Italy
8:51 AM
The past two weeks have been busy. The Umbra Institute set up a weekend in Napoli, Pompeii, Ischia, and Capri. These places were absolutely beautiful. We started from Perugia and drove to Pompeii in 4 hours. When we got to Pompeii, I immediately located Mount Vesuvius!
This is a photo of the old Pompeian basilica. It was the house where the citizens, senate, and foreigners would trade and have meetings. What was interesting about this site, was that the pillars still had some of the old paint and terracotta because the ash that was spread over the city had preserved it so well.
This was the Pompeian forum where they held assemblies and also dramas or singing. The acoustics in this area were really great. Our tour guide had one of the boys in our group go down to the bottom and start singing in front of everyone. Surprisingly, they did quite well.
We then took a boat to Ischia, a small island off the coast of Naples. This little island was so pretty and had so much to offer. Unfortunately we only spent the evenings here. We had the most delicious food though. It was all 5 course meals. The photo above shows one of the beginning courses. I did wake up every morning at 5 am to get a photo of the sunrise. Of course it was very beautiful, especially because in the distance, you could see Mount Vesuvius. This photo does not show it, but I decided to play with some of the photo techniques I learned in my photo class this semester.
The second day at Ischia, the morning before we had to leave to come back to Perugia, my friend Fran and I ran into a man who had been in the Italian military in Pisa. We were sitting on the side of a wall taking photos of the sunrise, when this man came up to us and started talking to us in Italian. He was very kind and gave Fran and I some fruit and vegetables that he had grown for his restaurant that he owned. He also took us up in his house to get a good photo of Ischia from above. It was so beautiful and thankful that I had learned enough Italian to converse with him.
On the second day in the South, we took a ferry to Capri. Capri is also a small island off the coast of Naples, a bit south of Ischia. This is home to some of the famous people around the world. George Clooney's summer house was on the island, along with Georgio Armani. It was a definite tourist island, but we were able to get a private tour around the whole island for only 15 Euros. The water was extremely blue, but also extremely salty. We also ended up hiking up a mountain and found the largest natural arch in Italy. It was very huge and was absolutely the most beautiful site that you can imagine.
After our trips to Capri and Ischia, we took a ferry back to Naples and had a tour through Naples. It was a very dirty city compared to the other ones that we visited, but it also had a lot of history. Naples is known for being the home of the Margarita pizza, so of course, we ate some. Some of the other sites that we saw were the main piazza and center. In the Galleria Umberto, they had marble pictures of the zodiac signs. Our tours guide told us that if you stand in the circle and then jump into your zodiac and then make a wish, it would come true.
This is a photo of the port in Naples. It is very important for trade and commerce. And of course, you can see Mount Vesuvius on the left.
We saw all sorts of ruins. The most interesting of the ruins were, of course, the mummies.
There were quite a few mummies and a few skeletons that were out.
This was the Pompeian forum where they held assemblies and also dramas or singing. The acoustics in this area were really great. Our tour guide had one of the boys in our group go down to the bottom and start singing in front of everyone. Surprisingly, they did quite well.
We then took a boat to Ischia, a small island off the coast of Naples. This little island was so pretty and had so much to offer. Unfortunately we only spent the evenings here. We had the most delicious food though. It was all 5 course meals. The photo above shows one of the beginning courses. I did wake up every morning at 5 am to get a photo of the sunrise. Of course it was very beautiful, especially because in the distance, you could see Mount Vesuvius. This photo does not show it, but I decided to play with some of the photo techniques I learned in my photo class this semester. On the second day in the South, we took a ferry to Capri. Capri is also a small island off the coast of Naples, a bit south of Ischia. This is home to some of the famous people around the world. George Clooney's summer house was on the island, along with Georgio Armani. It was a definite tourist island, but we were able to get a private tour around the whole island for only 15 Euros. The water was extremely blue, but also extremely salty. We also ended up hiking up a mountain and found the largest natural arch in Italy. It was very huge and was absolutely the most beautiful site that you can imagine.
After our trips to Capri and Ischia, we took a ferry back to Naples and had a tour through Naples. It was a very dirty city compared to the other ones that we visited, but it also had a lot of history. Naples is known for being the home of the Margarita pizza, so of course, we ate some. Some of the other sites that we saw were the main piazza and center. In the Galleria Umberto, they had marble pictures of the zodiac signs. Our tours guide told us that if you stand in the circle and then jump into your zodiac and then make a wish, it would come true.
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