And now for the final installment of my “italy series”! This is actually a two-in-one deal:
Pompeii was one of our day trips from Naples – and we went a little underprepared. We didn’t have a guidebook, (it was at the hostel) and it wasn’t until we were actually into the ruins area that we realized it’s kind of necessary to have one or pay for a guided tour. It also wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. When you Google “Pompeii”, you see images of people buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius – I didn’t see any of that. Just the remains of the city of Pompeii itself, which is huge! We walked through it for hours and didn’t even see it all. After we returned to Prague, I found out that the buried people are in a museum that we just didn’t see. So if I could re-do any part of our trip, it would be that. With a guidebook.
We ended up just hearing little bits and pieces of info about different structures from the tour groups we passed (bad, I know! but it’s not like we lingered!). In the end we were making up our own history about some of the houses. We may not have had a very educational experience at Pompeii, but we had fun, even with rainy weather.
On our way back to Naples from Sorrento for our flight home, we went to the top of Mount Vesuvius – the volcano that erupted and covered the city of Pompeii. I was expecting it to be terrifying to be at the edge of the crater, but it was really just a big hole filled with rock and dirt. Not so terrifying. What was terrifying was a group of like a hundred unsupervised American 6th graders that were at the top with us. And by the way, since when do 6th graders get trips to Italy?? I thought I was a big-shot going to Washington, D.C…
We didn’t even get to go to DC till 8th grade! 6th grade was camp. Which was awesome….but not Italy awesome. Hmph.
Chelsea, When I saw the title of this post I was beyond excited! I have studied and have a DVD on Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii for so long. I thought for sure that the casts of the bodies from the eruption would be the most prominent site to see. I love that you got some pics of the beautiful tile work that was in some of the homes. Once the massive amount of ash was cleared away the archeaologists said the tile was mostly in pristine condition. You and Daniel did a fantastic job of covering some great areas. But of course, you both do your research,and are the epitome of how to plan your trips! Keep the posts coming! Love you.