Hello there. Just a heads up: these next posts will probably end up being rather long. So, pour yourself a cup of hot coffee or a glass of wine, grab a blanket, plop down on a chair, prop your feet up, and get comfortable.
My birthday actually began in the gym. At 7:30 a.m. Before leaving for four days, Kaleb and I decided it would be a fantastic idea to workout the morning that we left. Well, it was something. My body is not nearly ready for that kind of movement at 7:30 in the morning, but I'm glad we got a workout in. It's nice having someone else here that thrives on working out as well; we make a good team.
After working out, showering, and packing with lightening speed, we all hopped on the Metro for a ride to the train station. Can't say that I hated the metro any less this time around, but I was excited to get to the train station. I would like to tell myself that I have a pretty good sense of direction, especially when it comes to airports and theme parks. However, that "sense of direction" of mine was a little less prominent when everything was in Italian. With the eight of us all putting our smart UF brains together, we managed to come to a conclusion on where our train would be pulling out of. We found a mob of people all staring at an electronic board with departure times and "bin" numbers as they call them here in Italy. Apparently, the procedure is to stand around and watch the sign until your train is assigned a bin for departure. The bin assignment usually happens within 10 minutes of the scheduled time to leave, so when that number flashes up on the screen, mobs of people start flying in different directions, dragging their belongings with them through the crowds. When our bin number finally flashed on the screen around 10:30 (time to depart was 10:39), we scurried our way over to the train and boarded. I was seated in Car 8, Seat 15. Joining me in my cabin were Kaleb and Jenn. These little train cabins are exactly what I expected them to look like after reading the Harry Potter series; however, we were not aboard the Hogwarts Express and the trolley with Chocolate Frogs never came by. That being said, shortly after the scheduled departure time, I was pulling out of the train station on my very first train ride.
Riding a train is very similar to flying in an airplane. The only differences are that you have more room in a train, tickets are cheaper, and you never get in the air. So, at least in Europe, train is the preferred method of travel. It was a quick two hours to Naples, Italy and I "slept" for most of the way. I have trouble sleeping sitting up, so that's why slept was in quotes; I never actually fell asleep, but I was very relaxed. Upon arriving in the Naples train station and meeting up with the rest of our group, we headed to the ticket office to buy a commuter train ticket for 4 euros that would take us into the little town of Sorrento. We bought our tickets at 13:00 (Italy runs on military time) and the next train was leaving at 13:11. By the end of this trip, we were public transportation pros; this was our first test. As a group of eight, we moved through lines (mobs) of people and made our way to the platform (sadly not 9 3/4) where the train would be arriving. Now, this commuter train works very differently than the train we took to Naples. Seats are not guaranteed, they are first come, first serve. Despite our Italian efforts of disregarding lines and making our way to the front, when the train pulled up there were no seats available and we perched up by the handrails and stood. Our commuter train would take 1 hour to reach the town of Sorrento, with 33 stops along the way. I was discouraged at first with the possibility of standing for an hour touching a dirty pole, but as we got further and further away from Naples the crowd began to thin out and we all got seats, one by one. Once seated, the train ride was a breeze, figuratively speaking. There was no AC and certainly no breeze blowing through the train.Once in the town of Sorrento, we purchased yet another ticket for the bus that would take us up to our hostel. Public mode of transportation number two. Unfortunately, the next bus wasn't coming for over an hour so we decided to have a bite to eat at a restaurant by the bus stop. It was a smart move; I was absolutely famished. Sorrento, as we would come to find out, is a very touristy town. Most of the restaurants either cater to Americans with their menus or with their staff that speaks English. Our lunch spot did both. I ordered a Caesar salad and a Coca Cola. I had been craving a Caesar salad since we got to Italy, so I was pumped. Most of my group ordered burgers and fries. I guess we were all just craving some American food. My Coca Cola came out in a old fashioned bottle with a glass of ICE. I can't tell you how much I have missed cold beverages with ice, so that small gesture by this restaurant completely made my birthday. My Caesar salad did not look like the Caesar salads we make back home. Sorry I don't have a picture to show you, but I will do my best to describe it. There were four clumps of Romaine lettuce, topped with mounds of chopped bacon, a few croutons, smothered in dressing, surrounded by eight semi-circles of thick cut Parmesan cheese. Needless to say, it was delicious.
Our lunch ended with complementary samples of Sorrento's famous liquor, Limoncello. Sorrento is famous for their lemons and limes, and for the liquor and other drinks that they make with them. The Limoncello was very lemon-y and rather harsh. My throat burnt for a little bit afterwards. Can't say I would buy it on my own, but it was interesting to try. With our window of time running out before the next scheduled bus, we paid and made our way to the bus stop. And waited. And waited some more. Fun fact: Italians are never on time; they much prefer a more laid-back lifestyle with no need for punctuality. So, about 20 minutes or so after the scheduled arrival time, we boarded the city bus and made our way up the mountain. We had printed of the address of our hostel and shown it to the driver, hoping he would let us know when to get off, and he did. We hopped of the bus and began walking in the direction we believed was towards our hostel. The streets in Sorrento have no sidewalks and cars and mopeds come racing around corners so we all lined up single-file and marched our way to our home for the weekend.
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