University of Richmond

Kind of Lame but I thought somebody might like to see where we've been going to school. It's actually an old palace still privately owned, which I guess makes it kind of cool.

Anyway, this is the school I attend:

(Via Maggio)

(The Entrance)

(Foyer)

Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast was incredible. Sierra and I went on this trip with Newman and really saw a different side of Italy. We got a hostel and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was a hotel and actually had comfortable accommodations and excellent service. This was in Sorrento; we arrived in Naples and setup our base to travel the coast out of there. The first day we took a bus ride along the mountainous coast to Positano one of the most expensive and luxurious places in the area it boosted a beautiful cathedral in the middle of the city, which was an inclining cove of buildings that all focused in on this chiesa. Really, beautiful! We had a casual dinner, explored the city a little and headed back for some rest.

Here are pictures of Positano:

The next day we visited the island of Capri, which we had to take a ferry to get to. Once there we immediately headed on a boat tour around the island to see the many grottos that they have, including the world renowned wonder the Blue Grotto. Emperor Tiberius, of the Roman Empire, setup his home here on the island of Capri several thousand years ago (many of the palaces and fortress’ are still intact; unfortunately we did not get to visit them). His private pool was the blue grotto which is a very small opening on the side of the island that opens up to a cavernous interior pool. Underneath this 4ft. tall entrance the opening, in the ocean, vastly widens and the light that is let in reflects into the cave as a mystical blue that I have never before seen in nature. Truly a spectacular sight one is mesmerized by the water and feels a very strong inclination to jump in. We toured the rest of the island seeing a few other grottos and sights and then stopped in on the island for some lunch, actually the best burger and fries that I’ve had in Italy.

Photos of Sorrento:

After lunch we just had to go get in the water, so we rented a boat for a few hours and traveled around the island again, swimming all over but mostly in the green grotto. The water was crystal clear and it was completely necessary for me to keep reminding myself that we were in the ocean and not some pristine lake. I was literally diving out of the boat probably 15, or more, feet deep and still Sierra could see me perfectly. We could see the bottom of the ocean floor probably some 40 ft. down! After exhausting ourselves with this and some cliff jumping, we headed back to the island for some inland exploring.

THE FAMOUS POMPEII:

I found Capri to be the most attractive place that I’ve yet to go to in Italy. In almost all the shops were photos with stars from all around the world whom, I presume, all go there to enjoy such an eye-catching location. For me personally it was very tropical and accommodating. The vegetation was extremely unique (i.e., trees that had trucks that grew into cactus), the air was crisp, and the life relaxed. After enjoying quite sometime on the island we headed back to Sorrento. Traveled around the city, discovered a great clothier called Harmot & Blaine and ate an excellent restaurant. All in all, this being the furthest south that I’ve been in Italy, I prefer it much more than the north.

And finally photos of Capri:

THE BLUE GROTTO:

In Route to the GREEN GROTTO:

Rented the Boat...

The actual Island of Capri:

BELLISIMO!!!

Oktoberfest

Wow! I can’t even begin to explain how amazing this is. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that they can supplant the experience of Oktoberfest anywhere other than in Munich, Germany. This was unreal! An international festival by all accounts we met with people from all over the world including Holland, England, Australia, the US, South America, Germany, Austria, another Harvard student, New Mexico….everywhere. They came from all over the world with one intention in mind, to DRINK!

It was incredible to see all the Germans dressed in their native attire, thousands upon thousands of people singing drinking songs and truly enjoying themselves. This festival is a must for everyone to do in their lifetime. It’s the largest state fair in the world with all the rides and the greatest Bratwurst I’ve ever had! The first night we took the train to Munich which was quite the ride. It was the first overnight train I’ve taken since I was a child and we had a private sleeping room for just the family. So, this was a little bit of a different experience. We were mixed in with some random Italians, a little nervous about this; we tried to switch-in some friends that were on the same train into our sleeper car. This caused havoc for the Italian ticket collector who wanted us in our assigned seats despite all the parties having agreed to switch. Anyway, it got sorted out for the most part and we had a good time on the ride there and tried to sleep as much as possible. On the ride there it was Stuart, Paul, Joe, Sierra and I, in one cabin with an Italian guy named Leonardo. In the cabin next to us was Harper, Kelsey and her two roommates (Carla and Blair).

The ride there was 9 hours, arriving around 7 am. Once we got to Munich we went to the Holiday Inn that we were staying at and Joe, Myself, Sierra, Harper, Kelsey, and her roommates checked-in. By 9 am we were headed out for Oktoberfest not sure what to expect.

We got there really early because there was hardly a person there. But, it really gave us a sense of how massive the area is that was setup for the festival and the number of guests that it accommodates.We took a look around and went straight to the most international of all the tents (and the only one that doesn’t require reservations 9-months in advance) Hofenbrau! We had to wait until 10 am to be served and already there were several thousand people eagerly awaiting the beer.

Sure enough, with little sleep and being overambitious about the whole event, we all plummeted into some sort of oblivion filled with beer, bratwurst, decorated horses, new people, and falling asleep by 5 pm. A few good men from Holland warned us that this was in typical American fashion but we thought that we were better than that. I guess not… After some sleep, we headed back to Oktoberfest the next day around 11 am. This time we came to a full festival. A Saturday morning every nook of the fair was packed with people. That day we paced ourselves with expertise. We went on a number of rides ate, thoroughly enjoyed the day and made it well into the night. About mid-day it was so packed that on our way from one tent to the other (literally about 40 ft. at the most) Sierra and I totally lost each other. We didn’t find one another again for probably another 3 hours. There were a lot of people. We ended up spending most of the night at the Paulner tent and left when they stopped serving, some time around midnight. Had one more night in the Hotel and headed back to Florence on Sunday the 7th of October. This whole weekend was also a pre-emptive celebration of Sierra’s 21st Birthday! What a way to turn 21…

Here are some pictures: