Amanda's Italian Adventure: Il Sud di Italia, Napoli. Pompei. Sorrento. Ercolano

I had my first experience in Southern Italy last week. We had a five day school field trip to Napoli, Stabiae, Pompeii, Herculaneaum, and Sorrento. It was a busy but awesome week.

First stop; Napoli (Naples) - Northern Italian always send precautions to people visiting southern Italy, Napoli in particular. They have this misconception that Napoli is full of criminals and thieves. It is quite the contrary actually. Southern Italians in general are some of the most open and friendly people you will meet. Sure, Napoli is bigger and has less money than most Northern cities. Maybe some people aren't attracted to the grungy liveliness of the city. But I found it fantastic.

-Things to do in Napoli: GO to the Museo MADRE. It is the contemporary art museum in Napoli. Although our school only allowed us one night in Napoli before heading to a town called Stabiae (aka snoozville), some of us rebels ditched a day of looking at old stuff and took the train back up to Napoli to go to this museum. They have a rad exhibition up right now called BaRock. There are tons of huge name artists in exhibition there right now, (Damien Hirst, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine, Jenny Holzer, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Richard Hamilton, Anish Kapoor, Matthew Barney, Jeff Koons, to name a few) and an awesome exhibition called The Obsessed by Ryan Mendoza.

- Eat the Pizza. Napoli is the birthplace of pizza, so naturally it is the best. And eat it at a place called Pizzaiolo del Presidente. Although we more or less stumbled upon it, it is a world famous underground pizzeria. Translated the name of the place is "Pizza maker for the President" because Bill Clinton ate there and loved it so much they couldn't get him to leave. There are pictures of him and other famous figures who have grubbed there lining the brick walls. I have never tasted better pizza in my life.

After a few hours in Napoli, we took the train about an hour south to Sorrento, which is the first town of the Amalfi Coast. It is a stunning vacation hotspot. It is a small town, but with reputable beauty. The coastline is studded with cliffs and harbors, with Mt. Vesuvius in plain view from all angles. We walked down to a pier and watched the sun set in the clear sky. Amalfi is known for its crystal clear water and coral reefs. It consists of 30 kilometers of nationally protected shoreline. The unfortunate thing about Amalfi is that it costs about an arm and a leg to get there from Florence. Otherwise I would be back in a heartbeat.

Pompeii and Herculaneum are pretty interesting. Its amazing to see things that are so well preserved from the volcanic ash. Pompeii is actually pretty monstrous for being an excavation site. Its strange to walk the streets knowing that the mountain (actually still active volcano) above you covered the town almost 2000 years ago. There are still frescoes on the walls, tile floors are still intact, and the most interesting thing was seeing the people mummified in ash. Herculaneum is another city that has been excavated after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. It is much smaller and actually just as interesting. Worth a visit if you are in Pompeii already.

Overall, Napoli really caught me by surprise. Maybe it is the coastal atmosphere that I am drawn to, or the larger city environment. Either way, it was a pretty awesome visit.