Chieti

Chieti is the land of my family. My relatives came from Chieti to America in the early 1900s. Both of my maternal grandfather's parents came from Chieti which is a small town in Abruzzo (a region on the east coast of Italy and in the center of the country). Chieti is considered to be the oldest town in Italy and has a very nice museum filled with archeological findings. My great grandfather was a mason and saved up enough money to come to America for two reasons. The first was to make more money and the second reason was to avoid the draft going on Italy. In America, he was able to save enough money for two people to come to Italy. He saved enough for his brother Guistino,  and for a wife. He told his brother to bring him a wife from Chieti and Guistino did just that and she became my great grandmother. I still have family here from all those years ago and I have visited them twice now and they are so kind and much better at English than I will ever be at Italian.

So we were on our way to see our relatives in Chieti and it was a long and not great ride. We had a ton of luggage on top of us and I was not to excited about it. I was excited to see my cousins in Italy again although that was about the only thing I was excited for. The hotel that we were staying at was really hard to find and the only thing harder to find was parking for it. Luckily we were able to find everything after only a few minutes of searching. Afterwards we put all of our stuff away and I took a nice hot shower. The hotel was amazing. I loved it. They even had chocolates on the pillows for us. So after we had gotten all cleaned up we went out to see some family.

We have two different groups of relatives here and we like to visit them both. The first group is a great family led by head named Franco. Franco is so generous and last time I was here, he took all of us to eat at a nice restaurant in Pescara (the nearby city with an airport). We went to see Franco first and he was pretty close to where we were staying so it was only a short walk to the apartment that his family and he lived in. They had a beautiful apartment and most of the family was there so it was nice to see them and spend some time with them. This was the view of the mountain of Abruzzo from their apartment:

Afterwards we were headed to do a little sight seeing around the town. This is the cathedral of the city. This is the church where my great grandparents had both been baptized. It was a beautiful church. It was easily the largest building in the town and I knew that we would come back to it tomorrow so we didn't get a chance to see the inside. We saw the Roman ruins of what was once a small Roman arena and it is now a concert venue. I say small because it is not as big as the coliseum, or as big as the arenas in Pompeii or Verona, but it is still very large. We saw some pretty great views and Chieti really is a beautiful town. We walked around a little bit and then we stopped and got a little apertivo at a bar and it was some tasty stuff. Afterwards, we stopped and we got dinner at a small pizzeria near the middle of the town. I really like Chieti. This is the view of the Cathedral:

It was pretty big:

The next day we woke up to a fabulous breakfast at the hotel. I mean it was wonderful. There were very few things I could've asked for better than that breakfast. Then we were intent on doing a little more sightseeing around Chieti. As we walked around we found out that today was Liberation day or the day that America had helped free the Italians from Nazi control in World War II. The people there probably would've been really excited if they had known that I was an America but I guess I just blended in so well they had no idea:

Afterwards, I finally got to go into the cathedral. It really was gorgeous and I took advantage of taking as many photos as I wanted. My family had been going to this church since it was built most likely. It was a good feeling to be inside of it:

This was the crypt and its below the cathedral and it has its own special chapel. This is where my cousin Marta was married:

The second group of family members is led by the head of the family, Luca. Next, we went to their beautiful apartment to spend a little time with them. unfortunately we had to get to Rome that night so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them. We didn't even get to share a meal with them :( Tina (Luca's wife) is a very good cook, so I was very upset about that. Not only that but Luca is a great cook as well. Unfortunately he was working so I didn't even get a chance to see him. Tina and Luca have here children: Gianluca, Marta and Sandro. Marta is married to a very funny, very pleasant man named Valentine. Valentine is awesome, and he really is hilarious. He is one of my favorite people to see. He seems to not say very much and everything he says is hilarious. We got to hang out with Marta, Valentine and Tina:

Valentine looks like he's in the Mafia (he could be but I don't know because he is from Romania).

