Hello All!
This past week went by so fast! There is so much to do and see here in Italy, and we definitely do not have enough time to do it all!
This week started off with a trip to the Roman Forum in my “Ancient Rome and its Monuments” class. The Forum really is wonderful, despite the intense heat bearing down upon you. The buildings and ruins it contains are unbelievable. I wish I could see what everything looked like when it was intact. The Romans created incredibly ornate buildings such as bath houses, basilicas, and so much more. My favorite was the House of the Vestal Virgins, which is a beautifully preserved temple.
The next day Jill and I went to the Colosseum. I cannot imagine all of the bloodshed that took place there. The Colosseum is massive and could hold an estimated 50,000 people. There were a number of compartments underneath the stage that had elevators that brought the animals up to fight the gladiators. They could even flood the arena with water when they wanted to have a sea-battle.
On Wednesday, my Italian class attended Swan Lake at the Teatro dell’Opera. This theatre is actually an open-air venue with a background of the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla. The background is an amazing sight, especially when paired with the beautiful dancing of the ballet company.
For the weekend, we headed down to the Amalfi Coast. I have now found my new favorite spot in the world. The waters are so blue and clear and the scenery is magnificent. As my friend Jill put it, it is “unexpected pure bliss.” I want to live there for the rest of my life. We stayed at a campground in Sorrento, a charming seaside town. Our camp had its own private “beach”, which is more a group of rocks and cliffs that lead down to the water. We cliff dived into the water and could literally see down to the bottom. (I also brought my goggles!) Also, the infamous Mt. Vesuvius was right across the water from us.
The next day, we took a short ferry ride to the island of Capri. Again, the breathtaking views are to die for. Our group rented two boats with captains, who took us around the island to the grottoes and showed us the different sights. First, we went to the Emerald Rock, which we could swim under. I thought that was amazing, but our next stop was to a cave into which we swam to find a private beach at the other end. Another cave we swam into glowed green and had red coral along the sides. It had a passage to connecting caves, and when we swam through it, we found another secret beach at the back of the cavern. However, this was the first beach I have been to where the sun never shines! The main attraction, the Blue Grotto, was closed due to the roughness of the water, so that gives me an excuse to return!
Today, Sunday, we took a train to the ancient city of Pompeii. I am sure everyone is familiar with the tragedy that took place there, but if not this is a short history lesson. Pompeii, a bustling seaside city, just as powerful as Rome, was hit by an earthquake in 62 A.D., causing extensive damage. However, the town survived and had started rebuilding when in 72 A.D., Mt. Vesuvius erupted and completely destroyed and buried the town; essentially freezing it in time. The explosion covered Pompeii in four to six meters of volcanic ash and rock, and it was lost for nearly 1700 years before accidentally being rediscovered in 1749. Back to the present, Pompeii is now one the biggest archeological digs and attracts almost 3 million visitors a year. You can see the remains of the whole town, including some near perfect examples of villas and businesses. We even toured a brothel, which apparently was a major hub in the town’s everyday life. The preserved remains for people were very disturbing, yet interesting at the same time. When the volcanic ash rained down upon the city, the people suffocated from poison gases, and were perfectly preserved under the ash. When archeologists found the remains, they injected liquid plaster into the cavities left by the bodies and were able to obtain full casts of the people as they died. There was a dog which got caught up in his chain, a small boy with his hands over his face, and a couple other tragic examples of human life.
That is all for now!
Hope everyone is well!
Love,
Kalyn
No comments:
Post a Comment