Kaithes Italy Blog

 We visited a Buffalo Mozzarella factory! I knew you could make familiar dairy products with Buffalo milk, but I had no idea how delicious it was. I also didn't know it was such a complex process. We toured the factory, and first saw how the cheese is molded and shaped. It was so interesting looking at the consistency. If you've ever played with or made Gak, then you can imagine exactly what I'm talking about when I say this stuff looked slimy, but in a delicious way. There was a leather shop, and a museum with old farm equipment that we could poke at. We also saw where the buffalos are kept and milked, and the facilities are very nice. They let the buffalos determine when they will be milked, give them automated scratching posts (like a car wash) and even play Mozart. But my favorite part was that we got to pet them! They were so sweet, and would move their heads so that you could scratch them in the right places. I didn't want to leave, but our next stop was a tasting...

We did a little tour of the Amalfi Coast a few days ago. Looking at the itinerary alone, I thought it looked a bit grueling, and I was pretty tired. I was, however, pleasantly proven wrong. The bus ride there was pleasant (and air conditioned, yay!) and our first stop was Positano. It was beautiful, gorgeous even. The water was pretty, the buildings on the cliffs stunning. But honestly, I hated it. It was too expensive, too crowded, and entirely too steep. For me, although I acknowledge I'm not exactly the peak of physical fitness, it was miserable to traverse. Thankfully, we were only there for about an hour, the perfect amount of time. Then we took a ferry to Amalfi, which I loved, as I love alternate forms of travel. (Boats, trains, etc.) Honestly, I think I just don't like cars. But Amalfi was stunning. The church with the remains of Saint Andrew was amazing, and the food...oh my god. I liked Amalfi because it felt like a more urban Sorrento, which meant it had more street ...

        A lifelong dream fulfilled! I visited Pompeii yesterday, a stunning archeological site. As a history buff, I love this kind of stuff, and it was so much bigger than I ever imagined. A few of my favorite things: we saw the training fields for the gladiators, which was amazing, but the cells they had to stay in were so tiny, and the fact that many of them burned alive, unable to flee was very sad. But on a lighter note, we also saw the amphitheater, which had its original mosaic floor! Apparently the difference between a Greek and Roman amphitheater is that Roman amphitheaters are only semi circles, while Greek ones are full. I asked what that makes the coliseum, but that appears to just be an exception. We saw a "fast food" stall, which would have contained hot food in terracotta receptacles for people on the go. There were a LOT of these. The streets also had odd raised stepping stones, which we found out served as crosswalks to avoid walking in the deep...