Dish #36 - South Trip, Villas and Others!

The Dish: Last week, from Sept 24-28, our class went on our South Trip. Even though the trip was academic, it felt like a vacation. We stayed at Hotel Poseidonia Mare, at which our school had been staying every year for the past 23 years. On our last night there, the hotel owners surprised us with a giant cake decorated with a Canadian flag and we sang 'O Canada'. I know this sounds kind of corny but it was all very sweet. We visited Cuma, Baia, the island of Capri, Paestum and Sperlonga. Capri was gorgeous and we went swimming off the jagged cliffs. The roads were long and windy, very pedestrian. We also spotted the Casa Malaparte from afar. However, Sperlonga was the breathtaker of the trip. The entire town felt surreal and mysterious, in a good way. From the Grotto of Tiberius to the long sandy beaches and warm, clear waters to the white washed walls of neat little apartments butting up next to each other on a hill, I felt like I was walking through a fairytale land.

This past Saturday, we visited Tivoli and two villas: Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa. The first was pretty much the ancient Disneyland mixed with the cheesy fountain decorations that reminded one of Las Vegas. The latter was substantial piles of ruins (which my class was pretty sick of already after the South Trip).

Yesterday, we completed the infamous "Walk" from rural campagna - Cinecitta - to the city centre of Rome - Stazione Termini. We walked about 7km but it took us 8 hours to do it because the roads were windy, uneven and half of the time we were walking in cropless fields. We were so exhausted and sore by the end of the walk. All I wanted was food and to sit in a chair...forever...and ever.