It’s difficult to describe the feelings that go along with your #1 dream coming true, but I’ll try.

From the time I was 12 years old I have wanted to go to Italy, and the reason I got into Italy in the first place was Pompeii. I was in sixth grade doing a book report on the subject, and have been in love ever since. The idea that an entire civilization could be buried and perfectly preserved for years blew my mind.

I wasn’t prepared for the real thing, which surpassed my expectations and then some.

Getting there was somewhat messy, but an adventure in itself. The train ride from Florence to Naples basically just entailed me napping (and a minor mishap with British women thinking Zayne and I stole their seats) but the three hours went quickly. There was the impossibly tightly packed metro from Naples to Pompeii, (a nightmare for someone as claustrophobic as I am) where a nice man in a red jacket let me fall into him repeatedly, a couple behind me sucked face, and later an accordion player, tambourine player, and drummer all stood in front of me and played.

Pompeii itself is too much to even describe, but it was definitely the best day of my trip thus far, if not my life.

Sorrento was the perfect added bonus. We had this incredible view of the ocean and Mt. Vesuvius from our room’s balcony, and got to witness fireworks from said balcony Thursday night. Friday morning, breakfast was amazing, and literally had a juicer, ready for hotel patrons to throw oranges into. What could be better? I don’t even like orange juice, but it was pretty cool.

While it wasn’t always easy, and there were times we were all starving, stressed, or a combination of the two, we made it back in one piece. Not to mention we managed to see not one, but two incredible towns in Italy in a day and a half.