Day 45-47 Naples, Pompeii, Capri

Ciao Everyone!

Sorry for such the delay in blogging. It's been a busy time in Rome!

Three weeks ago my school took a trip to Naples, Pompeii, and Capri. It was probably the most interesting and amazing trip I have taken so far.

The adventure begins on Friday, March 12th... early in the morning we pilled onto our 3 buses and began the journey to Pompeii. I dozed into a pleasant nap and awoke in an ancient abandon city. We enjoyed some pizza right in front of the Pompeii walls, and waited for our class to start. My history class went off on our own tour because our teacher was in charge of the trip and we were learning about Pompeii in class at the time. Pompeii is not completely excavated but what is, is extraordinary! We saw houses, restaurants, temples, bakeries, a WEIRD brothel, and areas of recreation and daily activities of the Pompeiians. We went there primarily to see the ancient Roman-style city because Pompeii was part of the Roman republic territory. It was a very educational trip.

After our Pompeii trip, we drove to our hotel in Naples. Since Naples is where pizza originated from, we went to an authentic restaurant to have a tasty slice Naples' pizza. The restaurant was so cute; there was a little girl's birthday party going on, and all native Italians enjoying their dinner. It was fantastic!

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The following day, we all went to Capri. Capri is an island off of Italy. We had to take a bus to the port and a ferry to the island. The ferry was very bumpy and I was very sea sick, but I fell asleep after awhile. When we arrived in Capri, it was like opening a page in a book to a long lost island. The water was amazingly clear and as blue as sapphire. My friends and I took a private boat around the island and saw the Blue Lagoon, and other caves around the island. The air was warm on our faces, and the splashes from the boat was refreshing. It truly was the most beautiful sight ever. As we rode around the island there was huge rocks in the water, I felt like we were in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie!

After a quick lunch at a cafe on the top of the island, one with a beautiful view, we took a chairlift to the tip-top of the island. On the chairlift ride we were able to see many residents' houses, of course the ocean, and all below us. The ride was about 15 minutes. It was very peaceful...I laid back relaxed and let the wind blow through my hair and the sun beat down on me. Once at the top we had a fabulous AIFS group photo shoot, and enjoyed the picturesque view. Then we made our way back down the middle of the island. We had to wait for the local bus to pick us up to take us down to the port.... but it never came! We only had 15 minutes until the ferry left!!! So the only other option was to RUN! Yes, I actually RAN down the side of the island! We ran down the side allies of the island that were often entrances into the property or houses of the residents. We made it to the ferry with about 3 minutes to spare. But we didn't have our tickets!!! We accidentally ran past our professor who was holding the tickets. So one of my friends ran to the other entrance of the port to catch her. While she was gone, some of my other friends and I had distract/pled with the sailors or I guess people in charge of the ferry, not to leave without us. They were laughing at us pleading with them, and we even had to pull on the bridge so they wouldn't take it off and leave us there. We sat on it so they couldn't lift (they even tried)! Eventually, only 5 minutes late, our professor arrived with the tickets and saved the day! Everyone was relieved!

The ferry was, as expected, bumpy and nauseating. But luckily I fell asleep. Then all of a sudden, I was lifted out of my seat and flung into the seat ahead of me! We hit a HUGE wave which propelled everyone's bodies from their seats. It was quite scary at the moment, but for those awake, I heard it was funny to watch people come out of their sleep with such fright! In the end, the day was a success, a few "bumps" in the road but was still my favorite day yet! I would love to return to Capri one day soon, and would recommend it to everyone! BEST DAY EVER!!!!

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Our last and final day on our adventurous weekend, we went to an archeological museum in Naples. We all tried to fit in a quick nap from the hotel to the museum because it was about 45 minutes away. Then all of a sudden, I woke up to the sound of a gunshot! I thought to myself, "What? A gun shot at 10 AM in the morning?!?!" then I smelt burning rubber and instantly realized, one of our tires blew up! The bus started to swerve in and out and quickly pulled over. The other 2 buses carrying the other students also pulled over. The damaged ended up being so bad they had to transfer all the students on my bus to the other buses. But there were definitely limited seats, and some people had to sit in the isle! Luckily, we only had about 15 minutes left until we arrived!

Once at the museum, we were all tired because of the long days and the long travels but I was still excited to see the museum. My class was able to see all the artifacts excavated from Pompeii. It was so interesting to see their tools, pottery, art, and items used in everyday life. They were very advanced for their time...they had the same style tools for gynecological exams, surgeries, and other medical tools! And we didn't get tools like that until much later! Pompeii art was a mixture between Roman and Greek. It helped to understand our class lessons by seeing the actual artifacts and influence of Greece and Rome!

Our bus returned to the museum just in time to pick us up. Evidentially, no one came to help the driver change the tire, even though he called a towing company, so he ended up changing the tire by himself on the side of the highway! Can you imagine, trying to change a tire of a huge coach bus?!?! He was our lifesaver!

This trip had some transportation problems (missing the local bus and running down the mountainous island, almost not getting on the ferry, almost capsizing the ferry, and popping the bus' tire) but it still was my favorite trip of all! Words can't explain Italy's beauty. And I'm sure right now I am taking it for granted. I know Madison will be nothing like it, and I will miss seeing its beauty everyday. But I thank God for creating such a holy and beautiful place I can call home for now --ROMA!

Ciao!