Napoli/Sorrento

Here's a run-down on the last couple of days:

Left Roma and Wednesday and took a train to Napoli. The plan was for me to stay with Spence and met up with Court and Lauren during the day. Court and Lauren were going to couchsurf with an American guy we met in Roma. However, at the last second Mike wasn't able to host them so Spence very graciously said that all of us could stay with him. THANK YOU SPENCE!!! :)

Spence picked the three of us up from the airport and we went back to his house. Wednesday night, Spence had rugby practice so he dropped us off at his house and went to play. The girls and I then headed into his cute town of Bacoli so we could buy groceries. Our second stop was to the pharamcy I went to at the beginning of my trip which has a huge selection of gluten free food. The pharamist Roberta recognized me and came out from behind the counter to give me a hug. I swear, Roberta is the sweetest woman ever! Roberta packed up my purchases and then sent me home with another bag of free groceries. Her kindness blows me away and I plan on mailing her a thank you card one of these days.

After the pharmacy we went to two produce stores, the cheese store (of course), and a supermarket. Dinner was pasta shells stuffed with cream cheese, spinach, sauteed meat, and garlic as well as a mediterran salad. My pasta receipe has now been officially named Napier's Napoli by Lauren---if you are lucky, you may get to try this slice of heaven sometime! Anyways, we ate dinner late as Spence was late coming back from his practice. While he was out, someone had smashed in the window of his brand new beautiful jeep and stolen his ipod. He spent time dealing with the police and filing out reports, needless to say, he wasn't happy...the three of us were tried from the pub crawl from the night before and so we all crashed out.

Thursday, was lazy day! While Spence was at work, the girls and I watched movies, washed clothes, read, went for a walk, and Court and I had our daily fill of deep conversations...the kind of conversations that make Lauren nap, LOL. Thursday night the girls and I enjoyed watching yet another amazing sunset over the ocean and then in true form, bought a block of swiss and salami to eat on the walk back to Spence's (as well as some mozzeralla for dinner). That night we enjoyed some wine, another delicious dinner thanks to Spence's amazing grilling skills, and an early night in bed.

Friday, we got up early and Spence dropped us off at 7:30 near downtown Napoli. We took a train and headed in to Sorrento. By 10:30 am we were getting as many free samples of limoncello as we could. When the samples ran out, we started opening our purchased bottles. I mean "why not" get really buzzed off limoncello before noon?!?!!? We are in Sorrento after all. Next we went on the gluten free pizza hunt. A website said that there were two restaurants with pizza in town....I won't go into details, but needless to say---I did not get my gluten free pizza. I did however, manage to get my first taste gluten free pasta and bread from a restaurant. The bread was a suprise, I didn't know that the restaurant had it. When the waiter brought it out, I gave him a disgusted look. I was rolling my eyes, thinking "dude, I just told you I'm allergic to wheat, what the heck"...he turned and said "sezna glutine panne". I took a bite and then I cried (there are photos of this miracle--to be posted later). The three of us gorded on gluten free food in that restaurant for the next 3 hours, sang disney songs, and opened up some more limoncello.

Friday night, the four of us watched 300 together (really good movie!) and then headed out to the cool spots Spence had taken me too before. I had an absolute blast hanging out with my 3 favorite people in all of Italy. Ironic how my favorite people are all Americans...LOL...but in my defense, I've spent more time with Spence, Court, and Lauren than anyone else. Anyways, did the rum and peara thing, laughed a lot, and ended up back at Lino's bar where both Courtney and I got to bartend. Lino must be my favorite Italian man, he has been nothing but very sweet and fun the two times I've seen him. Our promise is, should I move to Italy-- I will teach him english and he will teach me Italian!

Saturday morning, the girls and I decieded it would be best for us to head to hostel. Spence had a busy day and needed to get stuff done around his house. We felt in the way, knew that any person would want their space back, and didn't want him to have to go inbetween his activities just to pick us up. It was a good thing we left, because Lauren got sick as soon as we got into downtown Napoli. Court and I were worried about her, she spent the entire day in bed and had really debilitating stomach cramps. Court and I did some wondering, but mostly stayed around the hostel (hence my long blogging) in case Lauren needed us. I also didn't mind being lazy because I have now come down with a cold.

This morning I am feeling crappier, not enough to keep me in bed but enough to annoy me. We were supposed to head to Catanzaro this morning, but there is not a single hotel or hostel available in the town. Lauren is still sick and no feeling up to strapping on her backpack and traveling. So we will spend another night in the hostel and head to Catania tomorrow. I'm not sure what the plan is for today...but we are definetly going to do some type of sightseeing.

Ugh, I should go to a pharmacy....and maybe get some actual food. The only thing I could eat from the free breakfast here was packages of strawberry jam.

Ciao!