Amalfi Coast

Amalfi Coast July 25- July 28

Sorrento and the island of Capri

The Amalfi coast was the last stop on Daron and my 5 week trip through Europe.  At this point we were exhausted of walking for hours and hours each day, fed up of sharing gross bathrooms in the hostels with 4+ people at at time, tired from lack of sleep, sick of standing in line and fighting off pick pockets and feeling ready to go home.  Those of you who have traveled, know what I mean.  That being said, we knew that these were our 5 weeks of vacation to do and see as much as we could.  Amalfi was a good choice for our last stop, because it was one of my favorite places we visited!  It is so hard to pick a favorite, because all three counties are so different, but the Amalfi coast was beautiful and a great place to relax.  

Daron and I also went with the student tour guide, Bus 2 Alps to Amalfi.  We figured that by the end of the trip we would be exhausted and wouldn't want to look and figure out anymore maps.  We stayed in Sorrento, but visited the island of Capri, Positano, and on our way back to Rome we stopped in Pompeii for the day.

Love rocks in Capri, called Faraglioni.  The saying goes, that if you pass under the rock, you need to kiss someone and you'll love that person forever.  So naturally, Daron and I kissed each other. ;-)

 Dock outside our hostel in Sorrento.

Morning water.

 Morning fog lifting on our boat ride to Capri.

 Sorrento.

Capri.

Preparing to swim in the blue grotto.

In groups of 4, we jumped off the big boat, and into smaller boats which took us into the blue grotto.  The man in the small boat told us all to lay on the bottom of the boat in a thick Italian accent.  Even he had to duck as he rowed the boat through the cave and entering the blue grotto.  We jumped from the boat into the illuminated turquoise water.  It was beautiful, unlike anything I had seen. Just as fast as we jumped in, we were out again on the big boat, continuing our ride around the island of Capri.

Daron and other Bus 2 Alps tour members on the boat.

 Faraglioni (formation of 3 rocks)

Also known as the Capri love rocks.

Coral grotto.

View from Anacapri (the highest point on Capri).

Hiking down from Anacapri.

Positano

Positano is a city that set on a hill and stacked on top of itself.  It is so difficult to reach, the bus had to drop us off at the top and we hiked down to the beach.

 The beautiful walk down through Positano.

 Positano <3

 Daron, ready to climb aboard for our boat tour of Positano.

 I'm on a boat.

 View of Positano from the water.

Cliff jumping!

After cliff jumping we went cave swimming.

I will return to Positano. <3

Pompeii

Pompeii is a special, ancient, Roman city that was preserved by a volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  Pretty incredible.  Unfortunately, right outside the walls there is an explosion of modern tourism.  My most vivid memory of this day was the sweltering heat we had to endure.  It must have been 100 degrees and there was no shade, and no escaping it in Pompeii.

 Stones that were built up so people could still walk across the street when it was flooded.

Daron looking fabulous despite the heat and sweat that was going on in the baths.

From Pompeii, the buses took us back to Rome and the next morning, July 29th Daron flew back to Seattle and I returned to Stockholm.

Now, home.