Semana Santa. The first of two spring breaks I have here in Spain. Semana Santa is basically a giant easter festival--very religious and ritualistic. It is considered a remarkable event full of processions and culture. So naturally, Olivia and I took off to Italy. Let me preface this by saying since Liv and I became friends, we’ve dreamed of going to Positano on the Amalfi coast. Not only is it picturesque, but it was the location for my parents honeymoon, so I’ve heard my mom rave about it for years. For the whole semester, this plan seemed out of reach (since I am TERRIBLE at making travel plans). However, Liv has a secret weapon: her uncles. Liv’s uncle Rodney and his partner Ken are perhaps the classiest and most extra individuals I have ever met. They are fantastic and I worship them. They are travel professionals and have been taking Liv on weekend excursions since the program started. Liv proposed that I join them on their week long exploration of Italy during Semana Santa. I obviously jumped at the opportunity and what commenced was a week studded with expensive dinners, fluffy hotel beds, and bubble baths. I’m a high maintenance gal and Rodney and Ken are like my magical fairy godparents who gift me a week of extravagance before returning to my seriously tragic study abroad life. (Sarcasm. Spain is fantastic and I love living here).
We started our trip in Florence (I’ll spare you the travel details, but there was some sprinting through the airport in Munich for our connecting flight). Rodney and Ken picked us up at the Florence airport and brought us back to the Westin Excelsior, AKA, the hotel with the best bed I have ever slept in. The first morning in Florence, we were led on a city tour and had quick lunch by the Santa Maria Novella. After eating more pizza than I could handle, Liv and her uncles went on tours of the Uffizi and the Academia, both museums that I have previously visited. I used this time to walk around alone, and then met up with my close friend Sophie, also from Chapman, who is spending her semester in Florence studying art. I hadn’t seen Sophie since the end of last semester, so it was a great reunion. Sophie is widely known as my coolest friend. She has killer style and impeccable taste. She took me to artsy shops, her favorite spot for drinks, and finally a fantastic dinner. I forgot how fresh pasta could taste. I slept like a rock that night, and spent the next morning rolling around in my fluffy bed before wandering the city alone. Florence is an amazing city this time of year. I had previously been in the summer, so March was a cooler and quieter environment.
Thursday morning we took a train to Naples and from there, a boat to Sorrento. Besides the unbearable nausea from the rickety boat, we arrived in Sorrento completely wonderstruck. None of us had ever been and it is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever visited. The water was clear blue and every building was a different pastel color, perched on a cliff. Our hotel was over 100 years old and gave the most amazing view of the coast. I spent most mornings and evenings hanging out our window and listening to the ocean. It was an absolute dream. Our first night in Sorrento, we were all exhausted from travel, so we opted for room service instead of going out to dinner. Liv and I watched a bad movie and ate fries in bed like Eloise at the Plaza (my idol, by the way). The next morning we were faced with our first full day in Sorrento. We traveled a small distance to Pompeii for a guided tour of the ruins. Liv and I were ecstatic. Thanks to our Art and Architecture class (and a few semesters of art school), we were pointing out classical orders and composition of frescos. I’ve been obsessed with Pompeii since I was a kid, but back then it was more of a fear. No one ever told me about the locations of volcanoes or the frequency of eruptions. I went through a solid period of time where I couldn’t sleep because of volcano induced anxiety. I swore there were volcanoes under my house and that I was at constant risk of death from eruption. After understanding that Danville, California was NOT near any active volcanoes, I developed an morbid interest in Pompeii related to the preservation of the city and victims. Great stuff, right? We were able to see 3 preserved adult bodies, one child, and one dog. While it was sad, I was COMPLETELY enthralled. It was like meeting a celebrity, except the celebrity died like a thousand years ago and has been encased in plaster. After Pompeii, we took a car over to the Amalfi Coast to visit Positano, my parent’s honeymoon spot. Though it was overcast and a bit touristy, it was still an absolute dream. The buildings, like in Sorrento, were all pastel colored and highly concentrated up by the cliffs. It was like the photography lottery--I was rolling all over the beach getting shots of everything. We returned to Sorrento along the winding roads of the coast that have convinced me that I would never be able to live there without constant nausea. That night, we had dinner at a pizza/pasta restaurant, drank rose, (I got a migraine) and we went to bed moderately early.
The next day was our free day, meaning no planned tours or reservations. Olivia and I took advantage of it the best way we know how: sleeping. We woke up relatively early for breakfast downstairs, but retreated back to our rooms for naps. I cannot explain the serenity of napping by an open window facing the ocean. Feeling refreshed and quite honestly the most peaceful I have ever been, we grabbed a late lunch in town. I explored the downtown area a bit on my own before returning to the room for the night.
The next day marked our return to Sevilla and Rodney and Ken’s return to Germany. We received a phone call from the front desk saying we had a hitch in our travel plans-- the boat between Sorrento and Naples was not running today because the sea was too rough. We looked out the window and sure enough it was like a scene from Titanic (ok maybe not as bad, but we definitely would not have survived a boat trip). We ended up eating breakfast and then driving for over an hour to the Naples airport. Though the driving makes me nauseous, I was just too grateful that I wasn’t on the boat to care. We ate lunch and got on our respective flights home. I slept for almost the entire time and it was magical. Honestly, I was nervous that I would go into a depression upon returning to routine in Sevilla, but I was instead greeted by a feeling of relief to be home. I got to see Andie, sleep in my own bed and be in a familiar territory. I’m finally used to living here. We are officially past the halfway point and I have about 8 weeks left to make it count! Expect more posts about Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Morocco in the following months.
Besos,
Dara
View from our Hotel in Sorrento.