The Cities of Lemons: Sorrento and Positano

View from Sorrento

This past weekend everyone in our study abroad group went to southern Italy to Sorrento. We stayed at a hostel in Sant'Agnello which is only a short train ride away from Sorrento. When we first got to Sorrento on Saturday, Sarah and I ate some lunch at a small cafe and then proceeded to go to the beach. We walked down ramps to get to the beach since the town is built on a cliff. We were able to put our feet in the water for a short time and then struggled with our backpacks back up the cliff. We then met up with the rest of the group in Sant' Agnello to check into our hostel. Everyone was able to walk around and kind of explore the town for the evening.

Capri

On Sunday morning, we all took a boat from Sant'Agnello to sail around the island of Capri. The whole sailing trip lasted about four hours. The view was absolutely gorgeous and the Mediterranean waters were unbelievable blue. We passed by many grottos, which are caves that went into the island. However, it was very windy that day so the waters were really choppy and many of us got sea sick. We did get to swim in the water for a short time which was very refreshing after a long boat ride. Even though the boat ride had not been all that we had expected, it was still fun and we got great pictures out of it.

Monday morning, our group split up, and I went to Positano with Sarah, Alexis, Macy, and Adrienne. We took a bus from Sorrento and got dropped off at the top of Positano, which offered a great view of the town and sea. It was enjoyable to walk down into the city and stop to take pictures whenever we felt it was necessary. It was very relaxing to be able to go at our own pace instead of being rushed to see everything. We were able to wander around the city and shop for a while. The town had lemons sitting out at every restaurant on the tables. The Amalfi Coast and surrounding areas are know for their lemons, so much of the town was decorated with lemons. These lemons were not just normal lemons. They were

Huge lemons in Positano

huge! They were about the size of a guinea pig. The town was so beautiful though. I wish we had more time to spend there, but we had to leave to catch our train back to Castiglion Fiorentino.

Macy, Alexis, Adrienne, me, and Sarah in Positano

The trip back to Castiglion Fiorentino was a difficult journey. We had to rush to catch our train from Naples to Rome, which ended up leaving 25 minutes late. Since that train was late, we only had two minutes to catch our train from Rome to Castiglion Fiorentino. We ended up running through the train station trying to get to our train; however, we missed it. The good thing was, the group that had gone to Pompeii that day had been on our same train so we were all able to stick together and figure out a way home. We all ended up taking a train to Arezzo and had to take a taxi back to Castiglion Fiorentino. We got back home around 1:30 to 2:00 in the morning. It was definitely an adventure, but we were able to learn what to do in that kind of situation. It was a great learning experience. This past weekend was incredible and I'm excited for this coming weekend and our future adventures together.

Positano

Bethany Kennedy