One last hurrah!

For the long Easter weekend I ventured into mainland Italy one more time - this time to Naples and the surrounding ancient cities Pompeii and Herculaneum with another girl who lives in my apartment, Jo.

I can't believe this is the only Pompeii street shot I have!

We left from Syracuse late Thursday night and arrived at Naples even later still. We managed to find our hostel without incident, though we were in a frightening section of town. The next morning we got up early and went off to Pompeii with a few other girls from our hostel. On the train there, we had some spectacular views of Vesuvius, about which I happened to have a class discussion two days before in my Volcanology course. What luck! I was well prepared for this trip.

From the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii.

Pompeii, the most famous town to be destroyed in the huge ancient eruption of Vesuvius, was better than I expected it to be. We went there in the morning, and were able to start our exploration with only a few other tourists out and about (by the time we left there were people everywhere).

The famous "Beware the dog!" mosaic from Pompeii.

It was large and well preserved, and had some spectacular graffiti on the walls in addition to its fantastic structures. We saw temples, tombs, private houses, and the theaters. I really liked skipping across the streets on ancient stepping stones.

Also from Pompeii.

I ended up giving a sort of guided tour to the other girls with me, as none of them had studied anything like Pompeii. This was a good deal of fun, and we scurried around the ruins seeing almost every major building. Like many other places I have seen on this trip, we were not able spend enough time here and I would love to go back!

Herculaneum.

After Pompeii we visited Herculaneum, destroyed by pyroclastic flows in the same eruption. The part of this town one can visit is much smaller than Pompeii, but has a very different feel to it. There were not nearly as many tourists here, and it felt like you were more able to explore the place rather than be led through it.

A house in Herculaneum.

Throughout the ruins the upper stories were relatively intact and in some places you can see preserved large pieces of wood. It was quite a treat to stroll through this archaeological area. That night we ate some of Naples' famous pizza after getting quite lost trying to find the pizza place. There were only two pizza options - both were very good.

The view from the top of Capri.

The last thing on my agenda was a visit to the Naples Archaeological Museum, but as this would not take the whole day Jo and I decided to venture to the Island of Capri and indulge in some more touristy type things.










We caught the early ferry (this required waking up around 5 and missing the free coffee provided by the hostel, quite a shame) and after about an hour and a half arrived at the harbor.

The chairlift - with Vesuvius way in the back.

The island is composed of many shear cliffs, with houses hanging on for dear life between the switch-back roads. There are two cities - Capri and Anacapri. We caught a bus from Capri to Anacapri (a hair-raising experience - most of the roads are quite narrow and right next to the edge, and the bus was standing room only to the extreme), then caught a chairlift to the top of the island. The view from there was incredible! You could see Sorrento and even Vesuvius.

Neon anyone?

Then we caught another bus down to the Blue Grotto. Because of the sunlight and the local rocks, this cave that you explore by row boats has eerie brilliant natural blue water. When the tide is high you have to lay perfectly flat in your boat to get in, which was half the sport. After this trip we tried to catch the bus back down to Capri but got off a few stops too soon and had to hike down to the port. The path was beautiful, but we were really glad we did not have to hike all the way up!

Riots in Pompeii!

After another ferry ride back to Naples, Jo and I hiked over to the Archaeological Museum. There we saw an impressive collection of pottery, glass, and metal goods from Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the surrounding areas. Then we explored the mosaic and fresco collection!

The Alexander mosaic.

Then, if all that was not enough, we discovered more mosaics and the Secret Cabinet.

Weary Herakles.

The Tyrannicides.

Then there was the Farnese sculpture collection! We also saw a small Egyptian section which was cute but not as loved as the other exhibits. After an exhausting day we collapsed in our beds and quickly fell asleep.





The final morning we were in Naples was Easter Sunday. We wandered around looking for a open church, then gave up and asked a person at the hostel where one was. There happened to be one just the next block over, so Jo and I had Easter Mass at a beautiful Catholic church. Though in Italian I could actually understand most of what was going on, which was much further than I had gotten from my last mass, which was in German. Unfortunately, the musical accompaniment was an acoustic guitar even though there was a fantastic organ in the front of the church that I was looking forward to hear. After church we caught a bus from the train station to the airport and left Naples for Venice (sadly the layover was not long enough for me to explore the city at all) then finally back to Catania.

Today I woke up to cannon fire! This was not from my apartment falling down (or another building firebombed, like the store a few weeks ago that was burned down by the mafia one street over), but an announcement that today is a day in honor of Saint Lucy, Syracuse's patron saint. There was processions, ships sailing into the harbor, and special masses, but one of the most exciting events was when they released hundreds of pigeons (though traditionally doves) as St. Lucy's silver statue was carried into the church of Santa Lucia alla Badia (the church with the Caravaggio inside). After the excitement was over and the marching band dispersed, I made my way home and had a large plate of Sicilian style pasta in honor of the festivities.

St. Lucy is directly in the middle, facing the pigeon cages at the end of the line made by the garden fence.

At this point I am done with all my classes and will have final exams starting tomorrow. I am bittersweet about this particular semester drawing to a close, more so than usual because my experience abroad, so long planned for and thought over, is coming to an end. I am already starting to think of places in Italy I would like to visit were I able to return. A week from today I will be in Rome about to fly home again and getting ready for a summer of archaeology, German, Ancient Greek, and family, and starting to prepare for another round of applications and all the things involved with my final year at Rhodes. Ciao, Italy, life here has been beautiful.