Erupting Volcanoes under the Capri Sun

Salve mi amici,
This past long weekend was spent with the entire class and professor. We went to the ruins of Pompei, the island of Capri, the ruins of Ercolano, and the city of Napoli.

Pompei: Disaster waiting to happen.
It is said that Mt. Vesuvius experiences a great eruption every 2000 years. The last huge eruption occurred in 79A.D. and wiped out the entire city of Pompeii (English spelling) with falling debris and ash. It's now 2008, so this next eruption can happen anytime, or so the professor told us right before entering the city. Comforting really. We had been to the Pompeii exhibit in San Diego and the one in Naples, now we were finally going to the actual scene of crime. The place was massive, incredible even, much more so than I had ever imagined. An entire city covered with ash and poisonous gases, killing all who stayed, burying them almost perfectly. We were lucky to have a Napoli native and anthropolgist show us around the site, giving us additional insight into the historical area. The forum, gymnasium, many villas and shops, etc. had all been excavated and preserved. I walked down the streets and through houses and imagined how daily life could have been for these ancient people. Casts of the final resting place for many Pompei-ians were found all over the grounds, in varying positions, most being in huddled fetal positions, no doubt trying to shield themselves from the fatal gases and debris coming from all sides. The most tragic cast I saw was one of a mother shielding her child in her arms. We had a long, full day at the ruins and were rather exhausted when we came back. Pompei is definitely a site one must visit if ever in the area, hopefully before the next great eruption of Vesuvius.

Capri Sun.
Okay, not really, the island was shrouded with clouds when we arrived in the morning, which wasn't a bad thing as it controlled the temperature for us. We hopped on a morning ferry and docked in the port of Capri after the half hour ride. We took a lift-type thing and were greeted by our professor's gregarious friend Maurizio. Maurizio has a house on the island and is very familiar with the trails that connect Capri to Anacapri and was willing to be our personal tour guide for the day. Now, the island of Capri is known to be a vacation getaway for the rich and famous from all over the world, not a field trip destination for a group of poor college students. However, with Maurizio's help, we got to see the island's true beauty, off the beaten path. We were treated to an expansive hike through the villas in the hills and to the top of the mountain between Capri and Anacapri. Amazing views all around, one can definitely see why the rich come here to get away from it all. To clarify, Capri is the tourist side of the island and Anacapri is the side where the locals live. We had lunch/dinner at a small trattoria (kitchen/restaurant) and were happily surprised when the professor decided to use our funds to pay for it. I had a wheat crouton and olive salad, which was a refreshing change from all the nutella sandwiches I've been having. After our meal, Maurizio decided to show us one last place before we had to head back to Sorrento. He led us up a path, through a filosofica garden and to the edge of the world. Or that's what it looked like anyway. This place was a small look out on top of sheer cliffs that looked directly out to the ocean. An ocean sight that was untouched by any landmasses, thus making it look like the end of the world. I will indeed post pictures when I can, but they won't be able to capture the full immensity of this place.

Ercolano: A Forgotten City.

Saturday morning began with an early train to the city of Herculaneum (Ercolano in Italian). This town was dirty and smelt of garbage and was supposedly not the best place to be at night, at least that's what our landlord's son told us. Why, then, did we want to visit this area? The volcanic eruption of 79A.D. that preserved Pompeii under layers of ash had covered Ercolano with molten lava. This place was thought to be lost until the 1700s when some kings decided to excavate the area. It was because of the cover of volcanic debris and extreme heat that the city was preserved so well, however, once excavated and exposed to air, the ruins have begun to deteriorate. So, the current focus for officials here is to preserve what they have already found. It was amazing to see how well these buildings and artifacts were preserved knowing that they were once covered with lava. They even found skeletal remains of about 55 people around the shore area, clustered there in an attempt to flee by boat. Ercolano was a smaller and wealthier town in comparison to the trading port town of Pompei, the main physical difference being the presence of a sewage system. But enough history, the place was immense, but not as much as Pompeii because it's still not all excavated. We stayed until the early afternoon, hopped back on the Circumvesuviana, and headed toward Napoli.

Napoli: My Chinese food Mecca.

