Wednesday - January 7, 2015 - Pompeii - Naples

Group Photo

We have been very busy.  More photos and writing to come.

Some photos of Pompeii

Pompeii Part 2

Naples

It was a brisk Wednesday morning as we rose for an early start.  We had a 2-hour plus bus ride to Pompeii, so our incredibly educated teacher and leader, Carl, decided to get our lesson out of the way.  Lately, we have been studying how to prove congruency between two triangles, so we learned about Angle-Side-Side and Side-Side-Side.  After the lesson we all settled down for a quick snooze until our arrival.

When we arrived, we were quickly met by our tour guide, Agostino, and instantly went into the ruins of Pompeii to get started!  Agostino briefly started us with some history.  The original section of Pompeii was first constructed in 680 BCE.  It continued to grow, but the interesting thing is that the people living in Pompeii did not know that Mount Vesuvius (the only active volcano on continental Europe) was a volcano until it erupted.  During its first eruption, it went from its original height of 9,000 ft. down to 4,000 ft., where it sits now.  He told us that Pompeii is a city of 163 acres and is home to the oldest Roman Amphitheater--150 years older than the Colosseum in Rome.  Fun Fact: in 1972, Pink Floyd performed a broadcast show in that very amphitheater: there was no audience, just cameras. 

As we ventured through the streets of Pompeii, we noticed weird sets of rocks that were raised on the roadways.  It so happens that Pompeii’s draining system was through their streets.  The raised rocks between sidewalks were for the people of Pompeii to cross the flooded streets without getting their feet wet.  Another interesting part of Pompeii is that there were 89 bars and 25 brothels.  The beds in the brothels were rocks and the bars had two holes to keep vino in. 

When we reached the original section of Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background, we all posed for pictures to be taken by the most talented and artistic photographer, Michele.  We got individual shots, group shots, and eventually we all decided to be gladiators and take a ton of action shots!  It was a great way to end our incredible adventures through the streets of Pompeii.

Next on our agenda, we traveled with Agostino to Naples.  Our visit to Naples was very short, but we did learn that Naples University is the oldest religious school in the world and that Naples is home to the oldest subway system.   We were able to stop off and see Capri Island in the distance, the most luxurious island in Italy, and once again we got a few group shots.

Afterwards, we explored the city square and said our final goodbyes to Agostino and started our trek back to Rome.  One of our trip members, Isaac, had a very special day (23^rd birthday) so Michele purchased some goodies for the bus ride, and we surprised him by randomly bursting into Happy Birthday halfway back.  We enjoyed our birthday treat and then read or napped the rest of the way back. 

When we got back to the hotel, we dropped off our bags and the ten students (along with Carl and Michele) went off to grab a bite to eat.  We found a place, toasted to an incredible Pompeii trip and our trip to Italy in general, then wandered on back.  One trip member, Bailey Blair, then decided to inform us she was a master of card tricks, and she blew our minds with incredible magic.  We don’t know how she did it, but it was absolutely incredible.  At that point, we were completely exhausted and all ended up passing out shortly after we hit our beds.