Amalfi to La Mafia
Salerno, Marina di Vietri, & Amalfi 04/05
My trip to the Amalfi Coast was planned by my architecture studio professors, Cinzia and Carolina. The transportation, housing, and museum entrance fees were paid beforehand when I registered for the class (a $450 class fee, A MAJOR EYE ROLL.)
My roommate Hailey and I held a party the night before, so of course, we were hungover when we arrived at the train station at 7:30 am to meet our class lol. We took a train to Salerno where we stopped for a cornetto and an espresso. We were supposed to take a ferry to Marina Di Vietri, but the water was too chaotic for any of the ferries to be running. We took the local bus instead.
Marina Di Vietri was a cute little town tucked away on the mountainside where EVERYTHING was literally covered in colorful mosaic. It was insane!! We took a tour of a factory called Ceramica Artistica Solimene where the workers showed us the ceramic making process!! The building was littered with different types of ceramics and the entire building was literally made out of ceramic pots lol. Afterward, we walked around the town and then took a bus to the city of Amalfi.
Literally, a hundred people were waiting for this fricken bus and managed to sneak onto the second one. The ride was awful. We were crammed into the back of a bus for an hour as we zipped along the coastline, hoping we didn’t drive off the cliffs lmao. The driver literally had to beep before every sharp turn to warn cars that he was coming. The roads were so narrow that the driver actually ended up hitting a car lol.
We checked into Hotel Amalfi where the professors split the boys and girls into separate rooms; I roomed with my friend Mitch. Afterward, we headed to the beach! We looked so American omg, we were the only young people walking with our bathing suits and towels. It was so funny. The beach was so rocky, so we literally had to wear shoes the entire time lol. We sunbathed and walked along the beach for a couple hours and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the night.
Our professors took us to Duomo di Amalfi and then we explored the small alleyways of the city. We went to the dock to watch the sunset and then we just chilled by the water until dinner. Carolina and Cinzia were familiar with the area, so they took us to a super nice restaurant on the water called Lo Smeraldino. I ordered fresh oysters and a pizza topped with squid and calamari. So gooood!!!
We picked up booze and got trashed in my room for the rest of the night lol.
Ravello & Naples 04/06
We had to check out from the hotel early, but we got a free breakfast out of it. Yeee!! In order to save money on food, I literally ended up stealing food from the buffet to save for later Lol. We took a bus to a small mountainous town called Ravello. We checked out a contemporary auditorium designed by Oscar Niemeyer and then took some pics of the overlook. We hiked to Duomo di Ravello, a church that emphasized on ornamentation that only existed for 100 years. Our professors also took us to Villa Rufolo, where it housed 19th-century gardens and a unique combination of Arabic, Sicilian, and Norman architecture. This place was fucking gorgeous.
Everyone went out for lunch, so I decided to journey around the town by myself and eat my stolen food lol. I went into a couple stores and had a conversation with a local artist who made pieces from molten lava. He tried selling me a €300 table, byeee!!! I stumbled upon some sort of movie that was being filmed in the piazza and checked out some of the ceramic shops. I met up with the group and then headed to Villa Cimbrone, an estate that was covered in gardens and owned by the wealthy Fusco and Acconciajoco families. We walked around the crypt and discovered the gardens that overlooked the Amalfi coast. Truly magical.
Instead of taking the bus back to the town of Amalfi, Cinzia lead us on an hour-long hike down the mountain. We were literally dodging buses and bikes, but it was cool to see the countryside. I broke into an abandoned house and was almost ran over by a group of bikers who were literally riding down the stairs lmao. Afterward, Cinzia and Carolina took us to a local pastry shop where we got Delizia al Limone, a limoncello dessert, and Sfogliatella, a layered pastry stuffed with French cream. sooo good. They took us to a local shop where they sold handmade journals made from a special kind of thick paper specifically used for sketching and watercolor. We headed to the Amalfi port where we took a ferry back to Salerno and caught a train to Naples.
Naples was crazy. As soon as we got into the subway, people were screaming and just having a good time. When we arrived at Hotel Toledo, Mitch and I found out that we were upgraded to the junior suite! Yee yee. The professors took us to a nearby restaurant called Trattoria A Pignata where I had a 10-course appetizer and gnocchi. Limoncello was a popular drink to have after meals in the Amalfi coast, (and is typically free!!!), so we ordered a round of shots. Of course us American students didn’t know we were supposed to sip on the drink, so instead, we took it like a regular shot & gulped that sucker back lol oooops. Afterward, Mona, Chad, and walked to the water and discovered that the nightlife of Naples was crazy. People were littered in tight alleyways in front of bars and restaurants. Motorcycles and cars were LITERALLY dodging people and literal ten-year-olds were driving!!
Naples 04/07
We had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel and then checked out at 9am. The professors took us to Piazza del Plebiscito and Galleria Umberto where they gave us a brief history of the architecture and the neighborhood. We walked to the central post office of Naples where we discovered that Carolina’s dad DESIGNED the building!! So cool. Afterward, we visited Gesu Nuovo Church & Chiesa di Santa Chiara. We had lunch at a popular restaurant called Di Matteo (Bill Clinton ate there once!!) where I finally had a true Neapolitan pizza!! for only €1.50!!!!!!
We checked out the Madre Museum (a famous contemporary art museum) and then taxied to the water (the Italian taxi drivers are CRAZY and he almost killed us lol). Afterward, Alex & I picked up some beer and went souvenir shopping around the city. We picked up our luggage from the hotel and then headed to the train station for Rome.
When Hailey and I arrived back to our apartment, we found out that we were ROBBED over the weekend. Someone stole all of our money and may have taken pictures of our important documents LOL. Our clothes were disorganized and our dressers were obviously searched through. After contacting the police, we messaged our Airbnb host and met with her the following morning. We explained the situation in great detail and it seemed as though she did not believe us. She refused to change the locks on the door & has still not followed up on the situation, giving us reason to believe that she does not care about the safety of us or the apartment. She even accused us of having a 4th roommate (which is not true!!!) She didn’t even have keys to our unit like wtff.
We filed a police report at the local station and had to use google translate to communicate with the police because no one spoke English HAHA. They were no help. We reported the situation to our study abroad university and ended up getting excused from a couple classes for the week lmao.
We reported the situation to Airbnb, and they reimbursed us $1000 HAHAHA YEEEE. HECK YEAH.