So we got up and found ourselves in Napoli! (That is Naples to most of us non Italian types…) We ate a quick breakfast and hurried to the theatre where we were to head off on our shore excursion. Of course, Dawn and Cheri had to get something from their room before joining up with us. They never made it to the meeting room and we were worried that they wouldn’t be able to go on the shore excursion. We didn’t need to worry as they were on the tour bus before we were.
Our trip to Pompeii was uneventful- it was just about a 30 minute bus ride from Naples. Did you know that Mt. Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 79 A.D.? Did you also know that the eruption lasted for 3 days? Our tour guide told us that there were layers of volcanic matter on top of Pompeii and those people who weren’t able to get away. The city was buried under 6 meters of ash and lava and rock. We walked around Pompeii for a few hours (Jake, Claire and Emery were a little bored- but did pretty good…) and it really is amazing what they have uncovered. My favorite was a mosaic in one house that had a picture of a dog and said, “Beware of dog.” (Not in English, of course…) I also thought that the plaster bodies were really cool! (When the Archeologists started to dig out Pompeii- they found air pockets where people had died. They pumped some sort of plaster into the space and were able to recreate what the bodies looked like with the plaster and remaining bones. They have these bodies in glass cases. They are really amazing to look at! You could see the fingers on one guy and see the skull too.)
Then we spent a bit of time browsing the shops. Of course, we got really exciting souvenirs. (Not really.) I did find out that Pompeii had 25 brothels and several frescoes depict what services were available to their clients. There were too many things for sale that revolved around this nastiness. Thankfully, the kids were enjoying looking at other things and didn’t notice. (I did hear Kailey say- as she was looking at a postcard- “Ewwwwwww.” She had just the right amount of disgust in her voice.) The ice cream and gelatos were very nice.
When we got back to Naples, we split up and some of us explored while others went back to the cruise ship. Danny, Cheri, Kailey, Emery, Madison and I were the brave explorers! We enjoyed walking into the city (4 million people live in Naples) and saw some lovely knock off purses, wallets, and sunglasses for sale along the way. A man tried to sell Danny an iphone. Well, after much haggling, Danny thought he got an amazing deal and an iphone for 50 euro. Cheri, the baby and I were elsewhere when he had this adventure. So he told us about it. He said, “You know, I feel guilty about this. I probably shouldn’t have gotten this, I’m sure it was stolen.” He told us that the guy stuck the iphone in his pocket and Danny gave him the money. After he told us that, he then pulled the case out of his pocket to look at it and show it to us. When he pulled out the “iphone,” he found nothing but a nasty, beaten up piece of metal! The guy took Danny’s money and ran! (Cheri saw him moving quickly in the other direction when Danny and the girls were coming toward us.) Danny was totally conned! The amazing thing is that on the way back from seeing Naples, Danny was again approached by another man with yet another iphone deal. This guy tried the same thing- but before Danny gave him any money- he asked to see the bag where the phone was. Can you believe that it wasn’t in that bag? So, needless to say, Danny did NOT buy an iphone. We hope he has learned his lesson. I will never forget Naples. AND the adventure continues…
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