Capri

each year we take the students on a day trip and an overnight trip- one in the fall and one in the spring. this year we're doing 2 of each because we have so many students, and a few weekends ago we went on the first of two overnight trips of the year. this one was to Sorrento and Capri and it was offered to the kids in the master's degree program and the ones completing their entire undergrad degree here in florence (as opposed to the 42 freshmen we have here who will go to poughkeepsie next fall to finish college there- they'll go on their overnight trip in the spring). anyway the trip was schedule for right before mid-terms so we only ended up having about 15 or so students on the trip- all girls- and my and the professor from Marist in NY who is teaching over here for the semester went as chaperones. not that we needed to do much- it was a small group and none of them are trouble-makers so it was relatively relaxing. i mostly had to talk to the bus driver and make sure no one got lost and the hotel was paid but the rest was cake. we stayed overnight in sorrento, which was cute to wander around in and sample their limoncello at some local shops, but otherwise there wasn't much to do- although not in a bad way.

Capri on the other hand was a paradise. No wonder so many famous people have houses there! (Sofia Loren, the Gerber family, Beyonce and Jay-Z, to name a few) I may have loved it so much partly for my love of big houses and the potential for a celebrity sighting, but Capri also felt like what I always used to think of when I heard the word "Italy." I can't really explain it much more than that- it was just something about the look of the place mixed with the people... I don't really know. What I do know is that I need to go back when it's warm out because that's obviously the best time to go. The only thing I need to figure out between then and now is how to get a boat- Capri didn't really seem to have anything resembling a beach, perhaps because it's too rocky. Most people take their boats out and go swimming off the boat. Not too shabby, huh?