Sorrento

Italy is definitely different from what I expected. We started in Rome and celebrated new years there. Rome is absolutely massive as can be expected. I arrived last Sat and found my way from the airport to Termini station via the shuttle bus and then I tackled the metro with my massive bag and backpack....wearing of course my backpack on the front which is so stylish. The guy who sold me my metro ticket and the metro termini station said to wear it at the front as things could get stolen from it without me even knowing. I thought once at the metro stop I needed, that the hotel would not be far... How wrong I was... I walked for about 30 mins with my bags until I found my hotel. I was relieved to find that unlike the surrounding bad neighbourhood, the hotel was very very nice... Rome Park however had stuffed my booking up and I had my taxi paid for to go to another hotel 5 min away for the 1st night. The frist night hotel was really nice and Roma Park was also good but probably a little lower in the star rating. Rome New Years was fun. I met my enitre group there and then we headed out. I met three really nice girls Jessica (aussie), Lilly and Lauren (American). These girls are the best from the group I would say and I have had a lot of fun with them this week, eating Italian Icecream, comparing our different cultures and exploring the various cities. I am glad though that fireworks are banned in Australia. In Rome some of the "homemade" fireworks felt like mini bombs were going off.. I stayed inside so as not to be hit by one the the fireworks flying around... Definitely a different experience. I will manage to see more of Rome on the last two days of the trip and will write more about it then. To get to Sorrento on the second day we had about a 4 hour drive. The south of Italy to my surprise was a lot poorer than I imagined and I was told by the tour guide today that this is mainly due to the mafia and corruption ensuring that the money does not go where it is needed. Sorrento, however was a really beautiful town and the coastlines of Italy were amazing, even though it was a little overcast. Sorrento was wealthier than Napoli (Naples). The buildings in Naples were quite run down and all the major monuments had graffiti on them, which was a little disappointing. Though it was an insight into another culture and way of life. The extra meal in sorrento on the Monday night was FANTASTIC... I have never eaten so much in my entire life. We started with two entrees, then gnocchi, then pasta, then meat dish with veges, then cake, then lemon liquer (famous in the area). The Lemons are really really important to this region and jess and I found some at a market that were the size of large grapefruit. The second day in Serrento, the bus broke down for about an hour and then we were informed that the sea would be too high today for us to go to Capri, so that was cancelled. However, we did manage to get to Pompei. Pompei was one of the main reasons I chose this trip and I am so glad I got to go and see it. The society was so advanced, with pipes, streets, street crossings, fast food stores, brothels hehehehe and beautiful artwork. What was really interesting was the people. When they found Pompei they discovered that surrounding the bones there was a large space, where the body once would have been and thus then found a technique with plaster to fill the gaps and re-create what people were doing when they died. There is one of a pregnant woman and another of a man with his hands over his mouth, an indication of the type of death the suffered (through lack of air). I only have three minutes left on this computer will write again soon....

Rome, Italy