean.
The next day, Devin and I attempted to visit the island of Stromboli to see it’s active volcano. We got up wicked early and caught the bus down to the Lipari port only to find out that the ferry ticket was almost 20 euro. Umm… no thanks. Too expensive. So we decided to stay in Lipari, which we later figured out that there was quite a bit to see. We found Greek sarcophagi, Greek and Roman walls, and outlines of old Roman houses. We also made our way up to the Church/Castile thing, which provided absolutely beautiful views. We later changed into our bathing suits and finally hit up the beach! It was splendid =]
(View from our B&B)
(Greek sarcophagi)
(Our secret beach)
