It may sound like a dream, but in actually eating pizza 5 times in 3 days really gets at your digestive tract. Our school-sanctioned venture to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea began on Friday with a 4 hour bus ride. We stopped at the grocery store before leaving, and a friend and I picked up a slice of pre-made pizza rosso (#1). It was gorgeous as we drove along the Amalfi Coast boarding mountains and the sea much of the time. Living in Rome I am so used to seeing ancient buildings in a crowded city, not so much open terrain. It was refreshing and until this point in my life probably the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Our first stop was to a farm to see the buffalo that make mozzarella di bufala, a fresh version of mozzarella that is usually the only acceptable kind here in Italy. They were hideous, but damn do they make good cheese. We had pizza there for lunch (#2).
We then drove further south to a seaport to see how fisherman caught their supply of fish, octopuses, and other sea creatures for consumption. The octopuses (octopi?) weren't even dead as we watched them all squirm around inside their cartons. Our hotel was in a small town called Eboli, not unlike the disease. The restaurant we went to was a classic hometown pizzeria (#3). They had karaoke and the Italians hogged it all. Needless to say I was very upset as I love to sing. We went home late that night as meals were brought our every 45 minutes, and we were dead tired so we passed out early.
The next day we travelled to a little town called Piope to visit...another buffalo farm. Here we got to try their fresh (just made) mozzarella di bufala and pudding and like the first farm, it was spectacular. My expectation for food quality has increased drastically, so America better be able to keep up. We then visited an aquarium for an hour...which was actually just a room with fishtanks in it. It was cool for 5 minutes, but once you've been to the Shedd, it's hard to compete. Communicating with a small-town Italian butcher was near impossible, but eventually we found ourselves with a lunch: Cold cut sandwich with fresh EVERYTHING.
We then travelled to the ancient city of Paestum, where the ruins of ancient greek temples still stand from roughly 400 B.C. as some of the oldest in Italy. It was unbelievable to see; however, the two hour tour like the aquarium tour was unnecessary and quite lengthy. A nap followed our trip to the ancient city and when I awoke, I found myself at another pizzeria (#4). This was a pizza factory where they made tons of different pizzas, and our group was given a slice of each of around 6 pizzas, including a nutella and peanut pizza for dessert. When we got back, we decided to show Eboli how America does a Saturday night...Eboli will probably never recover from the debauchery (Just kidding...they'll be fine in a few weeks).
Sunday we travelled to the coastal town of Salerno. It had been fairly cloudy all weekend, but the sun came through for us and after yet another "educational tour" to the botanical gardens of Salerno (which looked a lot like my backyard but with a great view) we spent some free time down on the beach. I couldn't have pictures a better way to relax. We had our last meal of the trip at a restaurant called Trinon where we enjoyed a nice pizza (#5). This was different, as it was the best pizza I have ever had. It was called Pizza Forte, and was made with spicy salami, grilled peppers, garlic, basil, and parsly. It wasn't too complex, but the quality of the ingredients made it utterly drool-worthy. The pizza itself was bigger than the plate it was served on, but nonetheless I ate the whole thing. It put me in a food coma that served the 4 hour bus ride back well as the perfect sleep aid.
I cannot express in words how badly I want to go back to Southern Italy sometime in my life, but I tried really hard just now...I may have something other than pizza next time
It may sound like a dream, but in actually eating pizza 5 times in 3 days really gets at your digestive tract. Our school-sanctioned venture to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea began on Friday with a 4 hour bus ride. We stopped at the grocery store before leaving, and a friend and I picked up a slice of pre-made pizza rosso (#1). It was gorgeous as we drove along the Amalfi Coast boarding mountains and the sea much of the time. Living in Rome I am so used to seeing ancient buildings in a crowded city, not so much open terrain. It was refreshing and until this point in my life probably the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Our first stop was to a farm to see the buffalo that make mozzarella di bufala, a fresh version of mozzarella that is usually the only acceptable kind here in Italy. They were hideous, but damn do they make good cheese. We had pizza there for lunch (#2). 
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