While we are in Italy, we will be docked in two different cities...Naples and Civitavecchia. We've been in Naples since Saturday morning, tonight we leave Naples and tomorrow morning,we will arrive in Civitavecchia.
Saturday, July 2: Pompeii/Naples
Woke up early to attend a group trip to Pompeii. Pompeii was a large city constructed by the Romans which dated back to 600BC and was destroyed and buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, which killed all 20,000 inhabitants of the city. Archaeologists excavated the historic city (which was buried under 21 feet of ash and volcanic rock) and to date have uncovered about 2/3 of the city. During excavation, it was discovered that the volcanic ash turned into solid rock well before the bodies of the deceased decayed. Therefore, once the bodies decayed, 'holes' in the rock remained that could serve as perfect molds of the people that perished in Pompeii. Plaster was poured into these 'molds' to create castes of the bodies. You can see some of the castes at
http://www2.brevard.edu/reynoljh/italy/corpsecasts.htm and this is a picture I took in Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background...
After Pompeii, we explored Naples by foot and found a local pizzeria on one of the side streets with cobblestone pavement and laundry hanging from every window of every story overhead from one side of the street to the other. We were served one whole pizza each and YES, I ate the whole thing. YUM! I learned some Italian from the pizzeria workers and I have since noticed that Italians ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT when foreigners attempt to use their language. After pizza, went shopping & bought 2 really cute dresses that double as skirts. I've gotten bored with the clothes I brought on the trip, so it was nice to add two more articles of clothing to my wardrobe :)
Naples' nightlife is not even close to that of Barcelona...Melissa and I got a bottle of wine and hung out with our friends Shametrice, Kristina, Ashley, Mike and Chris in our room our first night in Italy. It was really nice to have a big group squeeze into our tiny little room. It was cozy...there's something special about having new friends into your "home" for the first time. And we finally have some boy friends, too! All the grad students are girls...Chris and Mike are staff members...and neither of us are supposed to hang out with undergrads. So, I guess we became friends by default.
Sunday, July 3: Capri/Naples
Coming soon...
Monday, July 4: Mt. Vesuvius/Naples/4th of July BBQ/Depart for Civitavecchia
Me at the edge of Vesuvius' crater. The volcano is still active, but hasn't erupted since 1944. No you cannot see lava inside the crater. The lava ontop of the crater has cooled, which leaves a "cap" on the volcano which is now about 8 miles thick.
Our crew atop Mt. Vesuvius
Back Row: Jenny (Student Affairs at Sea), Melissa (My ROOMMATE! and Teacher at Sea), Mike (Voyage Videographer), Chris (Field office), Me
Front: Caitlin & Ashley (both in the Student Affairs grad program)
Tuesday, July5: Civitavecchia/Relax
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