Hoof prints in the sand...

Cross "gallop on the beach" off my list of things to do before I die! It was a lot more terrifying than I expected it to be, but it was a kind of exhilarating terror that was such a high! It was amazing.

A picture from the I moresani website, not actually me, sadly since my camera is so big taking it along is not possible. 

I am spending 8 day on a fattoria, an Italian farm, in the south of Italy. The farm is called "I moresani" and is a actual working farm, producing their own goat cheese from their own goats, and olive oil and wine from olives and grapes grown on site. They have 21 horses, a lot of goats, chickens, and one very loud and obnoxious donkey. I moresani is nestled in the hill/mountains of the Campangia region right along the coast (hence the galloping on the beach parts). The views and landscapes here are completely to die for and exactly what I've been needing. Being from Iowa I'm definitely not used to the "big city" and while I really do love Rome, city life has been getting to me. That's a big reason why I decided to get away from urban centers for fall break and not travel around Europe. Also, how amazing of an experience is horseback riding through the hills and mountains and along the coast of Italy?!

I arrived here on Saturday in the early afternoon. Dominico, one of the men who works at the farm, picked me up from the train station and drove me to the farm. He speaks a little English, but after I told him that I'm learning Italian he would ONLY speak to me in Italian and made me only speak to him in Italian. It's really overwhelming and quite frustrating at times, but just in the 3 days that I've been here so far I've improved my Italian so much. Finally being forced to use what I've learned I'm realizing I actually can communicate in Italian, at least on a  really basic level. It really makes my brain hurt though!

I'm here for the whole week riding 5 days with one rest day to site-see and then leaving on Saturday. There are three other women from Holland doing the same program with me. They're all very nice and fun to hang out with. I'm definitely glad that we have a good group of people that make the days and evenings really enjoyable.

Sunday we had our first ride and we ended up spending 8 hours in the saddle! Talk about sore the next day! One our ride that day we were heading down to the beach and had to cross a little bay to get to the beach part. The inner areas were very soft so we had to try to cross out into the ocean a little. Marco tried to find a shallow safe place to cross but couldn't find any areas were the water wasn't up to the horses back. Then Gino tried and after getting soak up to the horses neck his horse actually got stuck in the mud and had to be pulled out! Needless to say we then all backtracked to find a bridge. When we finally got to the beach we started to canter, which quickly turned into a gallop. At first it was terrifying and the horses (we were a large group that day, 10 horses) kind of all went berserk. That part was scary. But, then we regrouped, calmed down and tried again. That part was amazing! There were a lot of locals at the beach that day so it was a short gallop but still an unforgettable experience. Hearing the pounding of the horses hooves on the sand and through the water, feeling the wind in my face, and the shear power of the animal was exhilarating to say the least.

The next day we climbed up a mountain overlooking the sea. I did not know that horses were such amazing climbers! Just like billy-goats! We have to stand up in the saddle when going up hill to make it easier on the horse and to help them balance, and let me tell you, my legs were screaming after like 10 minutes. And we climbed for 3 hours! Up rocky paths, little creeks, washed out dirt roads, straight up embankments I would have had to crawl on all fours to get up! These horses are in the best shape and are so sure footed! Which is a good thing because a lot of the time we were walking along 2 foot wide dirt paths on the edge of a 300 foot drop off. You really have to trust you're horse in a situation like that. But they never made a single mistake, never took a single step out of place. My respect for horse has grown so much on this trip!

Again, a picture from the website, but the guy on the right is our guide Marco, and the horse on the far left is the one I ride, Veila. She is such a sweet heart!

For now that's all, but I'll post about the rest of my adventures in the saddle soon!
Ciao!

I'm now an ocean baby!

I know that Capri is the first island I have ever seen and that there are thousands more across the planet, but I definitely say (and for the record almost everyone else, even those who have traveled the world extensively, agreed) that Capri is the most beautiful island in the world. After the miserable day that Friday was it is as if Mother Nature felt the need to apologize because Saturday could not have in anyway been more perfect. Cloudless blue sky filled with sunshine, perfect 90 degree swimming temperatures with just enough wind. Absolute heaven…

The day started with a program wide walking tour of the island up to the summit to the ruins of the villa of the Roman Emperor Trajan. It was easy to see why he lived here for ten years straight, I sure never wanted to leave, not with those views. The walk up there was crazy though, straight up I don’t know how many thousands of feet, through winding narrow cobblestone streets. I thought after the hills of Rome I was getting in pretty good shape but all of those were nothing compared to Capri. My legs were burning halfway up and jelly by the top. But it was so worth it.

After the villa ruins we walked halfway back down the mountain to the Natural Arch. The Natural Arch is this beautiful, well for lack of a better description, natural arch that in eroded out of the cliffs. Very stunning.

At the top of the mountain, from the ruins of the Villa of Trajan.

Yeah, I guess I'd build an imperial villa here if I were an emperor...

Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Then onto the natural arch...

Then they set us loose on the island! Since the day was so perfect and the water looked so enticing, me and 9 other girls headed for the harbor and rented a private boat for a two hour tour around the island. It was by far, hands down, the best 30 euros I have ever spent. I had never been out on the ocean like that, in fact this was only the 3^rd time I had ever even SEEN the ocean. Those two hours helped me to realize that I am definitely an ocean baby. We all kept saying things like “No way is this really happening!” and “Ha, no biggie, this is my life!”. 

 Leaving the harbor

Nothing but blue skies and bluer waters...

A little cave thingy that we were actually able to drive into! (Note the AMAZING BLUE WATER!)

We also got really lucky and had a great driver. He was a probably 30something guy, who was really relaxed and unobtrusive, he played great “American” music and stopped and would explain significant sights and cool spots. Granted he was probably having the time of his life too, cruising around the island of Capri with nine giggling girls in bathing suits, yea… But it was really nice that he wasn't creepy or rude in anyway, just really relaxed and out of the way.

Capri is famous for its Blue Grotto, an cave just on the edge of the water, accessible only by row boat or swimming that from the way the light enters the cave opening glows bright blue. It is supposed to be a truly amazing sight and our driver took us there. 5 of the girls jumped in the water and swam into the Blue Grotto but there were some itty bitty waves that day and since I had never swam in the ocean and the cave opening was only about 3 feet wide I decided not to go. They all said it was beautiful inside and someday I want to go back and swim in.

At the end of our two hours we got to anchor off shore for a while and go swimming. I got up the nerve to jump in (only with Crystal holding my hand!) and boy was it amazing. The water was actually really dirty, tons of trash along the shore line unfortunately, but we looked past that and had so much fun. Just laying back and enjoying the gentle rolling of the waves was so peaceful. I love the ocean so much and can’t wait until I can go back! Especially to Capri!

What a perfect day!