9/6: Day trip to Sperlonga

9/6

• Today was our THIRD try to go to the beach. the other two times failed because we left the house too late. but this time, i woke up and then asked each person if they wanted to go with me or another housemate later in the day. so it ended up being Caroline, Gloria, and me going at like 11am.
• there's another beach closer to the city but it's supposed to be dirty so we decided to go to one that's an hour and a half away by train- Sperlonga
• kind of a difficult process to get there- you have to buy a regional pass for the day (10.5 euro) then catch the train at 49 minutes past the hour. and then when you get to the Fondi station (1 hour and 10 minutes away), you got to get on this tiny bus for 15 minutes. but we were rewarded for all our hard work cuz it was beautiful. this beach is supposed to be one of the prettiest ones and the water is so blue that it's won some kind of award for clear water.

• there was even this little stream of fresh water that was FREAKIN' cold. like i was shaking just from standing in it.
  
• we just lounged around the beach and i tried to swim but the waves were so strong that i could try to swim and not go anywhere. according to Gloria, it was weird to see.
  
• there was a grotto that we could see behind gates but i didn't know how to get in. but most likely we would have to pay to get a tour. it was built by emperor tiberius and supposed to be really beautiful.
  
• getting home was just as difficult- the little bus back to the train station only came every hour. so we were packed into the bus like sardines. the bus driver kept letting other people on and the italians on the bus were yelling at the driver "basta!" meaning "enough!"

• but while i was waiting at the bus stop, this marching band came down the street. i thought it was really cute and reminded me of the good ole times in high school.