Bitte!: AMALFI COAST!

I suppose this post is better late than never, but to finish off my Easter break (Osterfereien) in Italy, Meg, some of her friends, Maura, and I spent Easter weekend on the Amalfi Coast! Little fun fact: Die Küsten von Amalfi is really known for their lemons. There are lemon and orange trees everywhere! Casually lining the streets, and overwhelming other produce in fruit stores with their gargantuan size. Like....LOOK at those lemons! I've honestly never seen lemons this big. I don't know what they do with them really--half of it is skin. Skin that is like 2 inches thick. So when you peel it open it really isn't that much bigger than a typical lemon...What a useless lemon!--->

Anyways, our hostel was in Sorrento, and we also took a day-trip to the island of Capri, and to the town of Positano. Both GORGEOUS destinations.

SO. Am Freitag, sind wir nach Capri gefahren.

Capri:

Capri was my favorite part of the coast--and we actually experienced legitimate "Capri Sun"! The real deal! That's right, folks: Capri sun is now more than just a delightful juice in a pouch, it's a beautiful, beautiful source of sunshine, joy and warmth- brought to you by the Amalfi Coast and the one and only: Capri Island!!!! ......And the weather really was perfect. We took a boat ride around the island, and even disembarked our boat to get in an even tinier one in order to enter the Blue Grotto, one of the seven Natural Wonders of the world. (SO WORTH IT).

Twin pic on the boat! <3

The opening to the grotto they only take small 5-person boats inside. Everyone lies flat on their back while the guide hauls the boat through the entrance on an ocean swell by pulling a chain overhead. It was incredible. You can only enter the grotto at low tide, so the rush to get inside is enormous! Lots of small boats were making their way inside.

Getting ready to go in the Grotto!! Do I look excited??

In the Blue Grotto, the only source of light really came from the water. The sun reflecting off the water made the most intense blue I've ever seen in my life. Awesome! And the acoustics were overwhelming--the Italian guides were all singing songs in there to prove and demonstrate the grandeur of the sound. But it just created an eery cacophony of Italian songs that competing with each other (while our boat glided contrastingly peacefully through the water)...what an experience!


Meg took this photo while we were in the grotto. Worth the 12 Euros for 5 minutes of this? I think so.

After the boat ride, we took individual chairlifts up to Anacapri, the top of the island! It was actually quite a long ride... Ich glaube dass es 15 MINUTEN gedauert hat! But it wasn't a boring ride. More and more of the island revealed itself as we slowly ascended.

We actually met a man from the States on our bus ride to the chairlifts, and he told us that he comes back to Capri every year to take the chair lifts up to Anacapri--it's his favorite thing to do on the island, and in his opinion, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I can totally see why! (Of course, hiking up to Anacapri is an option, and surely an equally scenic option...but when you're wearing nice sandals and aren't in a particular mood to get sweaty, chairlifts are a spectacular alternative! I recommend..)

It was such a peaceful and breath-taking ride--both up and down. (Quite a change of pace from the bustle of Rome!) And of course, there were plenty of photo opportunities once we reached the top. Here are some of my favorites:


Another candidate for Christmas card 2012 I think?!

Despite the torrential rain, Positano was also a beautiful spot. The way the homes and buildings are built into the cliffs is something like I've never seen before. It cleared up nicely in the afternoon, prompting some hilarious beach photo-shoots (#noshame)