Taking a Dip in the Deep Blue Sea, Sorrento & Capri

The best way to enjoy Italy despite the searing summer heat is, hands down, on a boat in the Mediterranean, where you can either dive into the perfectly blue water or sip an ice cold Nastro Azzurro as you zoom past the villa-studded Amalfi coastline. It's divine.

​Sorrento

Leaving Sorrento (gorgeous seaside town about an hour's train ride from Naples), behind, a small contingent from my hostel in Naples jumped on a boat and headed for the island of Capri. Our driver took us the long way around to the marina, stopping periodically so we could jump in and swim through some of the island's many caves and grottoes.

​Yup. Swam through it.

During our afternoon break we stopped at the marina on the far side of the island. Although there was a lovely beach right by the pier we decided to take the funicular up to the hill-top town of Anacapri.

​Capri as seen from the funicular.

The main shopping street boasting designer names was packed with tourists both foreign and national. Since I wasn't really in the mood to splurge on a Roberto Cavalli bikini or pair of diamond earrings, for me it was more enjoyable to take in the views and get lost in the town's winding, labyrinthine passageways.

​Off the beaten path at Anacapri

We returned to Sorrento tired, slightly sunburnt but very content. I enjoyed a nice dinner and wine at a seafood restaurant overlooking the piazza with some newfound friends before hopping the Circumvesuviana train back to Naples, where we passed the time playing charades.

Fun Facts About Champagne That I Learned While Visiting Champagne

The day between final exams and graduation we took a day trip to the Champagne-Ardenne region to visit G.H. Mumm in Reims and Moët & Chandon in Épernay for tours and tastings. Unfortunately both tours presented pretty much identical information, but here’s a recap of interesting things I learned.

1. Champagne in Champagne is only made from three grape varieties (either alone or together in varying proportions): chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier.

2. After fermentation there are sediments that are ultimately expelled through a long process of gradually turning the bottle until the particles collect in the neck, which is then dipped in a -20 degree solution, freezing it. The bottle is then quickly inverted, and the pressure expels the sediment-containing ice cube.

3. There are people whose job it is to turn the bottles by hand for the first part of the process. They can turn up to 50,000 bottles in a single day. I wish I had asked how much these people get paid for this.

4. Standard champagnes are stored in the cellar for a minimum of 2-3 years (maybe it was months…by this point I was too focused on getting to the tasting to pay much attention to the guide) before being sold. Vintages can stay much longer. At Moët & Chandon they had two bottles of ‘69 left, which can be purchased for just over 2000 euros!

5. Tastings in Champagne are much stingier and less efficient than in Napa. We went with an organized tour, but generally you have to call ahead and make appointments at each winery/champagne house. Additionally (though maybe because we were with such a large group) they only give you one glass of one product. Having been tasting in Napa I was expecting 4-5. I mean, how do you know what to buy afterwards unless you’ve tried them all?

Monet's Gardens at Giverny

Despite having bought tickets to Monet’s house and gardens weeks ago, we’ve been holding out for good weather. Our patience finally paid off, and on Saturday we set out for Giverny, a small rustic kind of town (about 45 minutes away from Paris by train) that vaguely reminded me of Avebury, England (near Stone Henge).

Yes, those water lilies.

Monet’s estate was quite crowded, but luckily we got to skip the queue because we bought and printed our tickets ahead of time. Despite all the visitors, the grounds were still very serene and peaceful - enough so to make me, a lifelong city girl, begin to entertain the idea of someday owning a country home. After wandering the gardens (I’m afraid my photos really don’t do them justice), Monet’s house and the gift shop, we stopped at a quaint café for lunch before heading back to the train station.

This whole experience of living abroad is really the first time I haven’t felt like I’m rushing toward an imminent finish line (in high school everything was motivated toward getting into a good college, and then in college it was graduating with a degree), so being in the country away from the hustle and bustle of Paris was a nice reminder that sometimes you just need to relax and enjoy the simpler things in life, like flowers. Seemed to work pretty well for Monet, right?