 

 

After we hung out with them for a little bit we went to the shopping mall in Pescara where my family and I all looked around and did a little shopping. My grandfather bought my grandmother a beautiful necklace that is a style common in Abruzzo for their anniversary. We then went to Rome and stopped at the hotel. We got a little rest and relaxation and then we headed out for a little dinner. After dinner we went back and rested a little bit before the next day. I woke up early, showered and then went to the breakfast. The breakfast was amazing. I got so much food and I ate until I couldn't eat anymore. It was great. This was a picture of my last great, beautiful latte:

I then got on the shuttle and traveled to the airport. Once there I got through security and found my gate with plenty of time. So I purchased a nice bottle of wine and a some good chocolate for some friends back home from the duty free shop. My plane was a little late getting into Frankfurt so I had to run to my gate. My book bag came unzipped and my entire duty free bag fell out and landed on the ground where the wine broke and the chocolate was ruined. So I did what any good American would do that was late for a flight in a different country. I left it. I made it to the plane with plenty of time and was back home to see my girlfriend in no time.

Pompeii

We decided early on that we would see the ruins of Pompeii. I'm a History major so I've always been interested in seeing the ruins. I also really like learning about classical history. I could've swore this was going to be a good day. A good day was sorely needed. There wasn't any Wi-Fi for us at the house my mom rented, the TV did not work, the pool was dirty and cold, the stove didn't work and the house was in the middle of something like a ghost town. It was crazy and spooky. The beach was right by the house but the beach was disgusting. There was trash and debris all over the beach and it was deserted. The water looked disgusting and I instantly regretted ever thinking that this house would be nice. Also the car that we rented was much to small to fit all of us and it really couldn't fit all of us and our luggage. That meant that we would pile in the car and then someone would pile the luggage on top of us. It was pretty much torture.

Although today could not be messed up. We were going to Pompeii! Like seriously how do you mess up Pompeii? So we typed into our GPS (the one on the car, which was actually an Audi and very nice, just a little small) and we were off.

The first place we wanted to go to was Pompeii. We ended up in some town in what was considered the town of Pompeii. It turns out there is a modern Pompeii in Italy now that is actually pretty close to the original Pompeii. Its a small town and I don't recommend you take a visit because there is very little for you to actually see. So we decided we would go to Mount Vesuvius first after all. It turns out Mount Vesuvius is really easy to find just really hard to find how to get to the top of it. So we kind of drove around for a little bit and we were completely lost. My grandfather had been to Vesuvius before but he couldn't find us a way to get back up there but he did tell us how neat the top of it was,. It was just enough to make me want to see it, only to have it robbed from me because we couldn't find out how to get there. So it was back to Pompeii.

I don't know if any of you guys remember from an early post but now that my parents are here and have rented a car, I had been nominated to be the navigator in the front seat. I know you are probably like "there's a GPS! that's got to be a simple job!" I have one answer: FALSE! There was a ton of pressure because no one likes to be lost in a country where none of us are fluent in the language. So there's a lot of pressure, plus the GPS was kind of hard to understand and didn't always take us to the right place. Plus, I have some very opinionated people in the car that seem to always know when we are going and I am always confused. So it was a bad combination. But luckily I was able to help us get us there.

We had to pay a little bit but we got into Pompeii and got a little guide book. Some of the stuff was pretty cool. You can see the intricate designs on the perfect columns below:

 

These were some cool buildings and I found a lot of them to be very interesting and it really reminded me of Rome which surprisingly has a lot of Roman Ruins (that was sarcasm):

We got to explore some old Villas that were left and we got to see some really cool frescos. it was amazing to think that the things were seeing had been frozen in time for thousands of years:

The views were great and I could just imagine the people living there back in that time going through their daily lives and then their lives were lost as they were frozen in stone and ash. Most of the artifacts were taken out of Pompeii and taken to the museum in Naples where they are today. Pompeii was pretty cool and we saw some great things. If you go I recommend seeing the giant arena and the other large sites there. Pompeii was probably the highlight of the time I was in the South.

Amalfi

There was probably no place in Italy I was more excited to go see then the Amalfi Coast. I had heard the tales of my grandfather driving it when I was much younger from my sisters. They had gone over to see a wedding and they had seen the Amalfi Coast while there. I had heard that there were tight roads and cliffs that you felt like you would tip over. I imagined it would be very similar to the California Coast, although I was very wrong. We had just gotten back from a trip to Capri and we were sitting in Naples and we decided that the best thing to do was go down the Amalfi Coast and see the views. All of the girls from my Florence group had gone on the Amalfi trip and most of them said that Amalfi was their favorite place. They said it was gorgeous and I couldn't wait to go. I had high expectations and I was disappointed.

