Day 13: Capri

I did not have sufficient WiFi to post before going to bed last night, but we had a wonderful time in Capri!  The parents said the extension was “the cherry on top” of a great trip!  Capri is gorgeous, and we were able to enjoy it from many angles....including a boat ride around as soon as we arrived on the ferry.

These rocks are just off the coast of Capri and have been used in multiple movies!

We had a delicious lunch at a local pizzeria.  Everyone has had the opportunity to try Italian favorites...lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, spaghetti bolignaise, etc.  We’ve had more gelato than our bodies can really handle, and we’re coming home with all kinds of candies and goodies.  


This trip has been amazing! Thank you, again, to everyone who made it possible!  Please remember to pick up your family member today at 5:30.  We will be coming in on American Airlines Flight #2277.  We will go through customs in Dallas.  So, we should be fairly quick getting to baggage claim in Houston.  See you soon!!

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!

Paris: Luxembourg Gardens and Notre Dame

We are finally settling down for a good night's sleep after some of us have been up for almost 36 hours straight!  It has been quite an adventurous "day" with multiple people experiencing motion sickness due to 2 plane rides, an hour and a half bus ride, 3 rides on the metro (which included an unfortunate pickpocket of one of our adults), and a tram ride to finally bring us back to our hotel which has no air conditioning!

While we are looking forward to saying "bonne nuit" (good night) to this day, we also had some very good experiences.  We had lunch at a patteserie (bakery) in Paris followed by one hour of free time at le jardin de Luxembourg.  The palace and gardens were built in the 17th century at the request of Maria de Medici, Queen of France, who did not want to live in the Louvre Palace.

The gardens are beautiful and are now a community hangout for people exercising, reading, people-watching, relaxing, and more.

We later went to Notre Dame Cathedral, taking in all of the intricate art work and construction done in an age without electricity!

We enjoyed a traditional eastern French/German dish that is similar to thin crust pizza.

We have now checked in to the hotel and made sure most everyone has showered and are hoping for at least 8 hours of sleep!

Please don't worry! The first day is the hardest and we made it through without any complaints or attitudes!

Until tomorrow....
Mrs. Hughes

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