**Disclaimer: this is a ranting post and its full of bitchin' and whining! You have been warned...
Ya know what you never hear people say? "I hated the Amalfi Coast," but it's true! I just got back from my weekend in the Amalfi with Bridget and I think you could wring me out right now. My feet are so pruney from walking in my soggy TOMS they are beyond recognition. If it sounds like I'm a mess, you've got the right picture. This is what you are supposed to see when you go to the coast of southern Italy:
This is what I saw:
This was the first time that I chose to travel with a company called Bus2Alps instead of planning all the shenanigans out on my own & if I could give anyone advice, I would say its always worth the hassle to plan your own trips. Especially when you are traveling with a company that still has worked all of the kinks out of it's routine. Bus2Alps it geared toward the college traveler--they promote a lot regarding the drinking/partying atmosphere but they also set up a lot of really awesome activities for you during the day... If you're lucky.
We were supposed to leave Thursday night at 8:00pm but half of the group got their departure postponed until 10:30pm because we had to pick up some people at the airport... I think thats pretty much where the trip started to go downhill. So my unlucky bus didn't arrive in the Amalfi Coast until 3:30am and had to be up at 6:00am for breakfast, ugh! Friday was our big day at the island of Capri. This day was supposed to entail taking rowboats and swimming into the Blue Grotto (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world) but due to the monsoon storms, we couldn't make it happen. Bummer? Totally, but I think we could've gotten past it--we still had tons of awesome stuff planned the rest of the weekend, right? Sort of. So when we got to Capri, we took a little uphill train to Anacapri at the top of the mountain (this is where great views should have awaited us... Too bad it was raining to hard to see anything). When we got to the top, we were left to fend for ourselves for 5 hours. In the sunshine, I would have loved 5 hours to explore the town, take pictures, sit outside and have a glass of vino and eat some gelato--but in the rain? There was literally nothing to do and nowhere to go. I'm not talking about a drizzle here guys, it was down pouring for the entire 3 days of our trip. Hello Bus2Alps, have you ever heard of a contingency plan?? How about a wine tasting inside? Lemoncello tasting? A cooking class? A movie? At least give us our freaking ferry tickets so we can go back to the hostel and sleep! 5 hours later, we sulked back to our hostel, I registered for classes (another disaster in itself) and got cleaned up for dinner.
Saturday was our big day to Positano! And half the (gorgeous) bus ride there, it wasn't raining. But sure enough as soon as we got close, the showers began again. We didn't think it was possible to get rained on harder than Friday but somehow it happened. This time, we were supposed to go cliff diving and cave swimming... Cancelled. Again. So, what did Positano entail? I ran to dip my toes in the ocean and caught a wave up to my knees--it didn't matter since I was already completely soaked and then 100 of us battled for tables at the only enclosed restaurant around. It also happened to be the most expensive restaurant around. All we could afford were $10 french fries. So we wasted 4 hours in restaurant before bussing back to Sorrento. Bridget and I were both sick from the rain and wind at this point so we ate dinner with our group and then went to bed.
Ahh Sunday, the end was in sight! Bridget and I had been cutting it close making it to the bus on time in the morning so we arrived 10 minutes early. Well, we waited over an hour because our bus was late. We signed up for Bus2Alps because it was supposed to be convenient and this was the most inconvenient trip we have taken thus far in the semester! At least the rain had let up for our last excursion to Pompeii--that is until the second we stepped outside the bus. So we ran for cover to a nearby restaurant and wasted 3 hours there until they kicked us out. With only an hour left, we headed into the Pompeii sight and meandered around until we could finally head back. Anyone who knows me, knows they should never let me pick the grocery line, I pick the slowest line each time. Well, I think I lost bus picking privileges as well because we ended up on the bus that had to stop at the airport to drop people off on the way home as well. It gave me plenty of time to stew up this blog post.
So, another thing that was really grinding my gears this weekend was the fact that Bus2Alps did a little false advertising... Bridget & I get a lot of promotional emails from the company and for this trip, Bus2Alps had a celeb guest on board! Dom Mazzetti is a comedic YouTube sensation (I had to use Google to figure out who he was, but some of his videos are actually pretty funny) and we were going to be graced with his presence! So, they used Dom as a selling feature on this trip (and I think a lottttttttt of girls signed up for just that reason) but the monkey didn't dance! Apparently, he is friends with one of our trip leaders and that's how he ended up on the tour--and Bus2Alps took advantage of the opportunity. Dom didn't interact with the anyone in the group, he didn't make videos and I never heard him even speak--much less make anyone laugh, & trust me--everyone needed a good laugh.
To be fair, some of our trip leaders were awesome and on top of their game. Sydney and Sean did a really good job of staying positive, making sure everyone was surviving and doing little things like calling cabs. If the weather were awesome, this could have been a completely different vacation, but I know this isn't the first time it has rained in the Amalfi Coast and when you pay the kind of money we did--we expected a lot more. Why not comp one of the group dinners one night? Or give a 15% discount if you book another trip with the company since our trip was horrible? While some of the ideas Bridget and I thought of would have cost the company a bit of money, its a lot cheaper than the word of mouth thats spreading from the 100 bummed out college students that were on the trip. What's more? Ahhh my finance professor here recommended me to be a campus ambassador at Michigan State next year to talk about my experience here in Rome, and you bet everyone is gonna be curious, should I sign up for a Bus2Alps trip?! Probably not.
While I'm on a bitchin' spree, I'd like to take the opportunity to rag on the Study Abroad Department at Michigan State... MSU pours countless amounts of time and money into convincing students to study abroad & it pays off as Michigan State has one of the largest study abroad programs in the nation. Between career fairs, seminars, social media marketing and professors recommending the opportunity--international experience seems to be a vital part of one's college career. That's why I've found it strange that not a single person from MSU (no program leaders, advisors or staff members) has reached out to the students they've encouraged to go abroad to see how we're doing. The first few days in Rome were a little stressful and a simple email asking 'Did you arrive safely? Have you found food and water??' could have gone a long way. Not only have they not reached out but my classes weren't approved for weeks after I arrived in Rome and it was only after hours on the phone and countless emails that the advisors got their shit together.
On another note, the American University of Rome has done a really great job of helping us integrate into the culture, get involved at school and solve issues that arise at our apartments (ahem, the bed bug incident). The student life office puts on free weekly cooking classes, plans weekend excursions and they make themselves available to answer questions about anything from what trains to take around Italia--to the best bars and restaurants to eat at. Touche.
Okay, thats all. If you read all of that, I'm sorry. But it sure feels good to get that off my chest and into cyberspace. And while my weekend was a disaster and I'm now sick--if I had to get stuck in the rain anywhere, Italy isn't a bad place to do it. And besides, Mom and Dad arrive here Friday! Woohoo, can't wait to meet you guys at the train station!
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