Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Almalfi Coast, and Naples!

Like I said last post, last week was our trip to Rome and other cities. I think I will update by each day, but this is probably going to be a long post-

 

Day 1- We got settled in our hotel then went on a walking tour around the city. One of the first places we stopped at was ruins of a Roman bath. It was fenced off in the middle of a park thing and was filled with cats. The tour guide told us that an organization spays and neuters stray cats and lets them live there. You can even adopt one if you see one you like. I thought that was really cool because even though those ruins aren’t huge tourist attractions, the Romans have kept them around even just to use for keeping cats. We walked around some more and saw the Jewish Ghetto, the old theater, a monument that I can’t remember, the forum, the place where Peter and Paul were imprisoned (awesome), the Victor Emmanuel monument, and ended at the Coliseum. We walked so incredibly much that day but it was way worth it. I loved being at the places I have studied about and seen in movies and stuff. It was just so great. That night we just got dinner and went to bed for our early morning. 

 

Day 2- We had free time in the morning, but we also didn’t have a scheduled visit to the Pantheon or the Trevi Fountain so we decided to go.  The weather was beautiful that day so we hung around the fountain and people watched until we had to meet up for our tour. The tour that day was to the Vatican. We walked a little ways through a busy city without seeing much but buildings and cars. Then all the sudden we turned left onto a straight path to the most massive and beautiful church complex ever.  I don’t even know how to begin explaining the inside of it. It was just beautiful with marble statues, beautiful courtyards, frescoes, golden ceilings, tapestries, and tourists everywhere. The most remarkable parts were the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. Unfortunately you couldn’t take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel and I wasn’t brave enough to try. I remember learning about it in elementary school and being able to see it was so incredibly awesome. I just stood with my head all the way back for about 15 minutes staring at it. That night we walked around trying to find somewhere reasonable to eat and stumbled upon an incredible find, so incredible that we went back the next night too. That night we also decided to go back to the Trevi Fountain to see it all lit up and they were having a Stop Polio campaign which was cool to see. We also walked to the Spanish Steps. I feel like I would have enjoyed them more in the day time, but I really didn’t see what was so special about them. Oh well.

 

Day 3- In the morning we had a tour of San Clemente Church and all the underground ruins. We then went to a chapel that I absolutely cannot remember the name of right now. It is the place where Peter and Paul’s heads are kept and used to be where the pope lived before the Vatican was built. It was really pretty. That afternoon we went to the Maxxi Modern Art Museum. It was definitely a change of pace from all the medieval and renaissance stuff we’d been looking at and I really enjoyed it. Before we left for Rome I was told it was going to be in the 50’s and sunny the whole time and was disappointed that it dropped 10 degrees this day. I only had a pea coat and a wimpy scarf to keep me warm, so I was pretty cold. I also realized that I didn’t bring my camera charger with me and my camera was running out of battery, so I have less pictures from this and the rest of the trip.

Day 4- This morning we had to wake up bright and early and catch a bus to Pompeii. I was expecting to see a few ruins and had no idea that it was an entire city. We were told that the civilization was forgotten about and not placed on maps for 1500 years. That just absolutely blows my mind. I also thought it was really cool to see the ruins with the volcano in the distance that was responsible for all the damage. I am in the History of Science class here and we got a special tour of an excavation lab. There they should us ancient bread, wheat, garlic, pomegranate, fish sauce, skulls, animal shells, a coin, and other stuff that I don’t remember off the top of my head. That was probably the coolest part of the tour. After Pompeii we got on another bus and went off to Sorrento. I seriously don’t think I will ever visit anywhere more beautiful in my life. That night we just walked around and went to bed.

 

Day 6- This was our last day of the trip and we had to wake up early to get on a train to go to Naples. I do not have any pictures of this trip but I really wish I did. I guess people have an image of Italy being touristic and beautiful, but just like everywhere else there are areas of extreme poverty. Naples is pretty much ignored by the government so that the money can go to Rome, so the mafia runs their city services like trash pick-up. However, it isn’t consistent and we saw lots of overflowing dumpsters. I also saw more begging than I have anywhere else. So much that it was heart breaking. There was also graffiti all over the beautiful churches and governmental monuments. I made the comment that I probably would also destroy the buildings if I was treated that way by my government. We weren’t in Naples that long, and I was very thankful to be headed home to Castiglion Fiorentino. Notice that I said home. This trip was the first time that I missed being at the center and missed my bed and my room and the food and all that. I think that means I am officially assimilated ;)

So sorry for such a long post! If you read through all of it I will be really impressed. This last weekend I went to Cinque Terre for a last minute hiking trip. It was so incredibly beautiful, so the next post will be pretty good! :)