Naples- Italy Day 5
We arrived in Naples at about 7am the next day I believe. It wasn’t nearly as nice as Civitavecchia, yet I wasn’t going to spend much time in port. I had an excursion to Pompeii bright and early, and hoped on the bus around 8:30am. Even though I hated waking up so early, it was still nice since I knew that the Italian heat would be horrendous later in the day.
Boy was I right. It got so hot in that ancient site. But boy was it worth it for an archeological buff like me. The city was so incredible! And sooo much bigger than I imagined it would be. We walked for what seemed like ages, but luckily we had such a great guide who made the trip so interesting and fun. She always had a fun little spin to put on the history of the place. She especially understood her audience of college students. She was sure to point out the ancient brothels, complete with frescoes of various positions on the menu that you could choose if you were illiterate. We also enjoyed the various phallic symbols that were scattered throughout the city pointing the way to the local brothels. Apparently they were really popular. Our guide said there were more brothels than any other kind of building in the city. Well I guess there wasn’t much else to do back then.
Anyway another favorite part she pointed out was the ancient fast food joint. It consisted of a stove like structure on a few of the corners in the city, where you could drive up or come pick up your favorite food.
Everything about this city was amazing. Especially the clay casts of those who perished as a result of the eruption (which by the way wasn’t from mount Vesuvius, but rather the now smaller mountain right next to it that shrunk massively in size when it erupted in AD 79). The casts were exact depictions of what occurred at the time of these individuals’ deaths. They poured the plaster into the holes left by the people, and were able to have these exact models. There was one of a person spread out on the floor trying to escape. There was a poor dog that was clearly chained and tried to escape but couldn’t. There was also one pour soul crouched in the fetal position. All of these casts were both breathtaking and sickening to see- for obvious reasons. Yet these casts, along with the rest of the preserved city and the amounts of other artifacts on display made for a very eventful visit. However, by 12:00 I was ready to return to the air conditioning of the ship.
Which is exactly what we did around 13:00. But prior to this I saw Liz, who had been on another bus for the trip, and thus was with another guide. She introduced me to a friend she met on the last day in Rome. Her name-Katie, and she would soon become one of my best friends here. We had that traditional first meeting-hi, what’s your name, where you from, cool, where you go to school, what do you study, etc. After this little intro, I browsed the shops around the site, and then hopped on the bus back to the ship.
Ahh, that air conditioning felt good. Yet, I wasn’t on the ship for too long. I met up with my friend Eric and Claudenia as well as a son of one of the faculty who wanted to go out an explore Naples. So that’s what we did. We wandered around, and explored a grocery store. We also looked into different shops, and eventually made our way to the major street in the area. Eric went a little crazy and finally bought some stuff. He came on this trip with hardly any t-shirts, so I made sure he got a few. He also bought a long sleeved jacket, which was funny since he would never need it on the trip but he couldn’t resist. I picked out a shirt for him that he bought which said I still live in my Mom’s house-so go back to your own apartment. It fits him perfectly-both literally and figuratively. Haha! I also happened to see another Disney store! And this one was JUST LIKE the one in Roosevelt Field Mall. The exact same set up, with the exact same decorations down to the mickey face as you walk in. Well, the Roosevelt field store is now getting redone, but it looked just like how it used to anyway. I loved it, but I held myself back from buying anything.
Anywho, after shopping for a while we finally found a bar to get a beer and some traditional Italian pastries while watching the Argentina soccer game. I believe they were playing Germany. Either way they were creamed, and we decided to leave early. We shopped for a little longer, and then returned to the ship. At this point I was forced to shower and take a nap. I was just so exhausted. Eventually I did roll out of bed, and headed out into Naples with my two roommates, Julie and Tina, as well as a bunch of their friends. Walking through Naples was an interesting experience. It was a tad bit dirty, what with all the cockroaches that greeted us as we walked. But the tavern we walked to was nice enough, and we enjoyed some delicious house wine, bruschetta, and pizza. However all of us agreed not to stay out too late since practically all of us had early morning trips the next day. So with this consensus in mind, we returned to the ship around 01:00- absolutely ready for a good night’s rest.
Italy Day 6
Once again my day started bright and early-08:15 bus ride meet up. Not exactly my favorite thing to do. Yet once again I knew it was a good thing since we would avoid the harshest point during the day when the Italian sun was sure to provide ample opportunities for skin cancer to develop.
This time the reason I was getting up was because I was to make my way to Herculaneum-another site destroyed in AD 79 by the eruption. However, it was far smaller, and also much better preserved in a lot of ways.
