So you can imagine my surprise and extreme excitement when I got a Skype call from her telling me that she had already 'Dove in' with out any pushing and purchased plane tickets to Italy for her Spring Break! There is nothing better. The only major thing wrong with living in Europe right now, for me, is the fact that my friends and family aren't with me experiencing the same things that I am. So when the opportunity arose for me to share some time and experiences with Kara, I went all out.
Together we took a train to Naples [one of the dirtiest and slightly frightening cities in Italy in my opinion]. We had some pizzas in the city Pizza was apparently invented [guess what...it tasted the same as everywhere else in Italy]. The next day we took a tangled and misleading metro route to the ruins of Pompeii. If you ever have the chance to check out Pompeii, either get a guide or an audio guide or at least a good book. Pompeii is huge and the amount of information you can gain from experiencing it with some expertise is astounding. Afterwards, we sat down for some local food which blew our minds and our pallets. The Caprese salad [which has tied for number one with Bruschetta on my list of best Italian appetizers ever] is mostly sliced, fresh, tomatoes and very, very fresh Buffalo Mozzarella. And before that we split the biggest, freshest orange I have ever seen. They are native to southern Italy [along with delicious lemons and limes] and are so juicy they have dark red pulp in the center.
The next day we woke up early to catch a metro to the still active Mount Vesuvius [or Vesuveo in Italian]. If you ever find yourself with the options to take the free public bus to the base of the mountain and then hiking the rest or spending a whole eight euros to take a tour bus most of the way to the top...spend the eight freaking euros! Our over-adventurous and delusional asses got willingly picked up only half way up [after hiking for two and a half hours] by a tour bus and we very willingly spent the eight euro after that. The last 300 meters to the top we you have to hike because there is no road, but is worth every steep step. The view seems to be a collage of the Rocky Mountains, some western Pennsylvanian forests smashing into a dispersed New York city which leads you to a Virginian coast line. There are snow capped mountains in the distance. You can still see the hardened lava path carved through thick forests from the last eruption. And past that, Naples is in site against the Mediterranean coast. It is absolutely beautiful. One of the most beautiful sites Ive even seen in my life [up there with the top of a mountain in Hawaii and the top of the Acropolis in Athens...the pix below don't do it justice at all].
After we descended Vesuveo, we caught a bus to a port in Naples, where we caught a ferry to the island of Capri. The next 2 nights we stayed in the Hotel Casa Caprile [which I very highly suggest...perfectly placed away from the main town of Capri, in the smaller Anacapri, slightly hidden, beautiful rooms with beautiful views, and affordable]. On Capri, Kara and I browsed the local shops and sites [Be sure to visit the Blue Grotto if you make it to Capri], but more importantly we ate and drank like kings...or I guess it would be a king and a queen. Whether it was Gnocchi alla Sorrentina or Spaghetti con scampi or anything in between, the meals were always accompanied by a huge basket of the best bread I have ever had, usually a Caprese Salad [with the best Buffalo Mozzarella I have ever had] and/or some Bruschetta [with the freshest tomatoes I have ever], and of course a bottle of wine...or two.
=Birra of the Blog=
During one of our meals fit for Kings...and Queens. I tried a new type of beer called Elephant Beer. It is a Danish beer with an interesting story behind it if you are interested you can Wikipedia it [because I'm too lazy to tell you the whole thing...sorry]. Another thing that is interesting, or slightly ridiculous, is when a vintage version of the Danish Elephant Beer came out in 2008, a bottle went for $400. I just had a simple 4 Euro bottle, but it was still pretty good. Give it a try.
During one of our meals fit for Kings...and Queens. I tried a new type of beer called Elephant Beer. It is a Danish beer with an interesting story behind it if you are interested you can Wikipedia it [because I'm too lazy to tell you the whole thing...sorry]. Another thing that is interesting, or slightly ridiculous, is when a vintage version of the Danish Elephant Beer came out in 2008, a bottle went for $400. I just had a simple 4 Euro bottle, but it was still pretty good. Give it a try.
And it was here, on the island of Capri, nestled upon the steep white cliffs covered in lushes green vegetation and surrounded by miraculously blue water that I had one of my first "moments". Now I thought about that statement for a while. Because I had been thinking differently from the moment I walked off the plane in Florence. I'm not sure if there is something in the air here or if I am growing up a little [God forbid], but I would occasionally find myself thinking of people who would never get to see these sites, eat these foods, experience any of this. I would question how I am so lucky...so blessed. But at the time, most likely because of the lack of concentration and excitement I am usually experiencing at the same time, these thoughts w ere more like un-lucid dreams that you can't even help if you wanted to, and would often be forgotten the next day, just as easily. That is why I say on Capri, I remember very distinctly, having, what I call, my first "moment". I was on a public bus [of all places], jammed between an older woman with a bag of groceries and a gentlemen in a business suit. Kara and I were the first to get on the tiny little orange bus at the port, but over the distance from there to the town of Anacapri the bus had gotten more and more crowded with every stop. Kara was sitting in a seat, which she graciously gave up to the older woman with the groceries and stood up next to me. The switch-back roads and near 180 degree turns ascending the highest cliffs of Capri caused my knuckles to turn white as I clung to the safety bar above my head. I kept my other arm around Kara, even though I knew she was safe and holding on to her own bar. And it was with the next sharp turn that the setting sun ripped through the tiny public bus, so much that every person on the bus, including the bus driver winced at first. But as our eyes began to adjust to the sudden influx of light , I realized that the bus was driving in the direction of a tremendous view. The soft orange sun was just beginning to touch the dark blue line that divided the pink sky and the seemingly endless Mediterranean Sea. Its reflection was almost as orange as the actual sun and it sparkled the whole was across the water until it hit the white pebble shores where the small waves gently crashed, where Kara and I had carelessly walked up and down earlier that day. And it was here, on a crowed public bus, with the sun kissing the sea and my arm around Kara, that I had a "moment". All of the previously said thoughts rushed back to me, but for the first time I was able to process them all. I was able to consider almost everything at once. I was able to be grateful. Extremely grateful. Grateful to my parents. Grateful to my grandparents. To my bother. To my friends [both here in Italia and back home in the States]. Everyone involved in me being exactly where I was at that exact moment. I was grateful to Kara. I was, and still am, grateful to God.
That was my first, what I've started calling, "moments", because it was not my last. And I hope I have many more. The rest of the week with Kara was spent in Florence, showing her how I have been living and all of the usual sites. And with all of our adventures in Italy combined, it turned out to be one of the best weeks for me, living here in Italy. Like I said, when Gretchen and Steve came to visit, there is such a gre at feeling when you know some one loves and cares about you enough to spend alot of money and time and effort to come across the ocean to visit and try to experience what you are experiencing.
Kara, thank you for the money spent, the time used [hopefully well], and the effort exhausted. Thank you for being a part of my first "moment" [I'm not sure it would have happened with out you ]. Thank you for coming. Thanks for holding up your end of the bargian. Thank you for 'Diving in'. I love you.
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