UD Trip: Campania (a.k.a. Cloud Nine!)

Campania. Beautiful Campania. That is where I spent my weekend. Friday morning, all of the UD Romers were packed onto three buses and were en route to Paestum, Italy, about a six hour drive south from Rome. We made our first stop at Montecassino, a beautiful abbey up in the mountains where St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery. It was such a gorgeous and peaceful place with breathtaking views from their balconies. Our next stop was at the Archaeological site of Pompeii. We toured through the ancient ruins for a few hours, listening to all of the fascinating stories of what Pompeii was like, and then viewing some of the uncovered pottery and castings of some of the people who had tried to escape. It was pretty amazing. Finally we checked in at a four star hotel in Paestum and enjoyed a delicious dinner (and my first time to ever taste tiramisu, which was awesome!)

 

 

 

Saturday involved one of the best parts of the Campania trip: a boat tour along the Amalfi coast, leaving the docs of Salerno and sailing on until we reached Amalfi where we stopped to pick up passengers, and continued on to Positano. I stuck around with Dr. Osborn and his family and another thirty or so students on one of the beaches. I volunteered to watch people’s things while they went swimming. It wasn’t all that bad anyway, especially since I was in the shade of the sea cliff and was able to chat with Mrs. Osborn who introduced me to the hobby of sea glass hunting. Even though I didn’t go swimming, I did let the waters of the Mediterranean kiss my foot. It’s okay. I’ll be going to the Amalfi coast again this weekend anyway for some serious blue water and swimming. We then sailed back to Amalfi where we visited the Cathedral of St. Andrew and enjoyed a lovely stroll along the charming streets. We finally headed back to Paestum for dinner. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was on cloud nine the entire time. I can't even pick a favorite moment, it was that good. Now I am very determined to live on a coast or on a boat, or at the very least go sailing every once in awhile.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday: Mass in the morning, a delicious breakfast, and a visit to the Archeological site of Paestum where we visited Temple of Hera I and II. They look even better in real life than they did in the textbook. Following a few on-site lectures, we were able to visit the Paestum museum and saw more ancient artifacts. It was really something. After lunch at the hotel, we had a long ride home. I will never forget this Campania trip. Apparently, it’s a pretty new thing added by UD Rome program since this was only the second time they’d done it. Don’t ever stop doing this trip, UD! It was the best!