Boating Around Capri

So after being in Bad Gastein team roadtrip moved on to Munich to attack shopping and beerhalls in the rain. It was raining soo much we didnt get much of an oppurtunity to check out the city but from what I saw it was beautiful. Anyways, during the next leg of our trip we went to Switzerland, to check out Interloken. This place was interesting because of all the extreme sports to do there. I ended up deciding to do some canyoning because you are unable to do this in North America. So an explanation of canyoning is, you go through a rivers canyon with only a wetsuit, a helmet and a life jacket. It was amazing! We went when the water was really high (enough that they almost cancelled the trip) so the current was really strong. To get through the canyon you had to go through narrow areas by sliding through the rocks like a waterslide, we jumped from the top of a waterfall into the water below, went rock climbing down a slippery rockface, did a pendulum jump (attached to a carabeener) and other funfun activities like that.  During one of the times that we had to jump the guide went first and we almost ended up losing him in the whirlpool of the canyon. Luckily, he made it through and the rest of us did okay too. This was AMAZING and I wish that I could go back home and do it again! So after canyoning, the guys went out bungy jumping while I stayed back and made friends with all the other girls that were canyoning.

When the guys got back from bungy jumping they realized that they had lost the keys to the car and had no idea where they were. We spent most of the evening searching the hotel for them, calling people and finding a way to get the spare set from venice. After we had decided that Michael would train back to venice in one day and then come all the way back to drive the car to the hostel in Milan for the night. So Michael left early in the morning, when Reed got up he went to the front desk to call the bungy jumping place, where they sent him somewhere else to call them. When he got ahold of them he found out that they had left them on the gondola the night before and that we could come and get them or wait till 10 at night. We decided to get them immediately so Michael could come back on the train from Milan (where he was supposed to transfer trains) and by the time he landed we could just get in the car and go. By asking around we found a place where we could rent a car, which ended up being an OLD Kia car from the early 90s that was covered in hail dents. haha. the car was hot to say the least, but I ended up getting to drive and get the keys to our regular car.

So next we went to Milan to just spend the night. The hostel that we booked ended up being an old Psyhiatric hospital and the other area of the courtyard was the psych hospital still in use. Haha. It was a lil sketchy. Anyways, after Milan I decided to return back to Rome to see the things that I had missed last time. I didnt get there until the evening so I went to see the city at night with a group of amazing people that I had met at the hostel. We had an awesome night of wine drinking and exporing the city (and the happening gay bar) which we didnt even get back until 5 in the morning. Even after a late night I still had to tie up some of the loose ends I had missed last time, seeing the Pantheon. When I got to the Pantheon it turns out that they were filming the movie Angels and Demons, where I saw Tom Hanks filming a scene where they were walking into the Pantheon.

So the next stop on my journey was to go back to Naples and go to the one place that i missed and wanted to see, the island of Capri. The first night I got to Naples I made friends with someone in my room where I got an invite to join in on renting a boat to go and see the island of Capri. While organizing everything they ended up getting a group together from the hostel of 16 people to get 2 motor boats to go exploring. In the morning getting everything together was a huge production but we did manage to get all of us over to Sorrento and rent a boat for the day. The weather was beautiful, 29 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. When we got to the island of Capri the first thing we did was go to the blue grotto, which was a cave filled with water off the sea, that you had to get to by rowboat. Even though it was dark in the cave, it was light because of the blue glow that came from the water (not from nuclear waste or anything). We ended up being able to swim in it too!! Anyways, after this we just started exploring the island with our boat. We managed to find the Green and White grotto too. We were able to just swim into the grottos, where there wasnt anyone else around us. Anyways this day was absolutely amazing, being able to enjoy the water and the sun with all the fun people that I was with.

After Naples I decided to discover Bologna, which is a gorgeous city, filled with towers and archias. I just spent the day with a friend I made in Naples, Jason, where I got to learn about his frat houses roots in Bologna. The city was also wonderful because of the different colored buildings and the true Italian atmosphere. This is where I am at right now. Its been a busy week and I am unsure of what is going to happen next. I am going back to Florence because I waited too long to make a reservation anywhere else and hopefully I will get to go to Cinque Terre next. Anyways I miss everyone lots and I hope to hear back on what is going on with your life too!! Cheers!