ABC = Ashleigh & Brett Campbell: Day 11 August 16, 2011- Naples, Italy

Naples began the next three big days of Italy. This meant our excursions were longer because we had more hours at the port. The excursion we chose for Naples was to climb Mt. Vesuvius and see Pompeii. This was one those excursions I had always dreamed to accomplish. Let's just say, bucket list! Before we went to Vesuvius National Park, our tour began at the real Cameo Factory. This was great because I was able to buy a beautiful Cameo with the goddess Venus on it. For those of you that don't know what a cameo is, it's made out the inner layers of seashell. Either the middle layer or the deepest layer. You can get them for any kind of jewelry. For example, I bought one for a necklace. After the cameo factory, the bus drove up a windy road to get to the base of Mount Vesuvius. There we had a twenty minute climb to the top with about a 45 degree angle. It was short, but very intense. At the top of Vesuvius, you could see into the crater. We actually saw some steam coming out, which I didn't realize that the volcano was still active. We looked around and then made our way back down.

After Vesuvius, we headed into the Pompeii. The tour was nice and let us have a little lunch break. Brett and I ordered pizza because Naples is the creator of the pizza. I didn't know this, but apparently pizza was to represent they were a humble people. The pizza had the thin crust, fresh tomatoes, and fresh cheese, but let me tell you, it was to die for! So good and so much healthier than our pizza in the States. I wish I could have more of that pizza...

The ruins of Pompeii was such a neat place. Pompeii was destroyed three time by Mount Vesuvius, but the most famous time was in 74 A.D. when the ash killed everyone in the village. Exploring Pompeii, I liked seeing where everything and how their way of life was. My favorite part were the bodies covered in ash. We saw about five of them, but the coolest one was the pregnant woman and also of the dog. Pretty cool!