JCU Trip to Sapri: The Good Life

Sapri, Qui Si Vive Bene... roughly translating to "Sapri is the Good Life" - and yes, it's true!

We did a weekend trip through John Cabot University's Athletics department to the small coastal town of Sapri, a four-hour train ride south of Rome. I didn’t have particularly high expectations for this trip and, to be honest, initially even had some regrets about booking a trip to a town I'd never heard of. But to my surprise, I fell in love with this quiet, unknown place.

We arrived to the cutest and most quaint bed & breakfast located on a high hill overlooking the breathtaking Gulf of Sapri. It was run by a family who knew enough English to get by but made you feel like part of the family with their excitement and smiles. The house was huge and comfortably accommodated the 15 people in our group.

We started with a boat tour on the water that Emily described as the color of blue Kool-Aid. The shades of blue were like nothing I’d ever seen before. We drifted along the coast next to ginormous mountains that every so often had caves carved into the side.

We were even able to adventure into one called the Canale di Mezzanotte (Midnight Canal). We then anchored into a cove with an empty, rocky beach to relax in the sun, swim, and snorkel. After the boat trip, we were able to do some real rock climbing along an area near the water. We were strapped to a rope, of course, but it was A LOT harder than it looked. Sadly, Em and I were one of the ones to not make it to the top (upper body strength, where you at??) but it was still an amazing experience. We finished the day with a delicious dinner of appetizers and pizza.

Sunday was the best experience. We had a four-mile hike into the mountains of Sapri. Four miles doesn't sound too bad, right? Nope, not when you’re literally climbing the sides of sky-high mountains, tumbling over large patches of rocks, and walking on an incline for the majority of the trip. It was magnificent, inspiring, every adjective you could think of. The pictures will never bring to life the views and beauty we saw that day. I can’t even find the words to describe the feeling of literally being on top of the world and overlooking the water and mountains, something you normally only see in movies or pictures. It was tough and we were exhausted but the feeling of accomplishment was worth it.

Lastly, I never expected to make the connections I did on only a two-day adventure. I don’t thrive in big groups so this setting made it perfect for me to meet and learn about these 13 other John Cabot students I hadn't met before. The other students were from Texas, Missouri, California, and so on, and small talk really didn’t exist on this trip. We talked about real life things and related to each other on so many levels. I think part of this is thanks to the fact that none of us had “LTE” lit up at the top of our phones. Phone usage was slim and actual conversations were had. It was honestly such an enjoyable and memorable weekend.

Check out the original post here.

Leaving some of our love in Sapri,

Kristi Dobreff
Marketing Major
Hometown: Harrison Township, Michigan

Emily Miller
Marketing and Supply Chain Major
Hometown: Macomb, Michigan

Grand Valley State University – Study Abroad Summer I 2016

P.S. We were filmed multiple times for an Italian TV show displaying the wonderful places in Italy. Can’t wait to finally be famous!