Pompeii

Ciao!
This past weekend, we had an opportunity to go on a house field trip to Pompeii. I couldn't think of any reason why I shouldn't go so I packed my stuff up and left at six am to catch the group train to Naples.
Three hours later we arrive to the city of Naples and then take a bus ride to Mount Vesuvius. The first thing I notice is how dirty Naples is. It really surprised me because I have heard from people that Naples is a beautiful city, but the street were literally piled high, about six feet high, with trash. It wasn't just random piles here and there but there were piles on every street corner, cross ways and medians. I was beginning to become nervous for this trip, but we soon hit the outskirts of the city which became more and more beautiful. Since this was a land covered in Volcanic ash, everything was green and lush.

The bus starts climbing up the mountain side and as we get further up, I begin to feel as if we are entering a rain Forrest. There are vines, bushes, trees growing everywhere. After about an hours drive we finally reach the drop off point in which we are to hike the rest of the way up. The hike was pretty legitimate. There was a steep zigzag along the mountain side and as you climbed higher, you were able to see the city of Naples along the coastline, which was a million times more beautiful than being in the city itself.

At the top of Vesuvius was amazing. The crater was deep and at some points along the way, you could see smoke coming out of the volcano. I was able to hike along the top ridge of the volcanoe to the other side that overlooked Pompeii. It was a spectacular view with the contrast of the vibrant green mountains, crystal blue sea and the old ancient city of Pompeii.

It was really awesome being at the top of Mount Vesuvius. Knowing that in the year 79 AD this volcano destroyed the entire civilization of Pompeii.

After we headed back down off the mountain, we took a bus ride to see Pompeii. Stepping into Pompeii was like stepping back into time. The city was extremely well preserved. There was so much archaeologist have already uncovered but there is so much more to be excavated as well. When we first entered the city, we were able to walk through the amphitheater in which gladiatorial games were held. Right next to the amphitheater was a vineyard that contained the oldest type of grape vine from the ancient world. It is famous for its diverse and rich flavors. One bottle cost around 980 euro!
Passing the vineyard we stepped onto the main streets of Pompeii. An actual ancient Roman road with Stepping stones that reached across the street so one could cross without getting their feet dirty with the grime that covered the streets.

We also saw what a Roman house looked like with the layout and the frescoes. It was so amazing to see the wall frescoes with the different styles of Roman wall painting. These frescoes were so well preserved, Kate and I were definitely geeking out. The next place we visited was the town's brothel, which, ironically, had the biggest line to see ha! It was strange seeing a brothel on a school trip, but it was just another part of Roman culture and another thing to learn about how they lived there lives.

After the brothel, we traveled down to the forum which was my favorite place to see. It had a temple, marble podiums where the orators would stand to make public speeches and the forum also had a basilica, or courthouse. The basilica was my favourite structure to see. It was so fascinating because I got to see what my faith based its house of worship on. When the Christians were granted religious freedom by Constantine, they had to decided how they would build the Church. Early Christians didn't want to base it off of a Greek or Roman temple because then it would be associated with paganism. Instead, they chose the basilica, or courthouse where all the legal processes happened. The basilica was the perfect model for the Church because God served as our head of moral legal standings. So I was able to walk through this basilica and see the nave, aisle, and narthex that constituted our modern day basilica. It was so fascinating!

After leaving Pompeii, the group caught a ferry to the island of Ischia. There we spent all day Saturday and had the most relaxing day ever. Saturday morning we left the hotel around 9 am to go to a spa called Poseidon. It was a spa that was built in the side of a mountain and laid along the mediterranean beach. It was so beautifully filled with trees, flowers, and stone walkways. It had a 'healing' system that consisted of going about five different pools. The first one started at a luke warm temperature that was 28 degrees Celsius and the last ended with 40 degrees Celsius pool for three minutes and the 15 degree Celsius pool for 15 seconds. While the last one was very difficult to transition to, in the end your body felt so refreshed. After going through that cycle, you are suppose to rest your body for one hour. During that hour some friends and I went into town to get some lunch. We stumbled apon a minimarket and the grocer there made us homade sandwhiches with a side of olives. It was the best lunch I have had. The bread was so fresh, the cheese so tasteful and the olives so rich.

After lunch my friends Grace, Bri, Dillion and I decided to explore and so we hiked up along the mountain side. We found some beautiful views, caves, and little bridges over water. It was so fun exploring and it was such a nice and relaxing day which was perfect in preperation for our Humanities midterm that was the next Tuesday.

On the way train ride home, everyone was pulling out their books and notebooks studying like madmen for the Humanities midterm that we were to have in two days. While we were all enjoying the last remnants of our relaxed time at Poseidon, it slowly went away as we traveled closer back to our villa, back to school. We had a pleasant weekend.