June 28, 2007 – Pompeii/Sorrento

Mount Vesuvius as seen from the Ruins of Pompeii Pompeii, with Vesuvius in the background This is a picture of the ruins of the biggest house in Pompeii Someone either praying or protecting themselves when Mount Vesuvius erupted Sitting on the rocks of the Mediterranean Sea Mom and Dad in Sorrento Sunset on the Mediterranean Sea Kendra drinking from our communal 2-Liter of Coca-Cola that we got for 1.89 Euro! We got up this morning and drove down to Pompeii. It was a rather long drive. I was certainly ready to get out of the bus by the time we arrived. After a quick lunch, we met our tour guide for a guided tour of the city of Pompeii. I was quite surprised at how close Mount Vesuvius was to Pompeii. It was really quite stunning in its majesty and grandeur. And I was even more surprised when they pointed out the other city that Vesuvius destroyed in the distance. It was quite far-reaching in its devastation. Pompeii was a city that I was very excited to see. But I think it was a bit of a disappointment to me. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of my trip. I had seen pictures of Pompeii quite often. In these pictures, they show the people and animals who were cowering and trying to protect themselves from their impending doom. I thought you could see the expressions on their faces. I thought you could see urns and pottery in the buildings. But all you really get to see are the ruins. They have removed all of the people and artifacts from their original places and have put them in museums and a large covered area next to the main square in Pompeii to protect them. Of course, they are all behind bars so you can’t get close to them. I was very disappointed in this. I thought that in entering Pompeii, we would be seeing life as it stopped for these people hundreds of years ago. I thought it would be exactly as it was. But it wasn’t. We saw the ruins, which were fascinating, but we didn’t see the last moments of life preserved for these people. Except through bars. It was interesting to learn that the flesh of the bodies of these people had disintegrated upon contact with the ash. However, it came down so fast, that wherever the flesh had been, there was an open space in the layers of ash. So when the excavators would come to an open space, they would fill it with plaster, so after the plaster dried, they revealed these people as they were – sometimes even being able to decipher their facial expressions. That was fascinating. Pompeii was much bigger than I thought it would be. And we were able to see paintings and mosaics that were absolutely amazing. The art of these ancient people was stunning. I also found it interesting that at times in their excavation, they would find a house underneath the house they were excavating, indicating that there had been a town there previously that they just built on top of. After we visited Pompeii, we drove up the narrow cliffs on the coast seeing beautiful scenery, but fearing we may go off the side of the cliff, to the town of Sorrento. It is a quaint little town with gorgeous views of the Mediterranean Sea. We took a nap upon arrival, then we got up and went to eat dinner in a pizzeria that had seating outside so we could enjoy the view. After eating, we went for a walk, found a 2 liter of coke for 1.89 Euro (remember the 5 Euro 12 ounce can in Rome?) and all enjoyed a communal drink of ice-y coca-cola. We walked down to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff and played on the rocks for a while – and me in my skirt! So lady-like! But we had a great time. When we got home, Jason, Kendra, Stephanie, Dan and Chris and I played Texas Hold-Em in Jason and Kendra’s room until rather late. We had fun. Chris won.