Day Five: Pompeii

Today we travelled to Pompeii. My expectations were high. It was one of the reasons that I chose this trip! However, we were warned the night before that it was more of an archeological site and less of a fun tourist attraction. 

The students rated it a 6 out of 10, and I think I agree. We did have beautiful cloudy weather, which was a relief from the extreme heat we've been experiencing since we've gotten here. 

Our local tour guide: Robert (The Godfather) 

Most of Pompeii was broken down into these little open rooms. Some were pharmacies, bakeries, brothels, and homes. We only saw a very small part of Pompeii on our tour. They said they have students come spend time living in this area where they help continue to uncover different parts of Pompeii. 

Our group from Wakefield! This was in the city center of Pompeii. Several temples were here, and now, modern art is decorating several sections of the city. 

They no longer keep items they've found out in the ruins. Our guide said that too many items have been stolen over the years. These items are locked up in a "museum." It is really just an large open air cage. The top photo is a 6 year old boy that was killed from suffocation of the ashes. The bottom left is a man who died in this position while trying to cover his mouth, and the bottom right is a dog that died trying to fight the ash. 

In the back of this picture, you can see Mt. Vesuvius. They told us the last time it erupted was in the 1940's. People in the surrounding city were told that they were not allowed to build houses because in the event that the volcanoe erupted again, they would not all be able to get out on the one road that leads out of the city; however, there is a city full of houses and buildings. Our guide told us they check the temperature of the volcanoe each day, and they should know weeks ahead of time if the volcanoe would erupt again. 

After the tour, we spent some time in the gift shops. We are now on our bus headed to our overnight ferry. It will be an 18-20 hour ferry ride, and we will arrive in Delphi in the morning.