I didn't really think Capri was all that great and I had heard a lot of great things about it. So I was really hoping Amalfi would save the trip. I was not really all that satisfied with Amalfi either. I think a big reason was that the weather was not all that great. I went and I was expecting to see these beautiful cliff side cities hanging right over the beautiful blue water. Instead it was cloudy and a really bad thing was that we only got out of the car twice the whole time. It was rough. We stopped first after we hit Sorrento. I was not doing too great to begin with because we didn't want to stop in the main part of Capri, so we stopped at a little restaurant on the Cliffside. So we really didn't get to see any of Capri yet. So here we had seen a lot of natural beauty on a cloudy day, but we really had seen any Italian architecture on anything man made except for the road. I sat in the front passenger seat and I must say it was extremely stressful. I was forced to navigate and I got a view of all the dangerously close interactions we had with other cars and I hated it. Plus even though the road was right on the cliff side we didn't always have a great view. If we did it only lasted for a few seconds. I didn't get a lot of time to take pictures.

The one part of the Amalfi Coast that I've always heard is the best is Positano. I've seen many different pictures of it and I was expecting to be blown away. I was sadly disappointed. Unfortunately many other people had heard about how great Positano was and they were determined to get there as well. There was heavy traffic and ultimately against my better judgment, my Dad decided to skip Positano. It was very sad for me. Sure it would've been really hard for us to go down and find a parking spot. It might've killed my grandfather and my Dad because it was built into a cliff and there was probably not a single bit of flat ground in it (all hills and stairs). It probably would've been disastrous to try and leave after we were done. But I needed a shot glass! I had gotten one from everywhere I went so far. I thought Amalfi was there! It was the pinnacle of my trip. I needed that shot glass! Yet, it was not meant to be. We passed right over Positano like it was just another town. I knew right then and there that sometime in the future I would have to return to Positano and get my shot glass.

We did get to stop and only because I thought I was going to pass out if we kept driving pass Positano. Right after we had passed it, I got to take a nice picture of it. It really was beautiful and the pictures don't really do it justice:

 

A little blurry:

I would love to have one of these homes built right into the mountain:

Behind all of these homes you can see the water , its just really cloudy so its hard to see when the water ends and when the clouds begin:

As you can see it would have been tough for anyone to walk around Positano because it looks like it is all inclines:

There was a guy there selling some fresh squeezed orange juice and it was from blood oranges and it was perhaps the best orange juice I've ever had in my life. It was delicious and really cheap. The guy was right there on the side of the road where we pulled off and he had a little stand. He took a picture for us, so I thought we might as well get some of his orange juice. It was a great choice. Everyone got one and he had a juicer right there that he squeezed the oranges into. With the beautiful view of Positano, being able to stretch out my legs and the amazing orange juice, this was the best part of a tough day trip with the family.

The city was really beautiful.

It's me:

How cool would it be to live here? An amazing view and a cool house:

As we started to get away from the city, it was still a gorgeous landscape:

There was a little pull off area where I was able to stop and just get some pictures with Positano in the background:

We were driving all the way back from the end of Amalfi to the little house that my mom had rented for us and that was a long way to go. We decided to make a little stop and at some snacks while we had an amazing view of another small town. We were well off the coast now:

All in all it was a pretty tough trip and after talking to some of my friends I've decided that the next time I go I will either rent a small place in Positano or I will take a boat tour of the Amalfi Coast. I don't think I would ever drive on the road there, because I just thought that it was too dangerous. Unless I had a scooter or motorcycle. That would be fun.

