Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, Naples

Today was our last day of adventure in Italy.  I'm sad to see that spring break has ended and that my parents and sister will be heading back to America.  However, I'm happy that this means that I only have about a month left in France, until, I too, am back home in the USA and I can see my family again, my friends at SFU and from Johnstown, and especially my dog Cassie.

Our first stop of today was in the city of Pompeii.  Pompeii was the city that was destroyed by the volcano, Mt. Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D.  The city was buried under 20 feet of hot volcanic ash.  Pompeii is the most well preserved roman architectural site in all of Italy.  By the way, this historical information was provided by Samantha, since she is very interested in Pompeii and Vesuvius.  We walked through some of the ruins, and it is easy to see that volcanic ash turns everything to rock and preserves things very well.  There were even some bodies and even a dog that was preserved in the ash.

The Dog Of Pompeii

The second stop was at Mt. Vesuvius.  This volcano stands about 6,000 feet above sea level.  Our driver took us most of the way to the top, however to get to the very top, one must climb.  Under my current circumstances with my knee, I was not physically able to climb to the top of the volcano.  However, my sister and my mom made the climb to the top.  When they got down to where my dad and I were, they said that it was spectacular at the top and that the volcano was "smoking".  However, my mom pulled a tendon in her foot on the way up and is now having a hard time walking.  I guess that makes two of us now.

The last stop of the day was at the city of Naples.  Naples is a very large city!  We got a piece of pizza there, since it is believed that pizza was "invented" in Naples.  We also did a little shopping.  We then headed back to our hotel.

Tonight, we are going out for our last dinner in Italy!  The rest of the night will be spent packing!  Tomorrow, I have a flight from Naples to Paris with my parents.  After that flight I have a flight to Toulouse, where I will meet Alicia, Jen, Brady, Morgan, and Katie at the hotel close to the airport.  My parents will then fly back to the USA after my flight leaves Paris.  I'll update you all tomorrow about how tomorrow goes.  I'm a little nervous about getting through the Toulouse airport by myself.  Ciao!