Our small group of nine had been talking about food for three straight days. We were tired of bread, nutella, pasta, tomato sauce, sandwiches, and whatever crap we throw together in a sad attempt to make a balanced diet. A few of us had been craving Indian food, but upon walking down Corso Umberto (the main street in Napoli) we were disappointed to find no Indian food, we were about to give up and settle for another friggin pizza, but Eureka! I spotted a Chinese ristorante. Chang cheng jiu lou (translation: Great Wall Restaurant), I knew there was Chinese food in Naples, I just had to find it. Though it was not Indian food, I think we were just yearning for ethnic food. This place was better than the first Chinese restaurant we went to a few weeks back. The setting was nicer, cleaner plates and utensils, Chinese pop music playing quietly in the background.. Awesome. I shared some curry chicken and shrimp with bamboo shoots with Khadjia. We were greatly satisfied. I even had a sweet mantou for "dessert". I'm not too sure what was in it, but it was delicious. We visited the Castel Nuovo after, which we had skipped on the first time we were in Naples because of the 5 Euro entrance fee, but now we had our Artecards, which give us free entrance to most museums and monuments in the Campania area. We wandered around the 13th century fortress for lack of anything else to do, we were really just waiting for our boat back to Sorrent. We were tired from the full day of ruin walking. After awhile, we just sat down in the courtyard area to chill for a bit. Not long after sitting down, an Italian lady came up to me and asked if I was Japanese, before I could answer, she asked if I ate cats. I really hoped I was hearing wrong because it was all in Italian, but she gestured while saying "mangiare" which means eat and "gatti" the plural form of cat, and proceeded to bite the air in front of my face. All I could do was shake my head no, and before I could wrap my head around the situation, she walked off. I guess she really thought the Japanese ate cats, although she had a crazy look in her eyes...

That's how my third weekend on this program went, we don't have much planned for this next weekend, just a trip to Ravello for a music festival and maybe we'll splurge for a seafood dinner.

Pictures now, enjoy!

Weak jumping picture in a forum in Pompei.

Perfect statue.

Class photo in Pompei with Mt. Vesuvius in the back.

Eating in Capri, we could only afford thin breadsticks.

At the end of the world in Capri w/Maurizio in the background.

Chilling in a male bath in Ercolano

Jumping picture with the professor in Ercolano.

The entire Sorrento crew at our sweet apartment.

Weekend Wanderings

Ciao mi amici!
My first full conversation with a non-shady person living in Italy took place yesterday in Naples with the waitress at a Chinese pizzeria, in Chinese and Italian. It was quite an experience. Sundays, as we know, are holy days, and especially so in Italy because EVERYTHING was closed, including food places, except McDonalds and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale food cart (Yes, I went to that museum again). The only thing I could afford at McDonalds was the 1 euro McToast, which is just 2 pieces of very flat toast with a slice of ham and cheese in the middle. At this point, we were all starving, but because I had been without food so long, this flat McToast was able to fill my SHRUNKEN stomach organ. We then ventured up large hill to the Capodimonte Museum, old palace of the Bourbons, where we wandered for a few hours. After much art musing, we were, again, very hungry. We had all been craving non-Italian food all day (not to say Italian food isn't good, but bread and pasta everyday gets old, really fast) and were overly ecstatic to see that a Chinese Pizzeria Ristorante was open. We hesitantly entered the establishment and were immediately confused. Loud Hindi(?) music was blasting from the speakers and brown people were dancing around, apparently a first communion celebration or something was going on.. at a Chinese restaurant. Geo was trying to speak to the waitress in Spanish, because that's what he uses instead of Italian, and the lady did not understand, at all. Then I spoke up with a, "Do you speak Chinese?", in Chinese of course. The waitress, very surprised, replied, "Yes! You speak Chinese? Are you Chinese because I only thought she (pointing to Aimee) was Chinese." Now, Aimee is Japanese, and no one ever thinks I'm Chinese, except Italians, because they think the only Asians in existence are Giapponese and Cinese. So we were able to get through dinner with my less than fluent Chinese, and it was a rather satisfying meal, albeit, expensive for sweet and sour pork with rice. I'm going to have to suck up my economical instincts and just be willing to spend money for food, the prices (and exchange rate) aren't going to change for the better. In all, yesterday was a unique experience and a perfect example of globalization (and switching, for all you linguistists).