Capri with the family

So my parents picked me up, and we hopped on a train to Rome after they had spent a few days in Florence. It was nice having my parents come. They stayed in Fiesole where they had an amazing view. I was able to take them all around Florence, to my favorite spots. It was very uplifting getting to inform my parents about the different land marks in Florence. I might have tired them out a little bit but I think everyone had a good time. We took the train to Rome which was exciting because my parents were not the best when it came to train travel in Italy. It was a little funny but everything worked and we eventually made it to the airport where our rental car was located. We got the car in Rome and drove down to right around Naples where we rented a small villa. From there we decided to drive into Naples and go on a quick trip to Capri. My mom had always wanted to go to Capri, so she was really excited for the opportunity:

Us on the ferry ride to Capri:

That is capri, from a distance as we head in:

Then Capri really close:

Instead of taking a crowded, cramped bus all the way up the mountain to the top of the island, we got a taxi! It was a convertible and my parents I think really enjoyed it:

After we reached our airbnb on Anacapri, we decided to go out and look at some new things. We went to San Michele's and there was a beautiful painting on the floor discussing the Garden of Eden. We walked completely around it (because we had to stay on the wooden walkways going around it) and took it all in. Only my mom and I went through the church:

The floor was great, but actually the whole church was very nice:

Paintings on every wall:

Then we walked up the tiniest staircase possible to the balcony and looked down at the floor. We were able to see it all:

After the church we got a little gelato because that makes every trip just a little bit better and then we looked for our next adventure while walking around AnaCapri. My mom had done a little research, and figured out a few of the things that we should see while on Capri. One of those things was riding on something that was like a ski lift up the mountain on Capri to the very top for some gorgeous views. Unfortunately, this ski lift was set up for one person at a time. It got really scary. This was my view of the person in front of me: 

A nice little selfie:

We stayed about 15 feet above the ground the whole time. Although there were some points where if I had fallen, I definitely would've died:

Yes, I realize there is a beautiful man, in the foreground, but if you look past that amazing man, in the background you'll see my little brother Jack, taking a picture of the ground below him with his cell phone:

Then he jumps off very swiftly:

My mom getting off with a big smile on her face:

My Dad hopping off:

Of course my grandfather (we call him Teetop, and he's traveled a lot) got through it no problem:

This was the amazing view from the top of the mountain, it was well worth the trip:

Jack and I went to a cliff side and got this nice little snap out there. It was a crazy view:

The views were great and it was so pleasant there. It just had a nice atmosphere:

Jack and I walked to the cliff's edge and it was pretty scary. One slip up and the blog would've finished early:

Jack and I walked down the platform to get a better look:

It was so pretty. Jack and I decided to walk down the path rather than taking the ski lift down. It was pretty and a relaxing walk down. It was a little difficult to find the parents but Jack and I found them. We walked to a villa built into the cliff side but it was closed for the day. We went back to the BnB for a little RnR. We had some wine, some cheese, and some crackers. It was very pleasant. Then we went out to a local place for dinner which was very tasty. I had an allergic reaction to the cat at the BnB so I had to leave dinner early and take some medicine. But afterwards I was able to just sit back and hang out for the rest of the night as the five of us finished the bottle of wine. 

The next morning we got up early and worked everything to be able to get out of Capri. My main goal had been to go to the blue grotto. That's what I was most excited for. We took a small trip out to the blue grotto and had to pay even more money to be taken into it. Although I must say if was pretty cool. 

The blue grotto is located inside of a rock wall and it can only be gotten to when the tide is low enough. Even when it is low enough it's still difficult to get into. The rower of the boat has everyone lay down and then he grabs a chain and pulls the boat with everyone in it, into the grotto. It is a small cave where the reflection of the sun on the water makes the walls blue. The water also appears to be so bright and clear blue, it's amazing:

All the light radiates from the one opening:

The whole grotto is given a bluish hue from the water:

Some of the Italian guys rowing would sing and their songs would vibrate off the walls of the grotto:

The guy took a picture of Jack and I. Cause I was like: I'll probably only be in the Blue Grotto once in my entire life. I might as well enjoy it. It was a little blurry in there:

Then we slowly started to make our way out:

This is what it looks like when we get out of the blue grotto:

We had taken a nice boat ride out to the blue grotto. My parents had stayed on the boat whereas Jack and I went into the grotto. So after the blue grotto we went around the rest of Capri and got to see the beautiful sights all around the island. The island is really gorgeous: