Check off seeing one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World

I cannot believe I am over half way done being in Italy. I feel like these have been the fastest weeks of my life. Reflecting back I cannot believe how much I have done and seen, it's crazy. Since my last post I have been to the Almalfi Coast and back. On Wednesday my Italian class had an apperitivo (drinks with nuts/chips) with our teacher at the Rowing Club under the Ponte Vecchio. We just all spoke in Italian and sipped some champagne. It was awesome and my teacher is so generous.
On Thursday we arrived in Sorrento for the weekend. Let me just say I will be going back there again sometime in my life. It is gorgeous... and we came in at sunset, so seeing the red sun set over the Mediterranean was absolutely beautiful. The next day a group went to the other side of the peninsula and laid out on the Almalfi coast. Unfortunately it was cloudy but that didn't stop me from jumping into the salty Mediterranean Sea. The next day we went to Capri. That island is so gorgeous (I know everything is gorgeous in my eyes), but no words can describe how cool this Island is. While in Capri I did one of the hardest hikes of my life; I climbed Mount Solaro which was a 6 mile hike, it's elevation is 1,300 feet if that puts into perspective. After I took a scenic chair lift done and walked down to the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. It is a cave in that water that has maybe a 3 foot opening to get into but the way the sun hits the water is the most blue water you will ever see. It was gorgeous and something that you have to see in person!! After that fun filled day I was exhausted. But Sunday on our way back to Florence we stopped in Pompeii to see the town that was destroyed by a volcano eruption and everything is now preserved. I didn't realize that they preserved the WHOLE city, it was huge. A typical Roman city with an Amphitheater, Colosseum, and many houses. It was interesting to actually see a city in it's original layout and how they lived day to day. It was a very good experience, sometimes you don't realize how old things are. Pompeii has been pretty much preserved since 100AD!
Yesterday a few of us GU kids signed up for a cooking class and we had some amazing food... so now I can come back and cook some good Italian eating. I feel like that was a fun way to actually learn why Italians are so famous for their food!!
Everything has been so much fun. I feel like I am actually starting to capture a lot of the Italian culture. It will stink going home and not having it around. But so far this has been an amazing opportunity and I have enjoyed every second!!