Although Herculaneum didn’t boast any phallic symbols, or have brothel frescoes to highlight, it was still a fascinating place to visit. The frescoes here were so beautifully preserved it was incredible! You could even see stencils of future frescoes that because of the eruption never had a chance to be painted. Absolutely incredible! Other interesting highlights from Herculaneum included a few skeletons on site. The voyage photographer, who happened to be on this practica with us, asked me to pose with these skeletons, so look for me in the audio-slide show of Italy, I might be there! I haven’t had a chance to check yet though! Those poor people though died because their heads exploded from the pressure of the gases from the eruption. Not a nice way to go.
Anyway, I really loved Herculaneum. It also helped that it wasn’t nearly as hot there that day as it was in Pompeii. However, when I got back to the ship I was once again ready for a nap. So that’s what I did until around 15:00 when Liz met up with me, and off we went to pick up ferry tickets to the little island of Capri.
Now everyone has heard of Capri pants, or capri-sun no? At least one of those. Well they come from this island off the coast of Italy that is a great tourist attraction. Liz and I decided to do a short day/evening trip there. Our ferry ride lasted about an hour and cost about 14 euro one way. When we arrived on the island, we explored for a bit, and then began to climb the hills and stairs leading to the top of the mountain this island is based around. It was a decent work out, but very beautiful all the while. We climbed amidst traditional Italian Mediterranean houses, flowers, and crops. It was a beautiful sight.
Once we reached the top we treated ourselves to fresh juice, and then decided to shop for a little bit. We met with a few Semester at Sea friends randomly walking about the tourist area we were now at. They told us about the beauty of the Blue Grotto, and we were sad that it was too late for us to go and visit it. But we still wanted to make the most of our visit. Liz did just that when she bought a great bathing suit. And we both loved our visit when we made it to this incredible Italian restaurant that was tucked away amongst residences. Inside this restaurant was a great terrace that overlooked the ocean and a great deal of the island. This view, in combination with our delicious meal, and the live music that was playing, made for an unforgettable evening. We loved every second of it.
After our dinner we made our way down to catch the last ferry back to Naples. Apparently a ton of SASers were doing the same-in a very inebriated manner. My god were they loud! The Italians definitely didn’t appreciate their loud yells and drunkenness, especially when they all attempted to sing the star spangled banner. It was the forth of July, but perhaps not the best time and place to do it. The drunken outrageousness lasted for the whole journey back. Liz and I found it both funny and horrifying. We were embarrassed to be associated with all of them, but we also couldn’t help laughing at them. I don’t mean to put a negative picture together of SASers. Yes, the majority do enjoy partying in port, but we’re college students, it’s to be expected. But the majority of us are respectful, and are also here to absorb the culture. It was just this particular group that gave us such a bad image. Oh well. Liz and I tried our best to deal with it, and show that not all Americans are like that.
We arrived around midnight back to the ship, and instantly passed out- ready for a 07:15 meet-up time for our trip in the morning.
Italy Day 7
I napped on my bus ride to Mount Vesuvius. Thus I missed a lot of the surrounding scenery. Plus I didn’t realize until I awoke that my ears had popped. We were a couple of thousand feet in the air when we arrived at the tourist drop off for the hike. I didn’t mind. I knew that my level of athleticism preferred it to be this way. We paused to use the facilities, and stock up on water. Boy was I glad to see my old friend blue powerade waiting in the fridge of the little store right by the entrance of the mountain. Powerade and water bottle in hand I began the hike with my two roommates.
The beauty of the mountain is indescribable. It’s very difficult to put into words how very nice it looks. There are small shrubs everywhere, and no tree is very large. Tiny little lizards swarm the various wildflowers of mostly pinks and yellows. Great yellow bees flit from one flower to the next, while butterflies fly around you and tease you as you try to take their photographs. The caldera, or the hole in the middle of the mountain created by the volcano, is massive and beautiful in its own right. It’s sheer size is so impressive! I was sure to take plenty of pictures.
As to the hike itself? It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. Mostly because we paused a lot for pictures. Yet the hike down was probably more difficult. The gravel path made it very hard to grip, and I tripped a little bit. But I am happy to report that I managed to complete it just fine. I met Liz at the top and she helped me climb down. We even had a half an hour to spare-so I took advantage of the opportunity to nap. We got back around 12:30pm. I was too tired to venture out once more before on ship-time, which was 18:00. So I just showered, cleaned, and then met up with my friend Eric to study for our global studies midterm that occurred the next day. It was horrible to study for, but I ended up doing just fine. It also helped that my international marketing teacher postponed my other test so that we had more time to study. Honestly, I don’t know how I would be able to do well in any of my classes if it wasn’t for the professors on this voyage. They clearly understand that flexibility is so greatly needed throughout. Anyway more to come shortly I hope. My next entry will be about the amazing surprise that was Croatia.
Till then, ciao for now.
