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Dear readers, as you may recall, in October I, along with my 36 classmates, spent a week on a bus traveling around Sicily. The past week was essentially a repeat of that experience, except we went to Campania. Quick geography lesson for those of you who aren’t versed in the precise location of every area of Italy: Campania is immediately to the south of Rome, whereas Sicily is that silly island that it looks like the boot of Italy is about to punt over towards Spain across the Mediterranean. So we actually spent a loss less time on the bus this trip (less driving because less distance). You would think that this meant we spent more time at sites or woke up a little later: yet daylight savings strikes again. The sun went down around 4:30 every day, so we had to rush a little bit. This was fine with me, because it meant we got a little more time to relax (read: catch up on homework and sleep) in the afternoon. But you don’t really want to hear about my homework, do you? No? Ok, I’ll get to the good part: the places we saw.

Campania is the region in which Mt. Vesuvius is located. Yup, the same Vesuvius that blew up on August 24, 79 AD, at 1 pm, covering the cities around, like Pompeii and Herculaneum, with layers of volcanic ash. Or, that’s the traditional date anyways. Our professors like to point out that it could have been in September and we’re not really sure. But for the sake of tradition, let’s say the date I gave you is right. So of course we saw those two cities, with the asphyxiated people and animals. But the really neat thing about the cities is how much they feel like ghost-towns, as if people had just picked up and left a few months before, instead of a few thousand years before. The walls are still mostly complete, and at Herculaneum, organic materials are even preserved, albeit a bit charred. The polychromy (colors) on the wall exist basically in their original states, so we can study wall paintings there.

My personal favorite was the Villa of Poppea, so named for the wife of Nero, whose family home scholars believe this to be. The home had paintings from multiple different artistic styles, and it was also in a rural area, so it had a whole set of gardens associated with it, which one researcher has recreated based off of root morphology. How, you ask? Well, in the same way that archaeologists poured plaster casts of the bodies at Pompeii, the roots also left spaces between the volcanic debris, and based on casts made of those spaces, this woman managed to recreate the possible plants in each location. A little bit of pollen analysis was involved too. Super cool stuff. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at that stop, so you’ll have to make do with pictures of the actual cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum instead. Which is okay, I guess.

Who am I kidding? It rocked. Especially the part where we got to go in this back area that is currently being excavated in Pompeii…as soon as the Turkish minister was done looking at it. Absurdly cool. This area was known as the Insula of the Chaste Lovers, and contained primarily a bakery with a few other shops. The oven and grist mills are preserved, as are the bodies of five mules who would have turned the mill. Pompeii also has several theaters and amphitheaters and a forum that have been excavated.

The other town we visited was known as Herculaneum (they believed Hercules had founded their city on his way back from Spain, having stolen the cattle of the monster Geryon).  It’s not as trafficked by tourists as Pompeii, but personally, if I had to choose between the two, I’d probably pick Herculaneum. The houses tended to be a bit smaller, but they had more marble inlays and one really cool wall mosaic going for them. Less square footage, but higher aesthetic appeal.

In between the regions struck by Vesuvius, we also visited Naples, Baia, and Sperlonga, along with Monte Cassino and a few more towns (it was a busy week). The art history professor took us for a day through Naples, so I got to see a Caravaggio firsthand. He also tried to convince us that Naples was a nice city and didn’t deserve its reputation. Jury’s still out on that one for me. On the one hand, I ate some excellent one euro pizza and saw some beautiful things. On the other hand, I had to wade through a lot of trash to do so, and I’ve heard we only visited one of the nicer regions of the city. It might take another visit there to convince me one way or the other (hear that, mom and dad?).

Baia, or Baiae as the ancients knew it, was the site of the baths of the Romans. It was sort of a scandalous place that any self-respecting politician wouldn’t be caught dead enjoying, and so of course, every self-respecting politician had property there. Later, in the empire, Nero had a fantastic complex there, complete with a theater with a pool attached. Speaking of sweet Imperial digs, Sperlonga was the site of one of Tiberius’ getaways. His grotto for dining originally included ponds for eels and fish, as well as massive sculptural groups depicting scenes from the Trojan Cycle.

Finally, we ended our week with a stop at Monte Cassino on our way home. The home of the Benedictine order since it was first founded, it has been pretty close to continuously occupied. The monks are occasionally disrupted by wars–as in World War II, for example–but ultimately always come back to their main base. The monastery is perched on top of a mountain overlooking the entire surrounding area, giving it a beautiful view. It was a great way to end the trip.

And with that, I think I’ll sign off. I’m going to Budapest this weekend, so maybe I’ll have some exciting stories for you by next Monday! Ciao!