Day 12: Pompeii & Sorrento

We drove about 3.5 hours to Pompeii.  Once we arrived, we took a 2 hour walking tour of the ruins of old Pompeii.  It is actually only ruins and still takes up all the room it once did.  It is unreal to see what was left behind and what they are still discovering.  

Our local guide did a wonderful job painting a picture of life in Pompeii before the eruption.  It was a city on a hill with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea.  The people seemed fairly advanced - some even had running water in their homes - in 79AD!!

When Mount Vesuvio erupted in 79 A.D., the people were unprepared.  Most of them died by inhaling the combination of gases and smoke.  When the two combined with stomach liquids, it formed a rock which killed them instantly.  As the ashes blew over the city, it covered the people just as they died!  Because of this, there are now "body casts," which were made as the city was dug up, of all sorts of poses....a man sitting, a dog, children, a baby sleeping, etc.  We were able to see a few of these. The casts were actually made by pouring plaster into the "cavity" made once the skin and organs disintegrated leaving only the bones.

Titus and the emperors did not rebuild the city because they thought it was destroyed by the gods because of the sins of the people. That is why it is still in ruins today! Only 2/3 of the city has been excavated.  There are no plans to uncover the other third because of the expense of keeping up what has already been uncovered!

After a little shopping, we had lunch in a nice restaurant recommended by Simone.  We have enjoyed pizza, lasagna and spaghetti in Italy!!

After lunch, we drove in to Sorrento.  There is water all around -beautiful blues and aquas! We took some pictures by the sea, shopped for a few minutes and then got back on the bus to drive to our hotel. 

The hotel is beautiful with a view of both the Amalfi Coast and the Sorrento Coast - depending on which side of the building you are on!!  We just finished dinner looking over the water and are now hanging out in the hotel until bedtime!

Tomorrow, we take a ferry to the Isle of Capri!  We're still exploring, but home is looking nicer, and we are longing for our own beds and families!

Day 4....Barcelona

Our day started early with a 6:15 breakfast and then an 8:30 train ride to Barcelona.

The train ride was a very pleasant three-hour trip.  Many of us got a nice nap!  Once we arrived, our bus driver loaded up our suitcases and drove us to the coast for lunch.  That would be the Mediterranean Coast!!   

We had a big lunch of seafood paella, salad and fried fish (heads and all).  We were very proud of the kids for trying the cooked mussels and “fried fish” which really looked like fried sardines! The students are doing a great job of participating and trying new things!! We are so pleased with the group we have this year!!

After a nice patio lunch with a sea breeze blowing through, we were ready for a little walking.  We took the metro to Plaza de Cataluyna where we split up for a little bit of free time.  Normally we like to go shopping after we have experienced the city, but tomorrow is Sunday, and many of the shops will not be open.  So, we took some time to sightsee and to shop.

Some of us discovered a beautiful bridge over one of the walkways.  After taking a picture, we learned that it is an iconic place in Barcelona for romance and good luck- The Bridge of Sighs.

Most of our group also had fun filling up their container of "Happy Pills" with candy and then eating them!  It was a really cute candy store that our tour director took us to!

After free time, we met back at the square and jumped on our bus which took us to our hotel...an hour away!  We took a little nap, and then we checked in to our very nice and unique hotel.  

We had a great dinner at the hotel and then...




..we went across the street (well, under the street through a tunnel) to the beach!  The kids had fun playing around and taking the pictures, but they didn’t stay in the water long because it was freezing!!!

Now, everyone is in their room for the night and will hopefully get a good night’s rest!  We are looking forward to exploring Barcelona tomorrow!!

Pompeii and Sorrento

We started today earlier than most days.  About half of our group left for the airport and should be arriving at 7:30 this evening!

The other half of us went on to Pompeii.  We drove about 3.5 hours to Pompeii.  Once we arrived, we took a 2 hour walking tour of the ruins of old Pompeii.  It is actually only ruins and still takes up all the room it once did.  It is unreal to see what was left behind and what they are still discovering.  We even saw some people working to find hidden items! Our fabulous guide, Marco, was a great storyteller with constant dramatic pauses!

Marco told us all about life in Pompeii then. To sum it up, it was a city on a hill with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea, but people were very corrupt.  He actually called it another Sodom and Gomorrah (from the Old Testament)-sin city.

