Exploring Italy

A Whirlwind of Pesto, Ancient Ruins, and Sunset Views

Jordan and I spent far too little time in Italy. If I had my way, I would have stayed for months. Still, I feel lucky to have spent nearly two weeks on the stunning Amalfi Coast, just outside Sorrento, with Jordan and his mom.

After flying in from London we spent a day in Venice. With its seemingly endless canals and the countless bridges that go along with that, it was beautiful. It is here that Jordan and I started our European carb-loading, where we truly had to search and fight for every vegetable we could eat. But I cant complain, the pesto that I had for lunch in Venice stands as the best pesto I have ever eaten, and then we had pizza for dinner that night. While in Venice we also did the iconic gondola ride, and timed it perfectly so we caught the sunset over the main channel while on the boat.

The next day, we traveled to Sorrento, where we stayed at the Airbnb Jordan’s mom had visited on her last trip to Italy. After the craze of traveling through four cities in four days, we used our first day to recover. But by the next day, we were ready to explore Sorrento. The area is so stunning and we went at a perfect time to see all of the trees filled with oranges and lemons!

One of the first days in Sorrento, we took a day trip over to Naples. We spent a good while walking around — seeing the main shopping area, beautiful churches and town squares before heading to the Naples underground, where we learned about the city’s fascinating history. It began as stone excavation sites for the Greeks, transitioned into water tanks for the Romans, and eventually served as bomb shelters during World War II. Afterward, we enjoyed some classic Neapolitan pizza from a restaurant recommended by one of Jordan’s mom’s friends, conveniently located right outside the underground entrance.

We had a fantastic day trip to Amalfi, we didn’t stay long, in fact we spent more time on the bus tide to Amalfi than we in the town itself. But even despite the motion sickness, the bus ride itself was stunning with all the views of the rocky Amalfi Coast.

We also took a day trip to Capri, taking the ferry to the island. Most of our day was spent walking—up and down the hills of Capri under sunny skies. Despite the 60-degree weather, we worked up a sweat climbing the inclines. I can’t imagine doing it in the summer heat! In Anacapri, we took the cable cars to the top of a hill, where we had a fantastic view of the island and the mediterranean. A great way to end the day.

A highlight of the trip for me was going to Pompeii. It was so beautiful and I loved being surrounded by so much history. I probably could have spent the entire day in there just walking around and seeing the interiors of all of the houses. As a side note, the town seems to be taken over by cats, which Jordan and I spent a long time trying to pet.

The holidays in Italy were magical. I attended my first Christmas Eve mass, and even though I didn’t understand a single word of it, it was still a beautiful experience. We spent Christmas Eve at Jordan’s mom’s friend, Alexandra’s, house and had a divine multi course dinner there cooked by her family of chefs. For some unknown reason, I decided to fill myself up on the first course and the meals just kept coming, every single one so delicious, needless to say I was stuffed by the end of the five courses! One thing I found very interesting is we ate no meat that night, every meal was centered around seafood, I guess because there is so much access to fresh seafood in Sorrento.

A few days later, we returned to Alexandra’s for a pizza-making class. It was so much fun learning to make the pizza and the dough from scratch, and once again we left feeling completely stuffed. Funnily enough, we bumped into another family from the class during our Amalfi trip a couple of days later.

After an amazing week and a half on the Amalfi Coast, it was time to say goodbye to Sorrento, to Jordan’s mom, and to the stunning coastline. We left her at the train station in Naples and the Jordan and I made our way to Rome!

I wish we had gotten more time in Rome, but we certainly made the most of the time we had. We kicked off our visit with a picnic lunch at a park near our Airbnb before heading to Vatican City. Before entering the city, we had to wait in a surprisingly long security line just to get in. Eventually we made it through and headed straight to the Saint Peter’s Basilica. No picture will ever give justice for just how massive and beautiful this building is. I felt like a tiny ant standing outside of it, also inside of it.

The building is just stunning inside and out. We would have explored more of the city, but we had a reservation at the colosseum which we had to get to next.

From there, we rushed over to the Colosseum for our reservation. Stepping out of the metro station to see the Colosseum looming right there was surreal, like something out of a dream. It’s one of those landmarks you never think you’ll see in real life, and then suddenly, there it is before you even step out of the station. We really enjoyed our time there, learning about the history, and acting out our gladiator fantasies. We actually spent so much time in the Colosseum that by the time we got out, the Roman Forum had closed, but we were more than satisfied with our visit and the history we saw.

The last thing we did in Rome before turning in for the night was visit the Crypt of the Capuchin Friars. The experience began with a well-curated museum, complete with an audioguide that explained the history and beliefs of the Capuchin sect of Christianity. Then came the crypt itself which was truly indescribable. It had an unexpected and haunting sense of beauty despite being consumed with the idea of death. The bones were arranged in intricate patterns that evoked images of flowers and the sun—an odd juxtaposition for a crypt, but oddly fitting. It's smaller than other crypts, like the famous catacombs of Paris, but I'd say just as powerful.

As we boarded the train out of Rome, I couldn’t help but reflect on the whirlwind of experiences we’d had in Italy. Each city was so beautiful and amazing, and the food was just unforgettable. I will remember this trip forever and I can’t wait to come back one day and enjoy it all over again!

xx abby