The rest of the weekend (Thursday to Saturday) consisted of a good deal of walking, a lot, really.
Thursday:
We went to Positano, an hour bus ride from Sorrento along the coastal cliffs of the Amalfi coast, stunning views, just amazing. We hiked down the windy roads to the "beach" and swam in the ocean. The water was amazing and the sun beat down, but the rocks were painful and burning hot. I had a sandwich at this little deli called Vini e Panini (Wine and Sandwich) and attempted to eat it on the steps of a church, but was promptly shooed away by the five oh. We got back and felt we didn't get enough use out of our 24 hour bus ticket, so hopped on the next bus to Marina Grande. Marina Grande is a very, very, small fishing village next to Sorrento, accessed by some steep roads through a cliff. Smelt of fish.
Friday:
Happy American Independence Day! We walked (or, rather, wandered) to a neighboring town by the name of Sant'Agnello. Also beautiful beach views, but also many lemon growing houses or complexes or areas. I was very tempted to knock lemons off the trees, but was convinced half of them were run by the mafioso.. iono.. or not. The walk was long, but enjoyable, to me anyway and we got back in time to take a nap before gathering for a 4th of July potluck. I brought some not-very-well-seasoned pasta that I managed to cook up our electric burner and a limone torte. We drank some white wine before heading out to check out the Sorrento nightlife. First place we went to was called Danielle's Bar, which boasted "karaoke and dancing". The place was half dead and those there were either around 15 years old or 45 years old. I stupidly decided to get a drink, which ended up being 7 euros (wtf), and had a grand old time singing a Backstreet Boys song to the entire club, with help, of course. The club was lame and I very much regret dropping 14 bucks on one drink. We decided to hop on over to a place called English Inn. There was a huge crowd waiting to get into the place, so we thought we wouldn't get in, but then I noticed it was only guys waiting around and realized that girls got in easily. We walked straight through the crowd and through the doors without even trying. This was where we got to experience where Italian men get the stereotype of being.. very forward. At least we got to practice our Italian.
Saturday:
Started late as we were all recovering from the night before. We took a bus to Meta, another neighboring town, and quickly got right back on the return bus. There wasn't very much in Meta and we wanted to save a bus ticket by riding it within the 45 minute time limit our tickets gave us. We got off at Piano di Sorrento (if I remember correctly), which is past Sant'Agnello and walked around, we walked so much we ended up back in Sorrento. We didn't get to shop or anything because we were there right during siesta, which is the time between 1pm and 4:30pm where people eat and nap. We ended the night with gelato and window shopping before sleeping early to get up for an early start in Naples.

What: 45 minute bus ticket/24 ore bus ticket
Where: purchased at any Tabacchi shop
How much: 2/6 euro

What: McDonald's McToast
Where: any Italian McDonald's
How much: 1 Euro
Experience: McDonald's is overpriced here, it's better to just save yourself the frusturation and disappointment, and not go. It doesn't have anything that's really unique (like taro pies or rice patty chicken sandwiches) as in other country's McDonald's.

What: Museo Capodimonte
Where: Via Capodimonte in Napoli
How Much : 7,50 Euro (I think, at this point we have a Campania ArteCard that allows us access to most sites in the Campania area)
Experience: Huge museum, worth it, be prepared for lots of walking.

What: Gelato
Where: Most gelateria's in Sorrento
How Much: 2 Euro for a piccolo (small)
Experience: Delicious, over all, at least all the flavors I've tried.

What: Clubs in Sorrento
Where: Sorrento, there aren't that many
How much: free entrance, ridiculous drink prices.
Experience: Danielle's club was extremely disappointing, small venue, lame crowd, lame music that is interrupted if someone wants to karaoke. LAME. English Inn is better, larger, outside venue, more of an Italian feel (aka skeezy and/or suave Italian men), better music when they actually play hip hop (though they usually play techno or house or whatever crap). You can also just chill off the dance floor.

What: Circumvesuviana train ride from Sorrento to Naples and back.
Where: train station
How much: 5,20 euro
Experience: 1 and a half hour ride on a bus covered in more, colorful graffiti than any place in L.A.

Thanks for surviving through the long post, or not. Bye!

Next: Weekend up North.

