Sara's Adventures Abroad: That Bastille Song

Day 12 - Pompeii

I set my alarm for 6:20 to shower before we had to be on the bus at 7:30. The breakfast at the hotel usually consists of yogurt, cereal and croissants that are filled with orange jam that no one likes. They are slowly learning what the group likes (such as we only like natural water, not fizzy water) and today they didn’t put any jam in the croissants. We boarded the bus, and this time I had a seat all to myself! The bus ride was horrible – I was so motion sick, I couldn’t wait to get off. It took a few hours to get to Pompeii, but luckily there was beautiful scenery on the way. It was so neat, we were up so high in the mountains that one part you couldn’t see out the window because it was just a big cloud, and we were literally in the cloud. We got to Pompeii and waited for our tour guide, who has her master’s degree in architecture from Harvard. The city of Pompeii was buried by six meters of ash in 79 AD (no lava.) The last eruption was in 1944. Five tribes arrived in Pompeii and founded the city, it had a port before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Now, the water is five kilometers away. The city is huge, 66 hectors and is impossible to do in one day, only 45 hectors are excavated, they are still working on recovering the rest. First we saw the amphitheatre, the oldest theatre in Roman history, which Pink Floyd and Andrea Bochelli have played. We walked the ruins, she showed us a poor man’s house, and a rich man’s house. She showed us the difference between houses and shops, as the shops have a sliding door. Then she showed us the bathhouse, the ‘red light district’ which included the famous prostitute house with very graphic illustrations. She also pointed out a sign of a certain body part shape that pointed towards the prostitute house. We ended the tour with hen we saw Mount Vesouvious – the volcano that nearly destroyed the city. For some reason, I have had allergy symptoms during the trip, which were especially prominent in Pompeii. The tour lasted for a few hours then we all went to a restaurant for lunch. I had gnocchi and fries for lunch, and peach iced tea – my favourite! After lunch we loaded back on the bus to the Amalfi coast and Sorrento. The bus driver stopped for us to take a picture of the coast, then we had an hour and a half to wander around. We walked to a spot to take some pictures, and then decided to do some shopping. During the bus ride I noticed that a few of the salons had Kerestase hair product in the window, which I have been looking for in Canada and the United States for a year and made sure I got some! We got some limoncello, as Sorrento is known for producing it. Shannon and I also stopped to get a nutella and banana crepe, it was good but it is much better in Paris! Then we headed back to the bus for our 4 and a half hour ride to Sulmona. We got back to the hotel at 10 pm, and they had a buffet for us where the best options were pizza and salad. The only salad dressing they use here is either oil or vingar, I really miss the salad dressing at home.