Southern Italy (Sweaty Steve style) - words that come to mind: beautiful, hot, sunny, blue, nice, peaceful, gorgeous, breezy, bright, happy, carefree...

As you can see, I couldn't have enjoyed the trip south more.  It stood out among the three as the trip where I actually observed a real sense of fun and even "giddiness."  It is this feeling- the morale- that was missing partially or all together in the last two trips.  I could tell when we all arrived in Naples that this trip was going to be different.  The first indicator was the most obvious: the weather.  It was completely beautiful weather every day of the trip.  And this is where the trip south differs the most from the others.  Everyone is happier when it is nice out.  Even if it's dark and raining at the most famous building in the world, you're still not going to have as good of an experience as you would if it were warm and sunny.  And Southern Italy was both.  Naples felt like Florida (aka heaven on earth).  Once we got down to Capri and Castellammare, the weather was so nice that no one could feel even the most remote negative feeling.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.

Why?  Well, because of a lot things.  Too many things to write down here.  But I can give you some examples.  The first day in Naples we had a sketching assignment where we had to observe and document street sections in the Spanish quarter and the Naples Gallery.  Not only was this assignment fun to do, it was enlightening.  I forget to look up sometimes in dense cities.  Really paying attention to what's happening with facades and conversation between buildings makes a large difference.  It was interesting to study the difference between the exterior, small-scale street and the interior, large-scale one.  The second day we went to one of the most amazing houses I have ever seen.  Perched on a cliff on the island of Capri, Curzio Malaparte's house sits.  Before arriving, I had heard about the house and its panoramic views.  To be honest, I never really thought much about it.  I certainly wasn't expecting anything phenomenal.  Casa Malaparte is the sort of "poster" for Southern Italy and the Rome program.  I didn't think it was going to be that great.  But when I walked down the steps and through the front gate I was immediately entranced.  The house is just existing, at peace with the world, amongst heavenly landscape.  It is part of this landscape.  All around it the sea extended - one big horizon line with the most beautiful blue.  The place has a magical aura.  Three hours sketching there went by in what seemed like an instant.  And, for the first time on this trip, I seemed to reach a point where I was at peace with it.  Meaning, I was just sketching.  I was just putting lines down in my sketchbook and loving it.  And it came out great (maybe the best composition I have ever sketched).  Looking back, it may very well have been one of the happiest times in my life.  Just me, my friends, and the wide open sea.  The next day, we all went to Pompeii (which was also phenomenal) and afterwards, had the afternoon to do what we wanted.  I chose to climb Vesuvius with a few other people.  We had to take a bus to a point about 1000 meters up the side of it and then walk the rest of the way.  As the bus ascended, we were met with great views at every break in the trees.  But the walk up was the best.  Standing at the mouth of the crater, looking out over everything - the slightly smoking crater, the trees, the rock, the city, the people, the sea, the sky, the sun...  I felt that feeling that you only feel when you're truly happy.  I can't put it into words.  The islands in the distance looked like they were clouds because the sun was shining so brightly, the light overtook the horizon line.  The quiet was so peaceful that I could feel the distance between myself and the foot of the volcano.  I wrote my initials on a wooden sign and walked back down.

Coming back to Rome, I could only wish that I had a few more days in the wonderland that was Southern Italy.  The semester is almost over now and everyone feels it.  But it's not over yet.