The Perfect Weekend Getaway!

Ciao ciao!

     This weekend was by far the best weekend I've had since coming to Rome, and I have to say it wasn't easy! Our weekend trip was mandatory for all of the Duquesne students- it was the southern excursion. We all visited Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, Sorennto, Capri, and finally Paestum. At each place we did something completely different- I have pictures of everything- and it just turned out to be a wonderful, yet exhausting, weekend.

     Our day started early Friday morning when we departed from campus around 7 AM and arrived at Mt. Vesuvius near 11 AM. Good thing we had a long bus ride and were well rested, because we climbed the volcanoe! Can you believe it?! I still can't! It was definitely a hike and thank the heavens it never erupted LOL Here are some great pics of Mt. Vesuvius (and yes, I had to be high styling while hiking!)

And it begins...

INSIDE! 

 View from the top!

 We made it!!

Once we reached the top, we had a packed lunch and learned a little more about Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. I do have to say it wasn't much of a break, and since we climbed up we had to trek down, too.  

     The day continued when we went off to the city of Pompeii. There we toured for FOUR FULL HOURS (and we still didn't see everything!). Even though I was incredibly exhausted, Pompeii was so cool. It is an experience that I know I will appreciate a lot more when discussing Pompeii and actually being able to say I was there. Incredibly strong emotions were visible during our time there-- the best way to describe everything is definitely through photos (but I learned so much that I'll try and explain everything!). 

Their "Colossuo" or Amphitheater. The Colleseum in Rome came about, because there was a colossal sculpture of Nero in front of the Amphitheater-- this was how the theatre differentiated from the others and eventually adopted the name The Colleseum (notice that Rome's amphitheater holds around 60,000 compared to the 6,000 in Pompeii).

 

 Here are just some of the sights (houses/stores) of Pompeii

 Outlines of the human bodies in plaster form (CREEPY!)  The Bath House...this was a social gathering for the people

 Mosaic in original form! 

  

Pompeii was great! It was so incredible to stand in an ancient but recently discovered town. The one thing I did not get to see were the Whore Houses-- they said that each whore had her specialty position in a fresco on top of the door to the bedroom (as bizarre as it sounds, it would've been pretty neat to see). This was by far the hottest, longest, and most exhausting day, but we all survived and continued our beautiful weekend in the South of Italy. More posts about the weekend to come!

Ky xx