When we got off the boat, we had a short walking tour of the city. I never knew that lemons were such a big thing in Italy, but you should have seen these lemons… they were gigantic —  like the size of melons. I’ve never seen lemons that big. Once the walking tour was over, and we knew how to get around, we split up and had free time for the rest of the day. My group decided to go and eat first, and we went to this cute little restaurant. I had the ravioli, it was amazing. Then a few of the girls and I decided to boat over to Positano and explore.

The walk to the top of the island was insane, there are so many stairs, but the view is so worth the trek. I always wonder how people who live there do those stairs every day, but it seems they are all used to having to walk everywhere they go. Of course, when we got to the higher part of the city, I had to shop a little bit, and I ended up with more clothes to pack and less money to spend for sure lol.

We stopped and saw a cathedral as well; it was so beautiful. There is so much detail that goes into the painting and decorating in these cathedrals, and they’re just breathtaking. Before we headed back, I obviously had to get some gelato, it’s my new favorite thing by the way.

Team meal was next, and one thing I’ve learned about Italy is that meals take FOREVER. They bring out one course at a time and there are about 30 minutes between each course. That’s a culture change for all of us, so we got a little restless waiting for our food, but it really makes you slow down and enjoy your company.

We spent the next day on the beach in Sorrento, and I’m pretty sure it was everyone’s favorite day. The water here is this beautiful blue-green color, and it’s so clear. It’s also super salty. We found a spot and just chilled all day. It was so relaxing. After several days of sightseeing, it was nice to have some chill time, taking in the beautiful city of Sorrento.

I know I’ve been slackin’ on the blogs a bit, but there will be another one on the way as soon as possible.

Thanks for following along!

Hannah Stuelke

Hello again, Hawkeye fans!!

It was an eventful first couple days. When we arrived we had about 10 minutes to get dressed and ready to go on a walking tour of the Naples area. There are so many beautiful statues and different churches. It really gave us a deeper look into culture of the city.

Halfway through the tour it started raining, so we stopped under some big umbrellas which I really enjoyed. I love the rain I think it’s really romantic, but I might be the only one that I think really enjoys the rain. Once the rain settled a little bit we decided to just walk back to the hotel so we could get ready for our pizza-making class.

Let me tell you, the class was totally awesome! I don’t usually enjoy class, BUT a class with food??? I’m all in for sure. Did you know that they make the dough and then let it sit for eight hours in a warmer temperature before letting it sit another 48 hours in a regulated temp??? That was so fascinating to me I didn’t know so much went into pizza. After we learned how to make dough, they had some read-to-eat dough that we got to make our own personal pizzas with. Usually, I just go with some cheese, but Sharon convinced me to put some salami on mine and it was delicious. I know y’all want to know who made the best pizza… and besides me, of course, I would say Kate had the best pizza-making skills. Honorable mention to AJ, she was really good, too. Then they brought out some rum cake… if you like rum cake, I’m sorry, but it was not my favorite. I would say I am a big texture person though, so the mushy cake really threw me for a loop. Good news though, we went to get gelato instead. I had raspberry and cookies ‘n cream. It was so good — MUCH better than the cake. It was a very long travel day, well days, so after that we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.

Pompeii was our adventure the next day. We had a two-hour walking tour which was very educational. It was cool to see all of the things I’ve only seen in pictures. In history classes, we learned about Pompeii and I was always interested in it, so it was really cool to see all that history in real life.

I’ll end with this – I am LOVING the beautiful views here. Everywhere you go there are incredible views. There’s so much to see, and it’s crazy to think people actually live here and have those views all the time!

Thanks for tuning in!

Hannah