Florence Week 9 (+Sorrento + Pompeii)

After what felt like a week away in France, I was back to school for just two days. And after three classes, it was the weekend again!

Mikaela and Anagha sent me a belated birthday package which was a great start to the week!

As I’ve mentioned before, there’s a market outside my apartment every morning. Ever since I arrived in Florence, I’ve been scoping out the different vendors with the plan to eventually ask one of them to volunteer at their stand to practice my Italian. Since my time here is already halfway over, I figured it was about time to make my move. 

I chose a sweet grandma who runs her own stand and is always very kind to me when I buy from her. I prepared a short speech in Italian explaining who I was, my past experience working at a market in France, and proposing to work with her. And with a wide smile on her face, she said yes! I couldn’t be more excited. As many of you know, I absolutely loved working at the market in France, so I can’t wait to do it again and practice a new language! My first day is Wednesday. 

Later, I met up with an Italian friend to grab lunch. We decided on an all-you-can-eat sushi place. It was my first time eating sushi in months, so I went all out. Sorry no photos to show, too busy eating.

Saturday morning, we met up with our school at 7 am and headed out for another trip around Italy. Our first stop was Sorrento, a 5.5 hour drive. Luckily, I was able to completely pass out for most of the ride. 

We checked into our hotel around 3, and headed out to explore the city. First stop: the ocean. 

Though it was pretty windy and gloomy out, we still enjoyed a nice walk along the water.

We were happily surprised to see a bunch of cats roaming around. 

Sorrento is known for its lemons and limoncello drink, so we stopped into a shop for a free tasting before dinner. Since we were on the ocean, I decided to go for a big seafood dinner. I was not disappointed. 

The following morning we left Sorrento and arrived in Pompeii around 9:30. 

We had a guide take us around the ancient city. 

I remember learning about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius back in junior high. It almost felt surreal visiting the site so many years later. 

After several hours, we grabbed a quick lunch, and headed back to Florence. 

We got back around 8 pm, and found that it had been raining the entire weekend because the river was completely filled and moving extremely fast. Though the weather wasn’t great where we were either, I’m glad we at least got to miss the downpours. 

I’ll be staying in Florence this entire week, looking forward to starting at the market and exploring the city more. 

Alla settimana prossima!