My Travel Diary - Catarina

My Travel Diary Madeira to Battipaglia 2019

Friday, 11th October – Funchal – Lisbon – Rome – Battipaglia This was FOR SURE one of the funniest trips I’ve ever had! When I was on the plane to go to Rome, my heart started to pound so much because I was sooooo excited! I mean... who wouldn’t?

Ohhhh and also... I’m scared of taking off as you can see. I was almost dying ahahahah.

The second I arrived in Rome I just thought “wow I’m really here and I’m going to meet Chiara” (the Italian student who hosted me). After we got lost and found the way out, we were ready to go to BATTIPAGLIA!

Day 2 – Saturday, 12th October I woke up at 7 am and I ate breakfast with my host family. Then Chiara’s mom took us to school (waking up at 7am was way too easy �) The Italians sang for us in the school auditorium and after that I ate mozzarella, to be honest I didn´t like it, I almost threw up :/

In the school hallway we taught 2 Italians, Marika and Pasquale, Portuguese expressions and it was so funny because we taught what “ua cão” means AHAHAHAHA.

An Italian student, Claudia, took us on a school tour and showed us everything! The classrooms, their artsy hallways and their school courtyard... ahhhh, everything was so pretty that it made me wanna study more xD.

Me and Chiara went to Salerno and the train was not working and we had to wait 40 minutes so that they could solve the technical problemsđ&#x;™ . When I arrived in Salerno I ate “Simple Biscuitsâ€? with milk chocolate and it was so goodddddd, like... can we have that here in Madeira? Thanks.

We caught the train back to Battipaglia and we had a reservation at 9pm in a restaurant called “Pummarola ‘Ncoppaâ€?. We ate pizza and Jesus... that was heaven ďż˝.

Day 3 – Sunday, 13th October I woke up at 7 am again and I went to school with Chiara. It wasn’t that bad waking up early because I knew I wouln’t go to school (literally) ahahah. I saw Alice and Inês when I arrived there and then we were headed to the Castle of Castellabate.

After the visit to the Castle of Castellabate we went to Santa Maria of Castellabate in Campania and there we did an interview to a fisherman, who showed us how to launch the net to catch fish. I had never seen anyone doing that and it seemed to be a tough job.

Besides that, we went to an anchovy factory and we put on an apron, plastic gloves and a cap. Also, we saw how the anchovies were manufactured. IT SMELLED SO BAAAAAD đ&#x;™ Me and InĂŞs were done and we wanted to

leave but we couldn’t ahaha

In the end, we tasted bread with anchovies and also olive patê and bread with olive oil and it was delicious, not gonna lie. In the afternoon, we went on a boat trip and we saw the sunset. It was so prettyyyyy!!! It was such a good day �.

Day 4 – Monday, 14th October At 8 am we were headed to Paestum and as always, the vibes were always up.

Everyone was in a good mood. When we arrived there, I had a bit of time to buy souvenirs for me and my family, I also bought a shirt and I’m using it a lot �.

During the visit to the archaeological park of Paestum I did another interview, but this time was with the president of the environment Department of Paestum, Pasquale Longo. I was a bit nervo

us because I was

scared he wouldn´t understand my accent but well... It was good and I didn’t mess it up ahahah.

Next, I had lunch at “Il Tempio” restaurant, where I ate pizza and I got to know better some French students. Afterwards, we saw buffalo cows that were literally next to the restaurant! I was shocked!!!

In the end of the day, we went to the Town Hall of Battipaglia.

Day 5 – Tuesday, 15th October I woke up around 5:45am and I don’t know how I was so awake at 5 am AHAHAHAH. I guess I was really excited because we were headed to the AMALFI COASTTTTTT!!!

I went from Battipaglia to the Port of Salerno by bus. When I got there, I killed some time so that all the group could go to Amalfi at 8:40am. While I was waiting with Inês and Alice, we met Celeste, Antonio, Sara and Paola.

During the boat trip, we sang a lot and the tourists were taking pictures of us AAHAHAHHA. It was realy funny because they were enjoying it xD.

When we arrived in Amalfi Coast we went to the Amalfi Cathedral that is also known as the Monumental Complex of St. Andrew in Amalfi. This looks even better live... it´s so hard to describe it.

I was curious to taste an Italian ice cream and... it was €6!!!!!! Can you understand what I felt? It was good, don’t get me wrong, but daaamn!

AHAHAHAH and besides that, I still bought pasta and more souvenirs (they were even cheaper than the ice cream).

We went back to Salerno from boat and in that trip, we made a WhatsApp group so that we could keep in touch. From Salerno to Battipaglia we were all singing and it was the best day I’ve had in this trip!

Not only that in the end of the day I got home and the dinner was pasta with cheese along with sausage roasted in the oven with sweet red pepper, it was so deliciousssss ďż˝

Day 6 – Wednesday, 16th October (last day) I woke up at 6 am and it was raining... a lot! But then it cleared up and we went to the Vesuvius Volcano. When we all stopped in a little souvenir shop, I took a picture with Manuel, Ivana, Vittoria and Celeste and it was soooooo cold I couldn’t feel my feet.

After we got down the volcano, we went to Pompeii. We got in the amphitheater and we saw a bit of Roman past. The weirdest thing is that I had always heard about Pompeii in History classes and now I was able to see it in person... that´s craaazy �

Next, I went home and I took a shower and I dressed up for the farewell dinner.

At that dinner, there was a lot of food: mozzarella, pasta, pizza and a lot more.

The Italians taught us how to dance and it was so funny, ahahah, me and InĂŞs WERE CRYING OF SO MUCH LAUGHTER!

Thursday, 17th October –

I woke up at 6 am and I said goodbye to Chiara and her parents and at school I also said goodbye to everyone with a tight hug‌ I was happy to have been there those 5 days but, at that moment, I was so sad...

Now that I’m back in Madeira and I look back to all these memories I put a smile in my face because of how fantastic this experience was. Everything about Italy makes me want to go back, the food which was better and better day after day, also the friendships I made, that I already miss them. I discovered that our culture and the Italian one is almost the same, I don’t think there is a big difference between them. I couldn’t ask for better people to travel with.

Everyone was as excited and happy as I was.

Obrigado, Grazie, Merci.