Nov 10th 2011, Arrivederla Roma

Today began for everyone with a 7:00A.M. breakfast and a group meeting in the lobby at 7:20A.M. so that we could get ont he bus at 7:30. As usual, things did not go as planned -- students were still eating their breakfast at 7:20 and the bus was slightly late. All in all, we were getting on the bus at 7:45 and were on the road at 7:55, leaving the Western Globus of Rome. The first section of the charter bus ride was from Rome to Naples, which had a break at a rest stop after two hours. This portion of the ride was composed of beautiful views of the mountains. We would see shepards directing large herds of sheep at times, but most of the time there was grapes trees and olive trees where there were not mountains.

After two hours, we stopped at a rest stop and got out to stretch our legs and grab snacks. A large amount of students were amazed at how much chocolate there was. After we had bought our snacks and chocolate, we were off again towards Naples. While on our way to Naples, Mr. Mumford pointed out to the 10th graders in his history class that the mountains that we were passing had importances to World War II. When we were finally able to see Naples, we could see that a giant mountain was shadowing it. Mr. Mumford pointed out to the few of us who were awake that it was Mt. Vesuvius far off in the distence and that we will be continuing through Naples to Sorrento. As we continued past Naples, we gained altitude and the road began to get smaller (please remember that we are in a rather large charter bus). At one point we were hugging against another mountain across the bay from Naples and had a beautiful view of Naples with the silhouette of Mt. Vesuvius behind it.

We continued to move along the mountain, going up the side, until we reached Sorrento, a town among the lower reaches of the mountains. Sorrento is famous for its large lemons. While at Sorrento we stopped and walked around to find somewhere to have lunch at. After lunch, the group looked around the town. A beautiful view that was found was from the edge of one of the main plazas. If you look off of it you can see a straight drop about 50-100 feet to a road that is crawling up the mountain with greenery draping down the sides. We returned to the bus at 2:00 and were off to make our finaly push to the Amalfi Coast.

We continued to drive upward and the roads began to hug the mountain more and more with tighter switchbacks and narrow roads. I began to worry what would happen if we met another bus on the same path. On our way up we noticed on the opposite mountain there was a large cross sticking out at the top of the peak. Mr. Mumford informed us that it was the cross fo a church that was built into the rock of the mountain. When we reached the point when we would cross through a tunnal to the other side of the mountain and to the Amalfi coast, the unfortunate occured; the road was closed for repair. We stopped and our driver threw his hands up in defeat.
After a moment, he remembered an alterinative route that began in Sorrento that was much longer and would take us higher up on the mountain, but would takes us to Amalfi. He turned us around and we began our terk down to do Sorrento.

In this time that we turned around, Mr. Mumford told me (I was the only one awake) that there was a seat at the front next to the driver for the tour guide that I could sit in to take pictures. I gladly accepted. Once we began our rout from Sorrento up the mountain, I realized it was a bad choice; the road appeared to be as big as a one way in Ohio and it was meant for two tour buses at times. As we continued up the side of the mountain, the environment changed from a temporate forest that had changed colors and was just starting to lose its leaves to a damp and lush temporate forest that was just changing colors. I would call it a temporate rainforest but Mrs. Miller (being an environmental science teacher) would probably disagree with my assumption. The bus driver was in the zone with his turns the whole time; honking his horn when making turns when he could not see the the other side, slowing to the gentlest crawl on the switchbacks and then to a stamped along the straights. Most of the group, again, was still asleep. After many switchbacks and rather bothersome motorcyclists zooming past the bus, we had made it past the side of the mountain and onto the top of the of the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast. We quickly began to wake people up due to the amazing view.

The first thing that caught our eyes was the sea; it had a beautiful mix of teal and a very pale blue that stretched off into the horizon. The water was so still that it looked like glass from above. As we grew closer, buildings and houses began to appear more often while the inner side of the cliff began to have rows of parked cars. Please keep in mind that road has not changed and is still narrow and right against the side of the cliff. Around this time we had a close encounter with another bus in one of the switchbacks on that narrow road with the rows of cars packed by the buildings that were sticking out into the road. Somehow after 20 or 30 seconds the busdrivers were able to move around each other. By now, all of the bus was wide awake and looking off from the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast down to the town of Amalfi and the Mediterrenean Sea. Our driver joked how it was my turn to drive the bus after we got out of a very narrow strip. Mr. Mumford quickly and quietly said no to him, then turned to the rest of the bus and told them how I was going to drive now. Everyone shouted no.

In the heart of the porttown, the buildings looked like they were carved into the mountain side with some looking like they had not been a day old while others time had forgotten. Once the we reached sea level and were at the coast, the bus stopped and let us out. The group took off to look at the sea and a large amount of the group went off to put their feet into the Mediterrenean (this included Mrs. Miller). While we were having our feet in the sea, it was noted how deep and clear the water was. It appeared to be at least 10 feet deep and crystal clear. Students in the group continued on down the dock, some were taking pictures of others or the sites while others climbed on the large rocks along the shore, and some even got gelato. Once this was all said and done it ws time to hop on the bus and return to Naples for the hotel.

The drive back was just as tight - even tighter because there was more traffic. The road was dark and the busdriver would use his flash on his headlights around the corners to alert the oncoming drivers that there was a large vehicle coming towards them. Eventually, we made it to the hotel and checked in for the night.