Finally in Napoli

Buon giorno!
My roommate (Aimee) and I have finally made it to Naples. This is our second day in Italy and already we're pros at the whole speaking Italian thing.. not. I feel like a huge idiot everytime I open my mouth, so mostly I just say, "Si, grazie." I am, however, getting rather good at ordering gelato and granita di limone (much like frozen lemonade but better).
The flight to Italy, was long, but only because we had a 4 hour lay over at JFK, where I had to sit in an un airconditioned airplane for 45 minutes because the control tower caught fire. After a 9 hour flight (during which we were served salmon, yes fish on a plane, and pasta, best airplane food I've ever had), we landed in Rome and transfered to a flight headed for Naples. Already, at the Roman airport, I saw a VERY good looking Italian guy, fashionably dressed, so I took a picture, under the guise that I was taking a photo of Aimee.. stalker style.
We got to Napoli at around 3pm, and took the Alibus to our hostel. The bus driver, who had an adorable son who was helping him collect bus fare, was incredibly nice and even made a special stop just for us, right in front of our hostel. Random passenger on the bus was also very nice, told us about the local sights and showed us to our hostel's front door. We've just met really nice and interesting people so far. I'm beginning to like Italy, hah.
In the two days that we've been here, we did a huge amount of walking. Yesterday, was solely a walking tour of the city, and today was too, with a few stops at some castles, piazzas, a cathedral, and the museo archeologico nazionale di napoli. A very historical tour indeed. I actually met up with Steve, a friend I traveled around with in Shanghai, last night. He just happened to be in Naples the day I arrived, so I decided to stay in the same hostel as him, our little group went to Kestè, a small bar not too far from our hostel, and had beer while watching a small group of musicians play some very modern music (a.k.a . noise). This small group grew increasingly large as the night progressed, and when we left, there was a huge crowd watching the musicians, stilt walker, unicycler, and random other characters.
The shower that night, was THE most refreshing shower I've ever had, pretty much because I had spent a day and a half on airplanes and half a day sweating my pores dry. Not very different from Taiwan or Shanghai, actually. Our hostel comes highly recommended, clean rooms, AIR CONDITIONING, and nice staff. It's right across from the port of Naples, and is called Hostel Bella Capri. Must thank Steve for recommending the place, he left this morning on a train headed for Venezia (I think). It was cool seeing him in Italy because I've really only seen him in China, getting chased by young Chinese girls asking for hugs and kisses...
After breakfast, provided by the hostel, Aimee and I headed for the Castel Nuovo, only a 10 minute walk along the port and up a stinky alley. We went into the gates and that's about as far as we got because we didn't think going in was worth the 5£ (and by lira, I mean euro). So we continued up the street, through some malls and ended up getting a granita di limone. After that refreshing break, we headed to the Castel dell'Ovo, which is on a pseudo island thing and free to get in. The castle was closed for construction. LAME. So we turned around after walking in the burning sun and headed up the street. We decided to go to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and finally got there after haf an hour of walking. Entrance fee was 6,50£, no student discounts unless you're a resident of the EU. Lots of very old Roman stuff inside, i.e, coin hoards, glass vases, pots, statues, mosaics, paintings, other random relics, and an erotic room. You know, the usual... yes, an erotic room, only pictures can convey the graphic-ness of this self-proclaimed secret room, which shall be posted later, I promise. Following the museum, we went to Castel Capuano (which had been converted into the Justice building) and the Duomo (cathedral). The cathedral was more than a little elaborate, as most cathedrals are in Europe, and we even went into the crypt, which smelled like stale air, among other unique smells.
After this, I decided it was time for dinner, which we had already decided would be pizza. We went to a well-known-among-travel-guide-readers pizzaria and had the best pizza I've ever had in my life. A pizza magherita, so simple yet so delicious. The waiter guy was also very nice and our small pizza turned out to be as big as the large pizza. We left full of tomato-y satisfaction, the first meal we had to pay for since we've been here, awesome. I am now back in the hostel, trying not to sweat anymore.

So this is how it's gonna be, at the end of these posts, I'll try my hardest to summarize where I went/ate, if it was any fun/good, and how much it cost.

What: Granita di Limone
Where: Cafè Vesuvio; Museo Archeologico Nazionale cafe
How Much: 1,50£ and 2£
Verdict: Very good both times, but the one at the museum was better because it wasn't as sour.

What: Pizza Magherita
Where: Antica Pizzaria di Michele
How Much: 4,50 for the small
Verdict: AMAZINGly delicious

What: Castel Nuovo
Where: somewhere along the port
How much: 5£
Verdict: looked cool from the outside, but wasn't impressive enough for me to spend 5£ on.

What: Castel dell'Ovo
Where: connected island thing off the port
How Much: free
Verdict: cute surroundings, but under construction so I didn't get to go in.

What: Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Where: Piazza Museo Nazionale, 19, 80135 Napoli
How Much: 6,50£
Verdict: good museum, worth the fee, but no A/C

What: Castel Capuano
Where: I forget
How Much: free
Verdict: nice guard, but it's just the house of justice now.

What: Duomo
Where: Via Duomo
How much: Free
Verdict: awesome cathedral, elaborate as expected, but must cover shoulders!


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Next: Arrival in Sorrento