Off I go!

Thursday — April 11

Today I only had two classes, and then I packed, went shopping for snacks and relaxed during the day. My plans for the weekend started tonight at 6:30. 

This weekend we were going to the Amalfi Coast with a travel group called Florence For Fun. We were going to do it on our own, but it ended up being more expensive and tiresome to plan, so we chose to go with the group. It was going to be Lydia, Michelle, and I. I was really excited for the trip because I have been looking forward to going to southern Italy all semester. 

Michelle came over to our apartment around 5:30, and Lydia and I finished getting ready. We decided we would save ourselves the trouble of lugging our suitcases across town to the train station, so we called a cab, which ended up being only a couple euros a person. It was definitely worth it. 

When we got to the train station we walked over to the Pharmacy where we were supposed to meet. There were a plethora of college-aged students waiting as well. We ended up seeing a lot of Kent State students, which we weren't expecting. Michelle's boyfriend was coming too now, which Lydia and I didn't know, but the more the merrier. 

Finally after 15 minutes of waiting, a Florence For Fun guide came up to the massive group and had us check in. There were so many of us and only one person. I was surprised it wasn't as organized as Bus2Alps was. After we checked in, we learned what bus we were on and were led to where the busses were waiting. 

When we go down there, the busses ended up not being there, so we had to wait another 15 or so minutes. Jess and Kate ended up passing us on the way to their bus. They were going with another travel group, so they weren't going to be with us. 

Finally, our busses came, we threw our luggage under, and found seats. It was different because it wasn't just American college students on the bus for the trip. There was an Italian family with two teenage daughters and there were college-aged Italians on it too. It made sense that the travel group was opened for everyone, but we weren't expecting it. 

We finally pulled out of the train station ready for our 8 hour bus ride...yipee! 

We made two stops along the way, one was an hour stop for dinner around 9 and another was a quick potty break. During the ride we watched Batman: The Dark Knight (one of my favorite movies) and The Wedding Crashers. It definitely made the drive go much faster. 

I could sense that we were almost at the hostel in Sorrento because the roads were getting extremely windy around the hills and I could see the sea out in the dark. I was getting anxious to get there too because I was so tired and wanted to sleep that I was starting to get nauseous. 

We pulled in around 2 a.m. and were given the keys to our room. We were on the very bottom floor, but our room was seemed pretty nice for a 3-start hotel. 

I was pretty whooped, so I laid on the bed an crashed until morning.