Napoli Love

Naples Part Two

Admiring the view of the Sea. 

Italians love to graffiti on everything!

In fact, Italy has taught me that it's not love until you graffiti a statue, church or historical sight proclaiming your love. 

The name of this stand cracks me up. The music they were playing too...it was awful.

Laura and I at Putipu.

The BEST pizza I have ever had  was at this restaurant. I have dreams about this pizza! 

 Walking to the National Archaeological Museum 

 This statue is Venus Kallipygos. She was my favorite piece of the museum. 

  She uncovers her nudity with a deliberate effect created by the softness of her body and the heavy fall of her drapery. She uncovers herself enough to tease but still keeps it playful. 

 The museum had a large collection of art collected from the Herculaneum and Pompeii ruins.  

The pieces were explained with great detail. 

 :) This was in the courtyard. 

 The space itself was gorgeous. 

Heart of a lion. 

Never, for a single second do I forget how blessed I am to be here. I am living my dream guys! I couldn't ask for anything else. Well, it would have been nice to have you all with me. <3 Love you. 

Things I ♡ About Italy

1. Notte Bianca: Was the best. night. ever. There is just so much that went on. There was a whole group of us before it became me, Adriana, Piti and Andrea. Then what followed was free drinks, getting couples to kiss by chanting "Bacio! Bacio!", flash mobs, sexy bartending twins, dancing in piazzas, walking around all of Firenze, live music, pictures, running into old friends, more dancing and blurriness. It was Epic. Wish I could be here for the next Notte Bianca. :)

2. Hard Rock Cafe Firenze: I had never been to a Hard Rock Cafe before. I know we have so many back home, including one in SF but I just had never gone. So, when I saw one here in Florence I knew I had to go. It took me months but I finally got the chance to go with my roomies. The food was delicious. Huge portions, fried chicken and coca-cola. It felt just like home!

3. YAB: YAB is a club in the center of Florence. It takes me about five minutes to get there walking. They have great music, cute boys and good drinks. It has slowly become one of my favorite places. Mainly, because of the cute boys lol.

4. The Opera: My roomies and I went to see Carmen not too long ago and it was fantastic! It was set up in a small church but the performers were amazing. I fell in love with the role of Carmen. She was a charming songstress.

5. Lucy: My roommate Lucy is the perfect shopping buddy. She can, believe it or not, out-shop me. We can spend a whole day doing nothing but window shop. Most of the time she ends up buying everything while I go home with nothing but we always seem to have fun while doing it. Also, she happens to be the best makeup artist ever! I love it when she does my makeup! The amount of attention I get when she does my makeup doubles. She's a miracle worker! lol. Sadly, she leaves tomorrow to Mongolia. :/ I am so thankful I was able to have her as a roomie tho. I can't imagine my time in Italy without her. <3

I'm On A Boat!

Day 3 of our trip we headed off to Capri!!! 

Boats! Boats! Boats!

Lucy, Me and Laura on the ferry to Capri!

 Capri's beauty amazes me. 

This pastry was the perfect pick me up after our ride to the island. It was tasty and inexpensive. 

We took a tour around the island. This is a lighthouse we passed. We also saw statues, rock formations and the houses of Sophia Loren, Giorgio Armani and other famous Italians. 

We went under the Arch of Love. Couples kiss while passing under the arch to spend many years of happiness together. 

Laura and I enjoying the tour. 

I was so glad to finally get some sun. Winter lasted too long this year! Here I was waiting to get into the famous Grotto Azzurro (Blue Grotto).

This is in the Blue Grotto. All natural lighting with water as blue as can be. I couldn't believe the color of the water. 

While in the Grotto the men guiding us on the boats were singing different Italian songs. The acoustics were amazing. 

There's my boat!

I was the only one to go in the water! The girls just wouldn't budge. 

