wanting longa in sperlonga

“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.”

-Isak Dinesen

funny story from the night before- i woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the restroom. and in trying to get down from the top bunk woke up everyone with how squeaky it was. sorry guys.


after two crazy days of hitting all the sites- we needed a break. and so a break we took. we boarded a train heading for sperlonga and spent the day at the beach.


for breakfast we went to the buffet again. we figured we could load up on croissants to feed us throughout the day. saddest thing ever. they didnt have croissants again, just the other pastry, which was good, but not as good. but we enjoyed breakfast and then made the two minute walk to the train station. we went to the electronic print off, but for some reason it wouldnt print off our ticket- so we jumped in line for an actual worker- but by this time we were running short on time, and started getting worried that we would miss our train. we were the luckiest and got helped with 3 minutes to spare, got to the train, a worker helped us validate our ticket, and then we were off to sperlonga.


on the train we were as productive as could be and started reading merchant of venice, and getting other homework done.

we made it to the foni-sperlonga stop, and then had to catch a bus to get to actual sperlonga.

waiting at the train station for the bus.

on the bus. there were these two boys who had very short shorts on and a beach umbrella- we secretly followed them to find the beach- and as luck would have it they were on our bus back. thanks bus buddies for your added entertainment and knowledge.

the rest of the day i will tell with captions of picture. reasons. 1. a picture speaks a thousand words. and thats a lot of words. 2. pictures are more fun. 3. im lazy.

right off the bus. isnt she the prettiest. also she has perfect hair. its true.

we got of the bus here. and it was perfect. the beach was right there and there were chairs and umbrellas- and then we found out it was a resorts beach. sad day. but we walked around the coast until we found...

public beaches! it was just as beautiful and had a gorgeous view of sperlonga.

but along the way we had to stop and take pictures of us jumping.

but that didnt stop us from taking more jumping pictures when we got there...

when we went to set up came i got the towel i had rented from the hostel out for the first time. i opened it up and realized it was a towel made for a gnome. its true. we just laughed as we realized it would not do its job properly. earlier a sales man had come up to us while we were standing selling sarong type things and we had said no. at this moment i just wished he would come back.

and he did. he wanted 25 euros. so not worth it. i got him down to 15. i could fit 15 of the gnome towels on one of these. it also meant i could share with holly who also had a gnome towel and lauren who hadnt brought one.

after soaking in the sun for a bit we ventured into the Mediterranean sea. the water was a bit chilly but not awful. cali yelled at me for taking forever to go under, but i found no reason to go under so i hadnt. after much splashing, yelling, and laughing- we had a handstand contest- which they didnt trust me not to cheat on, the little stinkers- which forced me to go under. the water was soo clear- it was beautiful- and one point we even saw a fish, which was way cool but also a little creepy. then it was back to the beach to warm up. 

after laying on the beach- for probably way to long- and dozing in and out of sleep- we set out to explore the coast line and see the caves that were a little bit of the way down the shore.

on the way we passed by some old castle ruins. perfect for a picture right. do you know old castle ruins and bare feet dont get along very well. this is a half smiling half pained picture. worth it. once. will i ever do it again- no way jose.

we made it to the cave but it was blocked off. it looked there was a walkway inside the gates but we couldnt figure out how to get in. so what do you do? you make up stories about caves with dragons and act it out.

and you have fashion shows on the long cement wall

i have no story for this picture except i thought it was hysterical. i wish i knew what was going through my mind at this moment.  possibly shock as  I saw men in speedos and girls in very far from modest swimwear.

the most beautiful old city on top of a hill.

on the way back we walked in the water, and on the sand bar. it was amazing how much warmer the water was  before and on the sad bar. it was perfect.

the sandbar was also perfect for finding shells.

we could have just stood in the water looking out over the sea all day.

but alas we had to leave. even though we didnt want to.

but we took souvenirs. hello sunburn. cali's was the worst of the bunch.

the town was full of quaint little spots to take pictures. it was absolutely gorgeous everywhere you went. i love it.

we went back to town to find dinner before heading home- on the way we met some kids there on a study abroad from Auburn University in Alabama. it was funny walking by them and thinking- they must be from america. i wondered if we stuck out as much. unfortunately no place was open for dinner. it was bust, after bust as we tried to find a place. walking out of one place that only had gelato we saw the bus at the stop, and considering they only come every hour we decided to run and catch it and just eat when we got back. we got to the train station and couldnt figure out how to get our tickets because we just had the online reservation. the worker spoke very little english and we didnt speak any italian so it was as confusing as could be. luckily there was a nice man in line behind us who translated for us and it all worked out. we sat and waited for the train and ate out clif bars and granola bars as we recounted the amazing day at the beach. side note. carrot cake clif bars- seem scary. actually good.

we were all pooped and fell asleep on the way back. it is amazing how much the sun can take out of you. also i am a head bobber which makes sleeping sitting up very difficult and embarrassing.

 

when we got back to the hostel the first thing we did was ask where we could get aloe vera. little did we know there was a mall under the train station so we headed back to termini to get some aloe to help this girl. impressive, right? she went the rest of the night sans bra to avoid pain. so funny.

for dinner we decided to use our free plate of pasta when you get a drink (or soda) at the club downstairs. lauren started loading up her plate and the worker stopped her and said "its more of a social thing than a dinner thing" it was so funny, but we ate and it was delicious, but not filling after a day at the beach...so we headed out to find more food...

we found a pizzeria down the street that ended up being one of my favorite places. i dont remember the name, but the service was great! we walked in and there was a couple from Philadelphia sitting next to us. they offered to take our picture, and the guy commented how he had the same camera. followed by "but i could always use another" as he pretendedly put it in his pocket. we chatted for them for a bit, and the were the nicest people in the world.

cali and i continued our love for bruschetta, but no place could compete with the place we went the first night.

and our love for four cheese pizzas. yummmm.

while we were eating performers kept coming in and playing for the restaurant. they found out it was holly's birthday and sang to her. they were amazing! 

this guy though is what made the night so great! our waiter was the funniest waiter i have ever had. he loved practical jokes. at one point he brought lauren out a cup of coffee (she didnt order it- no worries) and when giving it to her pretended to drop it. the cup was empty and he caught the cup with a spoon. when taking orders cali and i ordered to split and he asked sisters? our response, "no just friends" he then raises his eye brows followed by "just friends?" quickly we responded with...no no no she is engaged- and just sort of freaked out a bit. also every time he would walk by he would poke cali and i in the side. he reminded me of an older brother. oh boy, but it made for a very very funny dinner.

after dinner we went and got gelato. of course. i got coconut and chocolate which was the most amazing thing ever! hazelnut is out- coconut in. while we were waiting to order we talked to some guys who were there from america. they sounded like they were from texas, but were in fact from north carolina. it was fun to talk to people from america. you automatically feel this connection with them because they are from your home.

it was such a wonderful day. any day with the beach and gelato is pretty much perfect. i wish that we had another week in italy so we could go back.