The Amalfi Coast is about a five hour bus ride south of the city of Rome. The way it was described to me by one person was that the south is prettier but the north has better food. Personally, I haven't had a bad meal yet. (Check out Food Adventures for more on that.)
We stayed at a hotel-- Lloyd's Baia Hotel-- in Vietri Sul Mare. It was a hotel that basically hung off of a cliff. If your room was for, let's say, 217, you were on floor -2. As in Negative. As in it only could go down. Our room had an amazing view of the coast (see below). It was also so nice to have a full sized shower and private bathroom. And you know I stole every travel shampoo and soap from that bathroom. #collegeabroad
The view from our patio.
We ate two meals at the hotel-- both of which were fabulous. They were both traditional three or four course Italian: possible antipasto, pasta, meat/veggies, dessert. On the second night, they brought in a traditional folk band which was so much fun. All of the musician's had instruments which they either had made themselves or had been handed down. There were also three dancers to help keep us entertained. Needless to say, the entire banquet room turned into a massive, jumping, clapping, folk dance party-- which also somehow shifted into all chanting Get Low at one point... Anyhow...
Paestrum
Our first stop on Friday was Paestrum, the ruins of an ancient Greek city. I know, I forget that Greeks were in Italy too. Unfortunately, we had a lot of rain while we were there, but it was still an amazing site. There are the ruins of three major temples, the source of most of its fame, as well as cites of government and a theater. Maybe it was the rain, but the indoor museum was the best part of the cite for me. They have more artifacts than you can count, including these incredible wall murals from ancient tombs. You can still see the brush strokes on them. It was amazing.
I call this, "Pop of Color".
What was not amazing? Seeing one of my own classmates casually run their hand across an entire facade as she walked past. It was shocking. Some people just don't belong in museums, I guess.
Caseificio Vannulo Mozzarella di Bufala
This was arguably one of the best parts of the weekend. Two words: fresh mozzarella. I mean, how many people actually get to see how some of the best cheese on the planet is made? We even got to look into the room where they work and cut the cheese by hand. It was essentially three guys in synch with one another pulling and ripping fresh cheese and dipping it back into the water.We also got to meet the cows. The thing that makes this mozzarella farm really special is how they treat their animals. They are played Mozart every morning. (Ha. Mozart. Mozzarella. Get it?) They have an all grain, high quality diet. Their pens are designed in such a way that they can move around where ever they want, inside or out. They also sleep on fancy rubber beds and have a machine where they can go and get massaged. So basically where can I sign up to be one of these cows? I mean look at how happy they are! Look at how happy I am at how happy they are!
See Mom? I told you I'm making friends.
And you know what happy cows make? The best cheese you've ever had. We had a chance to sample some of the fresh mozzarella and it was mind blowing. And when I say fresh, I mean it was made that morning. From the cows I had recently just made best friends with. All I can say is that it was unlike any mozzarella I've ever had. Not only was it just ten times more flavorful and fluffy, but it also had quite a bit more moisture than I was used to. The farm also has a shop to sell leather, gelato, and yogurt-- the latter two are supposed to be out of this universe. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to stop. Next time I suppose. 
It was gone pretty quickly.
Vini Marino Wine Farm
The second stop on our taste bud tour spectacular was a very small wine farm. Unfortunately, we visited a little off season so the plants were just branches but, it was still a beautiful view. I mean look at that sky. We really lucked out on weather that day.
It was a teeny-tiny facility, but we got to walk through where they make the wine. It was funny because as soon as you entered the warehouse the smell of wine was overpowering. At the end, we had a chance to taste their red and white, as well as fresh bread pieces with their homemade olive oil. The white was amazing. So good, that I couldn't help but buy a bottle. And, hey, at 12 euro, it's totally worth it. The red was a little to 'earthy' for my taste, but others liked it. I know some people were shipping bottles home for 60 euro a bottle. Sorry, Mom, but I don't love you that much.
Ah, yes. Where the magic happens.
Montecassino
Our last excursion on that Sunday was the Abbey of Montecassino. Seeing it initially on our itinerary, I was relatively unimpressed. Okay, so it's just an abbey. No big deal right? Wrong. It's a big deal. Arguably the best part of the weekend.Let me make a futile but, determined effort to describe the Abbery of Montecassino to you. The first thing you have to understand about the Abbey is that it is very literally on top of a mountain. Something which no one relayed to us and that no one realized until we were precariously weaving our way up it on skinny little roads that just dropped off at the edges. I had horrible visions of the bus just tumbling down the mountain. In fact, I found this historical illustration of the Abbey in their museum. It'll give you a better idea.
I'm not kidding. Top of the mountain.
Okay, the next thing you need to know about the Abbey of Montecassino is that it was almost completely destroyed in WWII, leaving only a small corner of it intact after a bombing. Hundreds died, but in that section a number of Benedictine monks were spared, exiting through large doors that now read PAX-- peace. This portion of the Abbey was also the former residence of St. Benedict. He and his twin sister, St. Scholastica, are both entombed at the Abbey. During the bombing a bomb fell between their graves but, was a dud and didn't go off. So, God-- 1, Us-- 0.
The third thing you need to know about Montecassino is its museum. During the tour, our guide stopped off in a little room and told us there was a museum and we had about a half an hour to wander through it. Hearing this information, I assumed that it must not be much considering the time allotted. Wrong, again. The collection was incredibly. The monks must have had many people who wanted to bring them things-- which makes sense because of the whole we-were-bombed thing. There was so much there: pope hats, scepters, big iron crosses, historical maps and documents, various tapestries, medieval clergy clothes, sculptures, paintings, and painstakingly painted bibles ranging from gigantic to fun-sized. They were things I only knew existed because I had seen them in movies.
Books and stuff. Ammi' right?
Then there's the church. I swear, our tour guide was so nonchalant about everything. Oh, we're just going to head into the chapel now. Super casual. No. Not casual. Anything but casual actually. I couldn't speak if I wanted to when I walked into that place. Add to that the fact that there was mass going on and real-life monks just strolling around the place in their black robes. Oh, and also, the super casual burial site of two saints. No big deal right? I'll let the picture do the rest of the work for me.
Like I said, super casual.
The last and final thing you need to know about Montecassino is perhaps the most wonderful: the view. You could see for miles. I walked out onto the looking point and gasped. What made it even better was that we had a wonderfully clear day. I swear I could have stood there an hour just looking out. I was floored by the beauty of this place. I'm not a religious person, but there I truly understood how a person could be.
There have been a few moments on my trip so far that the world around me has made me feel very small. That night at the Colosseum and again at Montecassino. I think that's important to feel, to have perspective on my role in this mess. And I hope I keep feeling that, keep being stunned and put back in my place. Because that's the whole point of this adventure.
lauren
xoxo
[Also! Don't forget to follow my adventure on instagram: #laurentakesrome ]
0 comments:
Post a Comment