Buona Pasqua!

The goal for this past Easter weekend was sun, water, and relaxation. The result was just that, and so much more. Seven of the nine of us headed down south to the land of lemon trees and crystal blue waters where we spent four days soaking up the best of Italian life in Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Amalfi Coast—we were busy women, to say the least. Five of the girls stayed in a hostel while Kayley and I stayed in a B&B down the road due to lack of space in the hostel; this caused us to be separated for most of the weekend, but did not stop our fun, and was probably for the better as we’re always told that traveling in smaller groups makes it easier to have greater, more authentic experiences.

Upon arrival, Kayley and I immediately found ourselves in the middle of a Holy Week procession occurring down the very road on which our B&B was located. It was Thursday, which means Maundy Thursday during Holy Week—the week leading up to Easter Sunday—for practicing Christians. It was a small procession of about ten drummers, dressed head to toe in white robes similar to those of the KKK. A Catholic tradition, we assumed, and listened to the solemn drum beats for a brief moment before moving on to put down our heavy luggage. We arrived in San’ Agnello where we were staying (just down the road from Sorrento) late that night, so only had time for a delicious dinner at a nearby restaurant before retiring for the evening in order to be up early to start our festivities the next day.

Friday brought with it sunshine and blue skies as Kayley and I hopped on the Circumvesuviana—the local, private train transportation—to Herculaneum that morning. First on our agenda: the ruins. There isn’t much else to see in the small town of Ercolano where the wonderfully preserved ruins of Herculaneum are, so we made our way straight down the main road until we reached the entrance to the ruins. Herculaneum was once a small fishing town that met its match first with an earthquake, and then with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that covered it in layers of mud and ash, preserving the town—fortunately for us. The town has since been excavated to reveal the ruins complete with intact frescoes and mosaics, once the symbols of wealth and comfort. Herculaneum is huge, with close to 70 sites worth taking a look at and several more just for you to pass through if you have time. We spent about three hours wandering around the ruins, looking in what used to be huge palaces of wealthy Romans and picking out the rooms we would have loved to live in. It was amazing to me how some of the hand-painted walls and glimmering mosaic altars still looked almost perfect; the borders painted with such delicacy could still be seen as well as the reliefs carved into marble. I have always had a difficult time with picturing how things have looked in the past or will look in the future in my head (like a room remodel, for example) without knowing anything about them, so standing in the middle of these ruins trying to imagine what the town looked like when it was alive and bustling was a challenge for me, and something I still cannot fathom. What I do know is that if it looked even better than the ruins, then those people sure knew how to build a town on solid ground, make it last, and make it look great.

Our next stop was Pompeii to see the ruins there. Pompeii, too, was buried under the fury of Mt. Vesuvius only to be later dug-up by archaeologists. Still today, as Kayley and I saw, Pompeii’s ruins are a popular site for digging and discovery by archaeologists trying to fit pieces of history together. This may be in part due to the fact that Pompeii’s ruins contain human remains, still perfectly intact and in lifelike form because of the bodies being preserved in the ash, keeping the body’s shape. Some of the human remains are on display and incredibly sad to see—especially because you can tell how much pain the people was in due to their form, facial expression, and the way their arms are positioned. In addition to human remains, one of the first Roman amphitheaters can be found in the ruins of Pompeii as well as the city’s only brothel, complete with raunchy frescoes on the walls. It’s easy to tell that the city was run by Romans because of the very Romanesque columns and arches that still stand. Many other well-preserved frescoes and mosaics can be found here as well, including the original “Beware of Dog” sign—a picture of a canine with the words “cave canem” all done in a mosaic found in the entryway to one of the houses. How silly of us these days to think that a small plastic sign on our front gates would warn people of man’s vicious best friend…The difference between Herculaneum and Pompeii I noticed was the material used to build each city; both cities are strong and were obviously made to last, but Herculaneum was built with stone and brick while Pompeii was erected with marble in addition to stone. We had a great time in both cities playing and exploring in the ruins.