:) O Capri, Non vedo l'ora per tornare. Forse il prossimo estate. :)

The Girl Who Went To The Top Of A Volcano

The same day I went to Pompeii I went up the volcano that destroyed it. This was my favorite activity out of my whole trip! It was something I never pictured myself doing so when I actually did it I couldn't believe it. 

Going up to Mt. Vesuvius was a mission. We bought our tickets and were told it would be 30 minutes wait. Well, it was an Italian holiday that day and many Italians were out for family picnics in the area and what not. Let's just say that 30 minutes became 2 hours!! We were worried that we wouldn't be able to go up at all but luckily everything was sorted out. In the end, the wait was worth while. 

This is me waiting at the bus stop.
 
We got all the way to the entrance by bus. We are getting closer!

Then we had to take these bad boys all the way to the top. Look at those wheels!

These were the roads and views on the way up.

The higher we went the more beautiful the views.

This is me and Laura waiting to explore Vesuvius. 

These were breathtaking. 

When we got dropped off we still had to climb 20 minutes up hill to the very top. I'm telling you guys it was a mission getting to Vesuvius. 

I am amazed every day by Italy's beauty. 

Finally made it!

This is the very center of Mt. Vesuvius. If you look closely you can see the smoke coming out!

I could have stayed up there forever. 

 

These were fun to find. :)

 

Of course Baby Jesus was up there too. 

I left my mark. ;) 

It was nice to relax for awhile just looking out. <3 

We were ecstatic up there and left feeling accomplished. 

I Don't Know Where I Am Going. I Am Just Going.

Napoli: Part One

Hey Darlings! As you know I went to Napoli (Naples) last week. It was such an amazing trip!! There was so much to do and see. We arrived to Naples on a Sunday and decided to explore the city. We roamed around and took pictures of whatever called our attention. I liked the city but I wouldn't live there because it is the most dangerous city in Italy. We actually walked past a group of men fighting in the street at night! I'm a night owl do if it is unsafe for me to go out at night I rather not live there. Still the architecture, the people and the food might make me think twice!! 

Here are just a few pictures from my trip. Honestly it was so hard choosing which ones to share because I took so damn many!! I wish I could show you everything but then you would sit here for hours and I doubt you wanna do that. Anyway, here are some of my fave, enjoy!! 

Here is a view from the train. I never like to sleep on a train because I am afraid I will miss out on all this gorgeous scenery. 

Here we are having just arrived to Napoli! This is at the Central Train Station of Naples. :)

Can you believe this is the view from our balcony in our hostel?? We can even see the Mt. Vesuvius from here!! 

We could see everything! 

This is again our view, but looking towards the actual city. 

We found this really cool looking castle. It's actually a museum and it's not even that old compared to the rest of Italy but it was pretty cool. 

Being there made me feel like a princess so I just gazed upon its beauty. 

But then my manly side kicked in and I tried imitating these cool soldiers. 

This was an awesome store filled with heart shaped pastas, freshly made marmalade, traditional limoncello, and of course my fav spices. I ended up buying some Napoli bruschetta mix. :) 

 

This is Napoli's main shopping area. Unfortunately, we arrived on a Sunday so everything was closed. 

Or should I say almost everything? This is the place to be if you want a knock-off. Come any day of the week rain or shine and these guys will be there. Other popular items you can buy from vendors: sunglasses, earrings, iphone cases and belts.

Me chillin on a regular Italian street. whatevs. 

This is a beautiful church of Naples. I forgot the actual name of it. I'll look it up for you guys no worries ;). Anyway, that day they were having an event. It also happened to rain later in the day so we didn't stick around to figure out what it was. 

This was in the same court yard as the church. She caught my attention so I had to take a picture. Isn't it lovely?

Finally, this is me climbing a lamp post. I saw it and just felt like climbing it. Let's just say I caused quite a stir. I guess Italians don't climb things. lol.

Anyway, that was only half of my first day!! There are still plenty of pictures to come. Hope you enjoyed what I shared. Miss you all!!