When Mount Vesuvio erupted in 79 A.D., the people were unprepared.  Most of them died by inhaling the combination of gases and smoke.  When the two combined with stomach liquids, it formed a rock which killed them instantly.  As the lava flowed over the city, it covered the people just as they died!  Because of this, there are now "body casts," which were made as the city was dug up, of all sorts of poses....a man sitting, a dog, children, a baby sleeping, etc.  We were able to see a few of these. 

Titus and the emperors did not rebuild the city because they thought it was destroyed by the gods because of the sins of the people. That is why it is still in ruins today!

After a little shopping, we had lunch in a nice restaurant recommended by our driver.  We had not had spaghetti yet and did not feel we could leave Italy without having some!

After lunch, we drove in to Sorrento, which I believe is a peninsula.  There is water all around -beautiful blues and aquas!  We took some pictures by the sea, shopped for a few minutes and then went to our hotel. 

 The hotel is in a great location in the center of Sorrento and with a view of the sea (for some of us)!  We just finished dinner looking over the water and are now hanging out in the hotel until bedtime!

Tomorrow, we take a ferry to the Isle of Capri!  We're still exploring, but home is looking nicer, and we are longing for our own beds!

Oops...I forgot!  We also went to an inlaid wood factory and learned how they make this very fine furniture.  We looked around in the store for a while, but most everything was more than we wanted to spend today.  We also learned how cameo jewelry is made from conk shells AND we crashed a wedding in a 700 year old monastery!  We seriously walked in as the bride and groom were exchanging rings!  It was beautiful!

Nice & Eze, France and Monaco

We started our day by boarding our Mercedes Benz bus for Eze, France.  The drive in was beautiful as we drove up and around a mountain to the perfume factory-Fragonard.  We took a nice walk through the factory and learned much about perfumes, in general.  Then, we shopped!!  i spent most of my money today!    After shopping, we took a walk up the mountain to see a beautiful view of the Meditteranean Sea.  It was truly breathtaking!  They call this area "Côte d'Azur", which means Blue Coast.

Then, we hopped back on our bus and headed about 20 miles away to the smallest country in the world, the Principality of Monaco.  The television does not do it justice.  It was like being in a dream as we drove through Monte Carlo, which is in Monaco.  The buildings are colorful with quaint terraces and window gardens.  Every car was a Bentley, Porshe, Ferrari, etc.  of course, we fit right in with our Mercedes bus!

As we were driving, our tour guide, Jamil, taught us a little about the Gremaldi family which has ruled in Monaco for over 800 years.  He taught the students about the American movie star, Grace Kelly, who married the Prince of Monaco and became everyone's favorite princess.  We visited the Cathedral in which she married the Prince and where she is now buried.  We also saw the starting point of the Grand Prix which takes place in Monaco-Formula One.We did not have a lot of time in Monaco, but we do have several kids dreaming of how they can one day live there!

After lunch in Monaco, we loaded up again and headed into Nice.  While we were parking I became very confused as to why our tour director was speaking Italian to the lot attendant.  I even started questioning if I missed something major - like "Nice us in France, right?"  I spoke to Jamil who said that Nice (pronounced "niece") was once part of Italy.  Therefore the people speak Italian, and the city looks very Italian.  However, Nice was annexed by France in 1860 after Nice voted to become French.  So, it is a French city with an Italian culture.

Our amazing tour director was able to arrange a visit to the local chocolate factory, Confiserie Florian.  We were given samples of several different types of candy and chocolate and were able to see how it was made!  Then, of course, we shopped!  I love chocolate!!

After the chocolate break, we took a little walking tour of Nice and were released for 2 hours to shop or look around.  I was a little nervous about visiting the beach - the French Riviera - but I think there was some divine intervention, as the rain came pouring down just as the majority of us arrived!   We then had a ten minute walk to dinner.  It was pouring the entire walk, and by the time we arrived, we were drenched - well at least our shoes were.  We all had either a poncho or umbrella.

Dinner was a delicious tender beef with roast and a chocolate dessert.

We arrived back at the hotel by 8:30 and had the students in their rooms by 9:30.  We are looking forward to another fun-filled day tomorrow as we leave our second hotel for Pisa, Italy's!

Thank you all so much for making this trip possible for all of us.  It has been an amazing trip thus far - even with the unplanned events!

Have a wonderful evening.  It's time for me to go to sleep!