Europe Day 26: Pompeii and More Beach!

First thing this morning, we left the hotel at far too early (7:45am) to catch a train to Pompeii. Pompeii is a city founded in the seventh century B.C. In 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius began erupting. A large, black cloud floated into the sky, and four days later everyone who did not leave the city choked to death in the fall of the ash. Over time, the city was forgotten. Then, in 1748, it was rediscovered. Now, it is mostly uncovered and available for exploration.


Unlike Ostia Antica, the other ruined city we explored, we had a tour guide who took us around to some of the best places. Among these were a theater, fish market, vegetable market, the baths, and the first known fast food restaurant. Of the last we could see a counter with sunken in holes, where the terracota pots holding hot meals for hungry travelers could come and eat. Pompeii was a commerical town. It is estimated that 10,000 people lived there, though they have thus far only found 2,000 skeletons.

Although the Romans were advanced enough to have a sewage system, the volcanic rock used to build most of the city was too unpredictable and they were not able to create one. Instead, they simply allowed the roads to be rivers when it rained, and built stepping stones every once and a while, so that people could cross the street without getting their feet wet or dirty.
I stood in the ruts made from thousands of chariots driving down the road every single day. It was an epic moment for me. I sat in the theater were two thousand people enjoyed latin comedies and tragedies. I stepped into the largest villa of the city. It was only as big as a soccer field-no big deal. I pretended to hack of Kayla's head in a gladiator school. It was a pretty fantastic day.
We returned to Sorrento, tired and hungry. We soon found a restaurant that suited our tastes as well as our wallets. I got a bacon and egg sandwhich. Not proscuitto, bacon. And the egg was a little runny so it soaked into the bread vaguelly remniscent of an english muffin. It was possibly the best meal I have eaten in Italy thus far. I love bacon. It made me so happy.
We returned to the hotel for a little bit of rest before heading out to the beach. In my soccer shorts and a tank top, I did not intend to swim. After jumping in fully clothed yesterday, I needed to ration my outfits until I did laundry again. I read Pride and Prejudice until Melissa beckoned me into the water. I was only going to get wet up to my thigh, where my soccer shorts met the water. Then I realized how much I was enjoying myself, so I decided to dance in the water a bit. It was okay at first, but then I fell over. I landed in water up to my neck, and decided why not? I took my glasses to the beach before running back to the water and diving in head first. It was so freeing! Everytime I get in the water I realize just how much I love to swim.
Kayla soon followed, and we swam out to the rocks on the other side of the habor. I was a little nervous-I had never swam that far before. Fortunately I am great and floating, so I did just fine. We sat on the rocks and let the water splash us like before. Except this time I picked a rock that was mostly submerged. Waves constantly rushed at me. At one point the wave was big enough to lift me off my seat! But I clung to that rock like a barnacle and did not drift off to sea.
We returned to the beach and I read Pride and Prejudice as we dried in the sun. Buying that book was probably the best decision I have made all trip! I have read it several times before, but as I meander through the pages once more, I find myself discovering new aspects of the characters, new ways of describing and understanding what is going on that I never realized before! Not to mention it's a little bit of home I get to enjoy while so far away. Perhaps I'll make it a life goal to read Jane Austen in every country I go to. That could be fun :)
Dinner involved mushroom risotto and deep discussions of moral right and wrong in the TV show Lost. It was very involved. I finally called it quits, and Kayla and I agreed to stop discussing it. I was getting a little too passionate I think.
And now I sit, typing this blog. Soon I will watch some Lost, and eat the giant chocolate egg I bought since I didn't get to hang with my family for Easter. Since Easter was over when I bought it, it was only three euro, and that sucker is huge. I intend on waiting until half the class is in the lobby, so I can share the wealth with them.