Benvenutti a Italia!

We have been in Sorrento (region of Campania) for almost two days now. But I will start by telling you how it all began!

Our trip began once we landed in Rome after a 7 1/2 hour flight from the states. The flight did not seem as long as I thought it would, though I was able to catch some shut-eye for two hours. Once arriving in Rome, we were greeted by Patrizia, our tour-guide, with one of those signs with CIA on it. We felt so special having a sign! Now all we needed was our limo with champagne! It was only 7:45 am so we had a full day ahead of us, which we knew was going to be exhausting, especially after flying for so long! We hopped right onto a coach bus (the driver's name is Antonino and I must admit, he is quite handsom! Speaks very little English though, so it gives us an excuse to practice our Italian). The bathroom on the bus is locked, which so far has not given us any problems with needing to stop, but once we start on our way to other regions with drives as long as 6 hours, pit stops (and espresso stops) will be necessary.

After two hours of driving, we stopped at a small espresso bar and I had my first Italian espresso!It was quite strong, but I had to know what a true espresso tasted like before making a fancy cappuccino or cafe latte with it. I also tried a piece of my friend's chocolate croissant which was so buttery it just melted away in my mouth!

After espresso, we arrived in a little town to have our first lunch in Italy, called pranzo. It was at a small restaurant which used to be a pig barn! It is now a michelin star restaurant which even Ferran Adria has been to and dined at! (world renowned chef). It had a lemon tree out front which was my first time seeing one! We started off with antipasti, followed by pasta, and dessert of a torta caprese (shortbread crust, chocolate, ricotta, amaretto filling). The antipasto had mozzarella di bufalo (from water buffalo milk) that was made less than two hours earlier from milk collected that morning! Talk about fresh! It was unlike any mozzarella we had ever tasted with a creamy, milky, tangy flavor to it. There was also ricotta made that day as well which was so smooth and creamy! We also drank Aglianico wine (white) which is from the Campania region of Italy. After these three courses, I was full, very full, and thought to myself, oh no...three weeks of this!??!

We jumped back onto the bus and were on our way to Sorrento! After most of us had been sleeping for the past hour or so, we were woked up by Patrizia saying, "okay and on your right you have Mount Vesuvius..." Well that sure woke me up!! I jumped awake, pulled out my camera and snapped away!

The road was so windy down to Sorrento and the streets so narrow. Imagine us in a giant tour bus that is almost as wide as the road itself and having to leave room for the other cars, busses, mopeds! Antonino is certainly a talented driver!

We arrived at our hotel around 5 pm and had two hours before dinner. We moved into our rooms and saw that there was a balcony! It was such a nice day out, so rather than taking a nap before dinner, I sat outside and read a book, enjoying the beautiful day!

We ate dinner at a seafood restaurant right on the water. We were served FIVE COURSES! Starting off with a seafood salad of shimp, calamari, and octopus. Followed by liguini with clams and mussels. A light salad with vinaigrette was next and then a plate of fried fish. This followed with dessert called limone delizioso.

That basically concludes my first full day. I will try to report of my second day soon. I am sharing the internet with one of my friends.

I must be going now. My friends and I are going out to dinner in Sorrento since we have the night free!

CIAO FOR NOW!