After getting off the ferry, the one and only thing you can do is take in the place around you. Facing the island you see old buildings, all different colors, and people sitting outside enjoying their food and conversations with others. Behind you, you can hear the Mediterranean crashing against the dock...it all seems so surreal. It may have felt this way to me because before this, I had never been on island or it could just be because Procida is gorgeous.
We all gathered near the taxi cab area to try and find cabs to take us to Tirreno, the hotel which we were staying at. I remember how we all laughed when we first saw the island’s micro taxis.
I remember as the Italian man kept telling us he could fit more people, we Americans were very hesitant. How could 6 of us and our luggage fit into this little car? Me being the worry wart I am, waited for a regular car to come. We all piled into the cabs and set out on the ride to the hotel. This ride wasn’t as bad as the one in Naples but I still didn’t feel safe. The ride was bumpy because of the cobblestones and we were all smashed with our stuff. The roads in Procida are narrow- much like alleyways so you can imagine how scary the ride was our confident taxi driver zoomed around. I remember the first time he drove through a very narrow passage way I just kept thinking... Where is he going? Is he going to make a sudden turn? Because there’s no way that we’re going to make it through that little hole… but sure enough, we did. Most of the time we were close enough to the wall that I could touch it without even stretching out my arm. It was crazy.
We get to the hotel and I honestly feel like I am on The Real World. You know how when everyone first arrives at the house, you see them explore the house and every new part that they see is better than the last? That’s exactly how this felt. We set our luggage down by the door because we have to wait for our room assignments, so we start to explore. We explore the bottom level and its gorgeous…it's as if the hotel is lost in a huge garden full of lemon trees, and pretty flowers. Towards the back there were a set of stairs, the first flight takes you to a little outdoor patio with a place to sit and eat and a rocking chair. If you continue up the stairs you reach the rooftop deck where they have a bunch of lawn chairs. In the distance you can see the end of the island where we arrived at, the Mediterranean, and lots of houses. Across from the hotel, is a little secret garden-- also owned by Tirreno. When you first approach it, all you see are big trees and bushes, but there is a small winding trail that leads you to the end of the garden where you find a sitting area with a window to the sea.
Writing this, I’m having a hard time finding the right words to describe how beautiful this place was. I hope the photos do it justice.
Our time in Procida was short, but it felt like forever. We had classes 7 days a week, with very few free days and free time. And if we did have free time, we were usually too tired to do anything. Every morning we would have to be up by 9, have breakfast (which was usually coffee, fresh loafs of bread with nutella or jam) and take the cab to the Terra Murrata (an old castle where our classes were held). Depending on the day and the schedule we would be there until noon or sometimes even four. The first hour of the day was spent with Giovanna and Michele (both who attend the school that hosted our program -L "Orientale" University of Naples). They were the ones who taught our language intensive course.
Then we moved onto the history course with Professor Fogu. Professor Fogu was also one of the most legit professors I’ve ever had. He was very selfless and was always offering us his things and doing his best to make sure that we were okay. He was great. But back to the course-- Some days we had all day field trips where we would go to places like Pompeii. The course was designed in a way where we would learn about something in lecture and then take a field trip and see it for ourselves. Obviously some of the places have changed in appearance and existence, so we were taught in a way to visualize how it used to be. We visited a lot of museums and archeological sites which were fascinating. Everything was rushed but I saw a lot of things that I would not have seen unless I took this trip. We had a lot of interesting guest speakers/hosts/guides that were able to teach us more than we would ever learn from a text book or movie.
I could post our itinerary for you but I wouldn’t want to bore you. We spent a lot of time on the neighboring islands Ischia and Capri and went to cities like Cuma, Baia, Amalfi (my favorite) and many more. Just know it was a very packed and intense 3 weeks, and although I hate history, the class I took on the island of Procida was one of the best classes I have ever taken. I can’t imagine a better way to end my undergraduate career at UCSB.
I spent three weeks living on a beautiful island, drinking peroni and .88 cents German beer, listening to I love college (on repeat), eating caprese and gelato on a daily basis, taking midnight dips in the Mediterranean, watching movies, trying to find things American, saying ‘Ciao’ to the little old lady who would wait for us to walk by every day, and playing cards with new friends that I was able to share this crazy experience with.
more pics of procida:
The most memorable night in Procida by far, was the last night. We received news earlier about the trains being on strike not working for the next day. Some people were freaking out because they had flights to catch and different places to be but our professor kept reassuring us that it would be okay. I remember him saying “just get on any train heading to north to Rome and don’t worry” haha. Crazy Italians.
That night we had our goodbye dinner where we got to share our last laughs and drink ridiculous amounts of champagne. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and just hung out waiting for the one and only discoteca on the island to open. We all sat in the secret garden with the window to the sea and talked about the trip. We said our thank yous to Fogu and talked about all of the funny things that happened. That night, we probably didn’t get to bed until like 5 AM and we had to be at the ferry at 8 AM the next morning.
I won’t forget how miserable everyone looked that morning. Hungover (or still drunk), tired and all a little bit sad that this was all ending. It was hard to say goodbye to Procida, but I know that if I am ever in Italy again, I will make it a point to go back and visit. And thinking about it now, I would give anything to be making that walk from Terra Murrata to Tirreno, just to see the Corricella at sunset. :)
I almost ended this blog without mentioning the best thing about Tirreno; they have the best workers ever. I will probably never forget Goffredo, the nicest man I encountered in Italy. He was the owner of the hotel and he did everything within his power to make sure that we were treated properly. If anything was broken, they’d fix it; they cleaned our rooms weekly and provided us with anything that we needed. I remember one day I was trying to talk to him and we were having problems communicating because he didn’t speak English. (But to be fair, his English is better than my Italian) and I remember him apologizing and I felt so bad. I tried telling him not to apologize because we are in his country and I should be the one trying harder to speak Italian. I wish I could again thank him for all that we he did for us those three weeks there, but I guess it will have to wait until I return to Procida!
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