The Griffin’s Seventh Favorite Duo Goes To Italy

By: Mo Hill, Opinion Editor & Dominic Vivolo, Contributor

Well everyone, spring break is over, and with that comes an end to the travel part of Travel Photography, a class in which Professor Tom Wolf leads a class of students through Naples, Italy and other parts of the Amalfi coast. The Griffin’s Seventh Favorite Duo™ – which consists of Opinion Editor Mo (me) and our awesome “Oh Honey” columnist, Dominic Vivolo – went on this trip and I think we can both confidently say that this was the trip of a lifetime. From the Walk of the Gods to Dom crying halfway through lunch because the food was so good on the last day, it’s hard to find a place to start talking about the trip.

It all began on that fateful Friday, when I told Dom to be ready to go to the airport at 8:45 a.m. He was not. In fact, when I called him he was actually halfway through the shower. I went out to pack my luggage in my mother’s car, and once Dom finally got out to the parking lot and packed his bags, we were off. Initially the two of us thought that we’d be the first ones at the airport, but it seemed that we were wrong there too – this would be the first of many wrong assumptions made on this trip. Our next wrong assumption is that the professor would have been there at the right time…he wasn’t. It turns out that parking at the Buffalo-Niagara Airport is terrible, and it led to him being 30 minutes late to our scheduled meeting point. After a few more minor mishaps, we were on our way to the Atlanta Airport. The flight there was pretty uneventful, as were the rest, but we’re not going to talk about the flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam (sorry Marja’e). 

Our first day was spent exploring the city of Naples and getting immersed, and let me tell you it is VERY easy to get immersed in Italy. The city is always alive and you’ll always find something to do, the people are kind, the stores are cheap (sometimes) and there are places to get food on every street corner. The next day we explored Castel Sant’Elmo, a 14th century fortress that towers over the coast below, where its vast archways and centuries-old cannons provided several beautiful photo opportunities. While each day was interesting, the best were yet to come. 

The following two days we explored the towns of Ravello and Amalfi along with Sorrento, and here is where it got really interesting. For context, the town of Sorrento is very well known for shopping and for tourism, and with this comes a lot of price negotiating. There were a few stores selling higher quality coats, and of those coats I had a particular interest in one of them. Stopping by that store led to an absolute haggling masterclass from Dom, who upon finding out the initial price managed to bargain it down quite a significant amount. While I unfortunately did not get the jacket, I did manage to- MOVE OVER, MO. It’s time for me (Dom) to talk about my right of passage!! 

To start, I need to say that there are three Ws of Italy, being the following: wonderful food, the water and the wine. The two of us would say this phrase very often, and rightfully so. Was there a singular bad meal? Nope. Every single pizza, pasta, French fry, McDonald’s chicken nugget and even the fruit was perfection. Was the wine as good as everyone said it was? Yes, to the point that I bought three bottles for myself and am very excited to open them again at some point in the future because by God, we Italians know what we’re doing. How could the water possibly be better than here? Well, it does not help that Lake Erie is extremely polluted, and every time I swim in it, I feel like a third leg is growing. But in Italy, it was normal to drink tap water, to the point that I actually felt refreshed after drinking it. 

But moving on from the parts of Italy that I have literally had at my grandma’s house for years, the main thing that truly made me fall in love with Italy was walking the trail known as the “Walk of the Gods,” where we walked more than four miles over 3000 feet in the air with breathtaking visuals the whole time: abandoned homes, donkeys walking along the trail, goats looking down on you as you get tired at the halfway point and finally, a nice little village in the peaks of the mountains of Italy, a nice reminder that people have adapted to live anywhere. Of course, this all led to great photos, but you all are going to need to wait until we edit them and put them on our Instagrams before I can even imagine talking about them. 

Alright, now that Dom’s done talking, I (Mo) can continue with what I was saying. The day after Sorrento we did the Walk of the Gods, it was absolutely amazing! The views were stunning, it was a great challenge and we had some really good food after. In fact, all of the food was amazing; there wasn’t a single meal that I had eaten that made me think “Eh, it was alright.” The day after the Walk of the Gods, Dom, myself and a few others hiked up Mount Vesuvius and then met Tom and some members of his group at the historical ruins of Pompeii. Pompeii honestly defies words, each house and structure there was so unique and it was amazing looking at all of the different artistic designs on the walls that have stood for almost a thousand years. 

The next day we went to the island of Capri, which is a small, tight-knit community known for its high-end shopping. While most stores were closed for the season, the few that were open provided several high quality products that I made sure to explore. On the next and final day we spent there, we visited Guardia Sanframondi & Cantine Foschini. Guardia is a small medieval town with rich roots in agriculture and wine making. We spent the day exploring the vineyards and home of the Foschini family, who made the best food I’ve ever tasted and let us try several different bottles of wine, which were also amazing. This place was so amazing that at one point Dom had to leave the room to cry – and honestly, it was pretty funny. 

Naples, Italy is a place known for many things; its beauty, its food, its culture and its people, and in my opinion, it lives up to every one of those. This trip was amazing and I know that this article will never truly encompass just how great Naples is, so if you ever get the chance to take FAS 142 with Tom Wolf in the spring semester, I would definitely recommend it!

Via Mo Hill