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Early on Friday morning, we packed up the last of our things and headed off to the first stop of our three day excursion around Italy, Pompei. After two weeks spending time in classrooms and reflecting on our teaching experiences, it was the perfect way to wrap up our time in a country with so much to explore. The opportunity to walk through the ruins of Pompei after almost two thousand years was unbelievable. We were fortunate enough to have a guide take us through, or we would have inevitably missed significant stories hidden within the ruins. Mount Vesuvius smothered the city in ash in 79 AD – leaving the city undiscovered for many centuries – until 1748. It would take three days to walk through the entire city, but we covered what we could in the two hours we had. Our next stop was the city of Naples, where we spent the evening exploring and learning, and shopping, too, of course! There are many places in Italy that we visited that I wish I had prior knowledge of, including The Veiled Christ statue at Museo Capella SanSevero. There are many parts of European history that Americans are unaware of, and truly it’s sad. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take any photos inside the museum, but this is the website that highlights all of the important statues and pieces of art, including The Veiled Christ and Anatomical Machines: http://www.museosansevero.it/en. I hope to spend some time within the next months reading about anything we saw in Italy I feel that I could learn more about. History is infinitely more interesting when it’s relatable to an experience – not just being read out of a textbook. After a long day, it was time to head to Sorrento and check into our hotel. Hotel Michelangelo was a beautiful hotel, and perfect for a two night stay. Saturday morning would begin the best day I’ve ever had (without exaggeration). The Isle of Capri was planned for Saturday, but I had only a small idea of what to expect. Little did I know how serene and gorgeous our views would be, leaving me breathless everywhere I looked. We took a boat ride (it wasn’t a yacht, but it sounds cooler to say we yachted across the Mediterranean Sea!) from Sorrento to Capri, which took about 20 minutes. The wind speeds out on the water combined with our boat speed had us hanging on to avoid flying overboard (and some pretty scary hair by the end of it)! We still had a beautiful view, as difficult it was to take pictures without our phones flying out of our hands. Pictures truly could not capture how gorgeous our surroundings were – how blue the water was, the way the sun reflected on the water, the enormity of the island as we approached – it was unreal. After arriving to the island and spending some time by the shore, we took an hour long boat tour around the island. I was surprised by how long it took us to get around the island. Most of this ride was fairly calm, but for part of it, the waves were insane! I know that many of us were also hoping to be able to go into the caves, including the Blue Grotto, but unfortunately the water tide was too high. We were still able to go up close and (somewhat) see inside of them during our ride around the island. Our boat tour was followed by a trip by bus up to the top of the mountain, where we would find even more extraordinary views. We walked around for a bit before grabbing lunch. It was great being on the island during the off-season (winter), rather than when most tourists visit (summer). We still had beautiful weather, 60s and sunny. It was the perfect day. On Sunday, we returned back to Rome to fly out early Monday morning. Katie, Katie J., and I paid one last visit to the Trevi Fountain to see it lit up at night and grab some last minute souvenirs. Our alarms were set for 3:00 AM the next morning, which was painfully early! Twenty-three hours of travel later, with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, we made it home safely! I’ll post one last time in the coming days after I’ve had some time to get rid of this jet lag, look through the hundreds of photos I took, and reflect on these last three life-changing weeks.It’s my first day home, and I am already missing Italy and our entire cohort like crazy. I’ve really been trying to hold it together today!
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AuthorCiao! Mi chiamo Christine. I'm a Junior in the Exceptional Education program, and I enjoy traveling, reading, and spending my summers as a camp counselor. I have been continuously inspired to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. ArchivesCategories |