Pompeii!

Today I went on a field trip to Pompeii for my on-site architecture class. Had to wake up bright and early (6am), which I was not happy about because I ended up staying up pretty late last night... watching La Dolce Vita for my italian cinema class. Sprinted down the gianicolo hill to Piazza Trilussa where the buses were leaving from.

Pompeii was gorgeous! Let me start by setting the scene: sunny, not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze, upper sixties, birds chirping, and the smell of freshly cut grass. Yup. Pretty much perfect. My professor is amazing. I cannot get over how much information he knows. I really don't understand how one person can accumulate all the dates and people and names of buildings and recall it at a moment's notice! In my state of panic about being late and missing the bus I forgot my camera, but I will be back in Pompeii later in the semester so I will hopefully post pictures later.

We got to see the amphiteatre, shops, houses, the forum with all the temples and markets, and a huge villa. The forum was absolutely amazing because looking towards one end is an awesome view of Vesuvio and looking towards the other end is beautiful mountains! We got to see some of the plastered people. So Vesuvio erupted twice in AD 79. The first time it wasn't bad at all; nothing was really damaged, but people knew what was coming so they began to evacuate. It was the second day that really did people in. About 10% of Pompeii perished almost instantly after the eruption because of the sulfuric gas that was emitted from the volcano. And so what happened with the people was they were covered in volcanic ash which preserved them. Eventually the flesh deteriorated and what was left was bone. When archaeologists were digging and would hit caverns, they figured out they were actually corpses and would fill them with plaster. The casts are really creepy because you can see bone! And the positions they were in when they died. The houses and villas were so pretty. I love that they would all have gardens on the inside like a courtyard.

There are a bunch of adorable stray dogs. At one point we were sitting in a theatre and someone was giving a report on it. A dog just walked in. Looked at us and wagged its tail a little. Then flopped down to lay in the sun. All the dogs we saw were so friendly and non of them looked malnourished! And I just read (which would be so nice if it was true) that the guides of the ruins pool their money to buy them food. I also saw a silly stereotypical moment: there was a dog who was walking towards us and then took off. I looked towards where it was running and there was a cat! That scooted right up a tree and into safety.

For if you want to adopt a dog from Pompeii... http://www.icanidipompei.com/english/progetto_cave_canem.html
How cool would that be?!?!

After hours and hours of walking around I was ready to go home. Of course on the way home we got stuck in traffic for over an hour. But when I finally got home, I found bruschette on the table with Leah whipping up something yummy in the kitchen and Kristen making banana cupcakes. I almost rallied to go out and meet Mel who is visiting from Firenze, but then made the mistake of laying in my bed. I guess I'll just see her tomorrow.

Buona notte!