Naples

      When I had heard that we were going to Naples, everyone around me told me that I should get out as soon as possible.  When we got there, the port was pretty gross and so dirty, because apparently the mafia has completely taken over. We walked up to the main street where there were a ton of shops and all these people selling fake bags and jewelry on the streets.  We didn't really stop to shop at all  because our main goal was to find the train station, and get out of Naples.  We stopped to get some pizza because we were starving.  I can't even tell you how amazing the bread is there, you just have to go for yourself and try it.  Kati and I met a girl named Amy on the way out of the port and recruited her to come with us, because she was going to explore Naples on her own.  Well we all got on the train to Sorrento at about 1pm.  The train was so ghetto and covered in graffiti, but after an hour or so we got off the train.  Sorrento was really beautiful.  We spent some time shopping around, because we really hadn't bought anything yet, and I wanted to get some gifts.  We walked down to the water and saw the beaches, which were beautiful.  We got some pictures and admired the cliffs and ocean.  After a while we headed back to the train station so we could find the bus to go to Positano and the Amalfi coast.  Amy decided to head back to Naples, so Kati and I got on the bus to Positano.
        The bus ride was an experience in itself.  The coastal road that you have to drive on is two lanes, and pretty much too small to actually hold two cars passing each other.  There was a two foot gate on the side of the road that would do nothing if you actually swerved into it, but somehow we managed to make it to our final destination with out any problems.  The views were absolutely breath taking, probably the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life.  I definitely wished that we had more time there, because me and Kati got lunch and just sat looking out at the views for about three hours.  We were surrounded by by cliffs with these pretty little houses, and looking down, we could see Capri and Anacapri, which we did not realize would be so small.  It was just so gorgeous.  After our lunch, we walked down to the beach, which took us a while because we wanted to look into all the cute little shops on the way.  This was the first time that I actually bought anything, which was really fun.  I got a bunch of cute little presents for my friends and family, which I hope that they will really like.  We finally walked down to the beach, which was really gorgeous, and I wanted to dip my feet in.  After, we walked back up because we wanted to get the bus back.  We got back to the stop, and we didn't even have to wait for the bus, which was good, we took the bus back, and out the side of the window, we could see the most beautiful sunset.  The sun was bright red, which was insane.  We finally got back to Sorrento, ran to the ATM and the grocery store because we had to get our tickets back to Naples.  We boarded the train, which seemed to take forever, but we eventually made it back to Naples, and walked back to the boat.  We thought that it was going to be a lot worse of a walk back, because everyone had talked about how dangerous it was, but we made it back safely.
        Once we got back onto the ship, we were going to take it easy and watch a movie, but on our way in, because it was the 4th of July, there was a whole bunch of kids drinking wine right out side the gates of the port, which was really cool, so we decided to run to the bar right next to the pier and buy a bottle of wine.  We had such a good time, just drink and chatting to every one, and celebrating our country.  It was so weird to not be in America for the 4th of July, but the crew put together and amazing BBQ for us the next day.  We finally went to bed with full intentions of hiking Vesuvius in the morning and going to Pompeii in the afternoon.
        Well when we woke up, we were really tired, and we decided to just go to Pompeii with Colby, Gracie and her roommate Amanda.  We got there really easily by the train, and paid the 11 Euro entrance fee.  We got a chance to walk around seeing the ruins for about 3 hours.  There was so much to see, and it was a bit overwhelming.  We got to see so many things, and I thought that it was so well preserved.  It was actually crazy to see the bodies that were preserved in the state when they saw the lava coming towards them.  I felt as thought I could put myself back in that time, because the ruins were so well preserved.  We got to see the brothel, which was a bit intense, the bakery and the theaters.  It was really really cool.  We all got really tired really quickly because it was so hot, and we were walking a lot, so we decided to walk back and head to the train back to Naples.  When we got off the train, we decided to get real pizza from Napoli.  We found this really cheap, but unbelievable restaurant, where we got a really good lunch.  Finally, we got back to the boat a bit early, because they were having a BBQ for us.  We layed out by the pool for a while, and then got to eat some more. 
        The Naples port was not as bad as I thought that it would be, but we still did not spend that much time there.  My favorite part of the trip was most definitely Positano, and I am so happy that we got a chance to go there.  Italy was so good, but I am really excited to just sit and relax in Croatia.