Vesuvius, Pompeii, and Naples

I came to Rome to study abroad this semester, but what excited me most about my semester abroad was the opportunity to travel.  For the most part I travelled outside of Italy; however, one of the places I was excited to see in Italy was the ancient city of Pompeii.  My friends and I took an EXTREMELY early train to Naples.  Once we arrived we had to “caffeinate.”  (Always my favorite part of the day.)  Then we took a train and a bus to Mount Vesuvius.  We were driven part of the way up and then we spend the next hour climbing to the summit.  This was one of the best decisions I made all semester.  Long, hot, and somewhat steep it was definitely worth it.  The views were amazing and I had to follow my cardinal rule to climb to the top of everything everywhere-why not a mountain/still active volcano?  Afterwards we headed to the ruins of Pompeii.  Two of my friends split off and travelled to Herculaneum because the ruins there were more well preserved.  I can only imagine how well preserved they were, because the Pompeii ruins were very intact.  We saw old houses, gardens, theatres, etc.  My friend taught me that if you spill water onto the surfaces you can really enhance the colors of the ancient tiles and stones.  So word to the wise-if you go to Pompeii spill water on everything.  I’m serious now.  I know how often the average person just takes a weekend trip to Pompeii when they’re sitting at home reading my blog…

The site is massive and the two hours we ended up having there weren’t enough. But it was okay.  Why?  Well, afterwards we HAD to get pizza in Naples-the supposed birthplace of pizza.  One doesn’t actually have to venture out of the train station to catch the trains for the many sites, so when we did leave we were able to walk through Naples for a bit.  In all honesty, Naples was dirty and there was not a lot to see.  A few weeks beforehand there had been a garbage strike and the city is not the most exhilarating place to be.  That being said, I really didn’t spend much time there, this was just an initial impression,  But going back to the main point-THE PIZZA.  Hands down, this was the best pizza I had all semester.  FOR SEVEN EURO.  After pizza we took a late night train ride back to Rome, and all in all it was one of my best day trips this semester.