My Life in Italy: Holiday from Real

March 21-25

After every journey and new experience I have had here in Italy, I always think that it couldn't get any better, the scenery couldn't get any more beautiful, the people couldn't be more interesting, but once again I was proved wrong during our week on the Southern Italy Field Study. I saw so many awesome sites, and seeing as I am behind on my blogging, I hope a brief description and pictures captions will do for this entry. When I am home I would love to tell all of you about each place in more detail, but if I tried to type it all out, it would take forever! Just picture bustling cities, quiet seaside towns, ancient ruins, an active volcano (you may have heard of it...), gorgeous blue waters, tall white cliffs, Mediterranean cathedrals, views from mountain tops, royal palaces, massive gardens, and some delicious food with all of those scenes, and then you'll have all the basics of my trip. It's really a tough life here, isn't it?

To begin the week, we took a bus from Viterbo on Monday morning and reached Naples in time explore the city a little and walk down to the harbor before eating their famous Neapolitan pizza for lunch. After lunch we spent some time in the archaeological museum of Naples, then jumped back on the bus to make our way to the hotel in the nearby town of Sorrento, our home base for the week.

For anyone who loves history like I do, the second day at Pompei and Mt. Vesuvius was fantastic. Because the massive eruption in 79 A.D. completely buried the whole city in ash, it was preserved remarkably well so that when it was rediscovered in the 1800s, it was a city frozen in time. Unlike most ancient Roman cities which were looted of all their marble and valuables, or destroyed during invasions, Pompei was protected from all outside disturbances and is now available for us as an example of what a flourishing Roman port city really looked like. After visiting the site, we got to hike all the way up to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, which was freezing and windy, but so worth it. The view from the top was a little hazy (so my pictures aren't the best), but still quite the site to see.

Wednesday was our free day, so most of us used that time to visit the nearby island of Capri. If any place was ever to be called picturesque, this would be the one. It is hard to describe all of the sites, sounds, smells, and tastes of the island, but needless to say, it was another wonderful day in southern Italy.

Next up was the wonderful little town of Amalfi, which looks out at the Gulf of Salerno. We got to explore the town, relax by the water, eat some great seafood with pasta, and tour St. Andrew's Cathedral. The church was really beautiful and interesting, and we learned that the architecture and design had not only Roman influence but also Spanish, French, and Byzantine aspects since each ruled parts of southern Italy at one time.