Al Mare… Sperlunga!
Sunday, Sept. 24, I finally made it to the sea (al mare) for a beach day! Destination: Sperlunga! Wow, what a beautiful day it was! Clear blue skies, a nice breeze, beautiful transparent water, and a day full of little adventures.
I went with a group of six friends from the program via a short train ride from Rome early that morning. We chose a stretch of sand to settle down on, rented some beach chairs and umbrellas (at a much cheaper price than US beaches, I might add), and stretched out to soak in the sun. Sarah, Brian, and I decided to try the water first, which was too cold for me! And so we waded in the water a bit, but didn’t fully immerse ourselves. Between the breeze and the cold water, I was actually a bit chilly!
We played in the sand a bit, then decided to act like we were 9 year olds, and the group buried Sarah and I in the sand, with just our heads showing. It felt kind of nice, laying in a bed of sand, especially once someone made us a pair of sand pillows to prop up our heads. But, then we broke through and emerged covered from head to feet in a nice layer of sand. It was then that I realized maybe it wasn’t the best idea to be buried in the sand, because now I was going to have to get in that freezing water again to wash off. After a cold dip in the water and some dry brushing off of the sand with a towel, we decided it was time for lunch. We were stationed right next to a little snack bar on the beach, and so we ordered panini from there. Some ate on the beach, and a group of four of us ate at a table on the rooftop deck of the café, which had a great view!
We spotted a couple of paddle boats on the water, and decided looking into how to rent one. We discovered that it was only 10 Euro to rent one for an hour, so we did! But this wasn’t just any paddleboat. It had two seats in front where two people sat to paddle and steer, two seats in back, and between the seats in back was a little waterslide! So, naturally we had fun sliding off into the water, and then some difficulties trying to climb back onto the boat! But, it was quite a blast! I liked paddling out far away from the shore and being able to see down into the deep, clear water. There were also some great views of the coastline from the boat.
After the boat ride, Sarah, Megan, and I went for a walk down the shore. It was so amazingly beautiful there on the beach, walking along barefoot in the sand with the cool water moving back and forth across my feet with the tide. During this past month, there have been moments like this one where I’ve just paused and realized in disbelief that I’m here, in Italy, and I can’t even believe it. It’s so unreal and wonderful.
Then, uh, on our way back from the walk, there was a bit of an incident with Sarah and I trying to use some Italian kids’ little wake boards that you throw on the water and then run and jump on to glide for a couple of feet. And well, let’s just say Sarah ended up hobbling back and getting ice at the café for her knee and ankle. We had a couple of good tries at it, but in the end we just ended up being entertainment for the Italian kids, I’m sure.
After a little more sunbathing, we got cleaned up and headed into the town for something to eat. Well, we forgot the whole Italian schedule thing, and so looking for a meal at 4:30 in the afternoon didn’t yield any results. All the restaurants had closed from lunch and wouldn’t open again until 7:30 or 8:00 for dinner. So, we decided to grab a snack and then catch the next bus to the train station and just get dinner in Rome. Because of some unfortunate events, we ended up missing the 5:00 bus, and the next one wasn’t supposed to come for 2 hours! So, we set up camp at the bus stop, some people whipped out their science homework to work on a project they had due, and I went to get some crepes (yum!) for everyone at a gelateria nearby.
Quite a bit of time and a train ride later, we were back at Termini station in Rome. Sarah, Megan, and I went for dinner at a nearby trattoria, which was much needed at that point since we’d been looking for that meal 4 hours before! We headed home exhausted and only slightly sunburned (somehow I managed to get some nice red splotches on my legs despite my sunblock efforts). It was such a great time, and I am glad that I got one beach day in here in Italy before the end of the season.
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