Ashes, Ashes, We all Fall Down.

While the children's song i am referring to in my title in fact is talking about the bubonic plague that is not my intended allegory. Today I had to opportunity to tour Pompeii with a short jaunt into Naples. Today really was full of good things...

1. Had the best cappuccino I have ever had.
2. Toured the ruins of Pompeii
3. Saw Naples and touched the Mediterranean Sea
4. Met the most beautiful girl I have ever met

While I'm sure your more likely to let your mind run wild imagining number four I assure you that it was a brief encounter in a store in Naples. Nothing more, nothing less. The store was actually really cool, it was a Classical Cameo store in which they imported conch shells from exotic places and then carved them with stunningly intricate details and made them into jewelry. I really wanted to buy some stuff from there but it was crazy expensive so i got myself outta there before i got suckered into anything.

Im not the biggest coffee drinker. Yes I Loooooooove my starbucks, buts its mostly chai's, white mochas, and Eggnog lattes when in season. Considering i had been awaked since 4:30 in the morning I decided a good stern Italian coffee would do me some good. It was amazing and delicious, its a good thing coffee is not always that good back home otherwise I might become like my mother, slightly addicted. (Love You).

I Touched the Mediterranean Sea! And it splashed me in the leg. I am gloating a tiny bit considering some people I know have been dying to get there for a while. I wish I could have taken a swim, but it is technically winter and I didn't have the time or the clothing. The view was spectacular, The sky was blue the ocean was calm and not only was the outlook to the sea amazing but the city of Napoli (Naples), is so full of rich architecture its amazing. We were driving through and i was amused to see that on one side of the road they were digging a tunnel for the new Metro line and on the other side of the road they were digging to excavate some ruins at the foot of a castle.

Pompeii was very different than i imagined. for some reason I, and many other people were misinformed when it came to the exact details regarding the demise of this Greco-Roman city. For some reason it is widely though that the city was covered in magma from the eruption of nearby mount vesuvius. This is not true, a town nearby whose name i forget was covered in Magma. Pompeii however was covered in ash from the volcano. 25 feet of it to be exact. Most of the inhabitants did not make it out due to the poisonous nature of the ash. So the ash is why Pompeii was able to be excavated, i learned that the other city is still buried because it would be near impossible to recover it in any sort of preserved manor. It was really interesting to see just how much archaeologist could uncover and some of the details that were left over within the city walls. Some of the things i did see that i remember reading about was bodies preserved in the shaped they died in (i.e. grabbing their chest because of the suffocation and crawing on the ground for help). It was crazy to see. There was also things like they the remains of bread in the oven and a preserved dog tied up because of the peoples hurry to evacuate the city.

All in all it was a good day even though I was up bloody early. Tomorrow I am not sure what is in store, but no doubt it will include seeing something spectacular, so don't change that dial!

Song of the Day. No reason other than that it came on right now in the hostel lounge as I am writing this blog and I really like it.

"Song 2" By Blur

Remember to Keep Fit and Have Fun!