I have a little catching up to do on reporting my 'adventures,' and I will attempt to do so over the next week now that midterms are over (though I can't believe we're actually past the midterm already)!
Two weeks ago a few friends and I took a train south of Rome to visit Pompeii and Naples. I will describe the events that occurred on this journey in a tale of ancient civilization, archeology, and pizza.
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| Oh yeah, and there was a volcano too. |
Pompeii is a really fascinating archeological site. The original city, which was thought to have been established around the 6th century BC, became a very prosperous Roman city, particularly in the years of the peaceful Pax Romana. The city was destroyed, buried under ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, but as a result it was extremely well-preserved. Walking the streets of ancient Pompeii (which is actually quite extensive) and seeing the remains of all the houses and public buildings was quite an experience. What struck me most about Pompeii was the fact that the ruins so clearly resemble the actual city - you can tell which streets housed the rich and the poor, identify where people cooked their food, see the remains of frescoes or mosaics in ancient villas - it's very different than the typical ruins of Rome which are not as preserved.
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| For awhile, this dog was acting as our tour guide. |
We spent several hours wandering the site of ancient Pompeii, which is large enough that it's actually quite possible to get lost (at least with my sense of direction...) and then we headed into the actual city of Pompeii to get lunch and replenish our energy to prepare for...
Climbing Mount Vesuvius! We didn't actually climb the entire way of course, since that apparently takes about 6 hours to do, but after catching a bus which went up a decent ways, we climbed the rest of the way to the very top, which was still a pretty substantial climb.
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| Climbing buddies! |
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| At the top of a volcano |
On our way back down, the bus we were on had to pull over thanks to mechanical issues, and we had to wait an extra 45 minutes for another bus to come rescue us. So we were stranded on a volcano for a bit, which isn't something that happens every day...
We headed into Naples for dinner. We didn't have too much time to explore the city itself (partially thanks to the bus break-down), but I thought it had a very urban vibe, much different than Rome. Our main goal in Naples was, of course, the famous Neapolitan pizza, which wasn't too hard to find. We all ordered and ended up getting these huge pizzas, which we took turns sharing and tasting. It was easily some of the most delicious pizza I have ever tried, and as an added bonus, we got to take home the leftovers, which was definitely preferable to dining hall food the next day!
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| And see how happy it made me? |
We were the good kind of exhausted when we got back to campus, and I slept in the next day and then went out with a friend to spend the afternoon sketching in the city. Rome is so picturesque and we had no trouble finding inspiration! So that was another weekend spent in Italy. More to come soon!