That night we wandered into Sorrento for a pasta dinner only to be greeted by several young American students in large groups also spending their Easter weekend on the southern coast of Italy. No matter, we ate delicious food and witnessed yet another Holy Week procession happening down the same street that our B&B was located on. This time, there were several more people involved in the parade, and all were wearing the KKK-like robes, except in black instead of white tonight. The church right across the street was completely lit with candles and a band was playing in front. The men in the parade were carrying an assortment of lanterns, crosses, drums, and a crucifix—also draped in black, as it was Good Friday. Kayley and I watched for a while, which eased my guilt about not having attended any church services all of Holy Week as I would have in the States—and eventually we returned to our room to rest up for full day number two.

We had ambitious goals on Saturday both to climb Mt. Vesuvius and make it to Capri in the same day, but a decent length train ride to Pompeii, followed by an hour of waiting, and then another hour of riding the bus up the mountain caused us to run short on time, so that climbing Mt. Vesuvius was the only thing accomplished. Not to say that climbing Mt. Vesuvius wasn’t a big deal! Still an active volcano, Mt. Vesuvius has had its longest “dry” spell without erupting going on 60 years now (the last major eruption over 300 years ago)—so it’s past due for one. Kayley and I braved it out, though, and climbed from the car park where the bus drops you off up and up until we reached the crater opening at the top (no way could we have climbed from the base because 1) I was out of breath with just the little bit we did and 2) it would have taken all day if not longer). It was pretty cool to see the inside of the crater, layers of rock wall built up around the opening, some plants growing on the inside, and even steam emitting from the opening. The view out over the coast from the top of the mountain was incredible, as well, and just in itself almost worth the climb. Our heads were literally in a cloud as we stood at the top, as a mixture of cloud and steam are constantly hovering over the crater opening. After admiring the view and snapping pictures to document our heroic efforts (and what could have possibly been the last evidence of our existence… ;) ), we raced to the bottom in order to catch the bus back to Pompeii.

Being unable to travel to Capri that afternoon, we decided to make up for our loss by going out to a nice dinner at a restaurant recommended in my guide book. However, those plans were put to a halt when Kayley tripped on the stairs and hurt her ankle—no worries, no serious damage was done. So it was pizza take-out in our room instead. That was just fine and allowed us to rest up for our big Easter Sunday on the coast.

Sunday came, yet another day of sunshine and blue skies, we got our swim suits on and beach towels packed ready for a day on the water. Another little mishap, though—it being Sunday and Easter hardly any of the normal buses making trips to and from Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast were running that day. We had to wait until about 12 before we saw any glimpses of water, but it was so worth it once we did. One of the few buses making trips back to Sorrento, which I needed to be on, left around 4:00 PM so my time in Positano—the first town of the ones making up the Amalfi Coast—was cut short, but I enjoyed myself none the less. I was able to lie out for a short time on the pebbly beach and walked all around the town, very quickly, to soak it all in before heading to the bus stop. Positano (and all of the Amalfi coast) is terraced, so in order to reach the various levels, you must either walk up what seemed to be a million flights of steep stairs, or wind your way up and down following the road. The stairs are the fastest if you are in a hurry, but certainly not the easiest. Positano is beautiful, though, full of flowers, picturesque houses and shops, island-y tourist products for sale, little boats sitting on the beach, and restaurants with plenty of umbrella covered seating in the sun. I’m going to use my short visit as an excuse to go back one day in order to experience it properly. Once back in San’ Agnello, I rested for a little while before enjoying an Easter dinner at a nearby restaurant, complete with a traditional Easter cake for dessert. The word for Easter in Italian is “Pasqua,” so it was a Pasqua Torta, which the restaurant only made one of for that special Sunday. It was similar to a pound cake and full of lemon and orange zest straight from the numerous lemon and orange trees growing in just about every yard in San’ Agnello and the surrounding area. A perfect end to my Easter Sunday, and just what I needed to get me over the homesickness I was feeling being away from my family on such a special holiday.

Monday arrived before I was ready, of course, and I spent my last precious hours of vacation exploring and shopping in Sorrento before hopping on the Circumvesuviana back to Naples where my train to Arezzo awaited. It was a great weekend overall, and until I can make it back, I will hold the sights of large lemon trees and beautiful blue/turquoise waters in my memory.

Ciao for now,

Hilary