Pompeii

I have to say that going to Pompeii is definitely one of, if not THE, coolest thing I have ever done. It was amazing!!!

(View of the city from the entrance)

First of all, the place is HUGE! It is hard to believe that the whole thing was covered in volcanic ash from the erruption of Mt. Vesuvis (which is not as close to Pompeii as you might think). Here is this city that is 2053 years old, but more or less perfectly intact in some parts.

Walking down ancient Roman roads, going into what used to be peoples' houses and seeing the fresco paintings still on the walls, the mosaic tiles still intact on the floors. It was really neat.

(The streets of Pompeii. Can you guess what the large stones were for?)

(A temple)

(Fresco paintings in a cafe)

We wandered over to the theatre, which is like a mini colosseum, and went inside. It was incredible! Since it is still 100% intact, you can appreciate the acoustic properties of the place. It was amazing how your voice carried across the theatre. You could hear people talking normally from one side to the other. We relaxed on the grass for about an hour, just enjoying the sun and the surroundings. How often do you get to sit inside of a building that is over 2000 years old and still standing???

(I will have to put pictures up later. It seems Blogger is refusing to place them on the post after they have been uploaded. Grrr)

We also got to see some of the citizens of Pompeii, or rather plaster casts made from the impressions their bodies left in the ash that covered them. Now that was pretty freaky. There was a little toddler face down with his hands over his face, people reaching out to others, faces in agony, mouths open in silent screams, a man crouching down with his hands over his face to shield himself from the noxious air.

Overall, it was definitely worth the train ride down to Naples.

Suck On This

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Sorrento: Home of the MUNTANT LEMONS!!!

I've never seen such large lemons before. I was rather fascinated by them actually.

Must be the result of overly fertile soil due to volcanic ash......or radiation.

Leery!

Made it to Naples safe and sound. One of my Italian friends decided to come with me, so that was good. I am now in Sorrento at a hostel and about to go get ready to visit Pompeii!!!

Naples was not as bad as I thought it would be considering all the things you hear about the place. That said, the environment was a little "leery," and the whole stereotypical Naples accent thing...100% true!!!

I couldn't undertand most of anything that people were saying, and the odd word that I did catch had the vowels cut off at the end. Pretty funny really. I guess stereotypes do exist for a reason!

More to come. A presto!

Decision Made

Ok, I have a plan for the weekend:

I am going to catch a late train tonight and arrive in Naples tomorrow morning around 6:50 am. From there I will continue to Pompeii to see the volcano victims and ruins. Then to Sorrento for the night. Sunday maybe Mt. Vesuvius and a trip to the island of Capri. Monday morning, chill on the beach in Sorrento before heading back to Naples and then Padova.

Yay! Gotta go get ready!

Where To Go

That seems to be the theme with me lately! It will all become clear soon, but for now I am having trouble deciding where to go for the upcoming long weekend. That's the thing about being in Europe: you feel practically OBLIGATED to travel at every possible moment! I could just stay home for the long weekend and do day trips around here and there, but as I can do a day trip on a normal weekend, and might not be in Europe for much longer (details to follow at a later date), I feel compelled to go to another country.

The problem is that all the flights anywhere are super expensive since it is last minute so I am trying to see where I can go by train. And I just don't know!!!!!

*augh*

The problems I have to deal with! *wink*

Technical Difficulties

Oops! Apparently I hit "Publish Post" instead of "Save as Draft" on my last entry, which was obviously not finished yet. Hee

So once again I give you the (even longer awaited) Poland Trip Update!

*applause* *cheering* *mass hysteria* *riot police break out tear gas*

Here are a few pictures of what Stacy and I did during our holiday:
















Yes, you counted correctly. There are three plates and a side dish on our table. That was our farewell feast to Poland, which consisted of cabbage rolls, beets (yum!), meat and potato pierogies, bigos (a new discovery for me: sauerkraut and kielbasa "stew"), and mashed potatoes with dill.

Man, we ate like we have never eaten before! It was like being at my Baba's house for a week! Our grandmothers would have been proud! I mean, Polish food is great to begin with, but after being subjected to Italian food (read: pasta) for seven months, being in Poland was like being in Food Heaven! *drool drool* I love Food Heaven!

When we weren't eating, we went off and toured some sights, hung out with really cool people that we met at the hostel, learned Polish, and ate (read: drank).

Friday (April 14):
Trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau. We booked a trip with the hostel that included transportation to both sights, and an English speaking tour guide. There really are no words to describe Auschwitz. Those of you who have been there I am sure understand. And if you haven't been, then you will understand once you go. It is a really sobering, indescribable experience.

Saturday (April 15):
Trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. We booked the salt mines trip with the same company that offered the tour at Auschwitz. We had had a bit of a late night Friday, so getting up early for our salt mine tour wasn't the first thing on our list Saturday morning. But it was made all worth while once we got there because we had a tour guide with the most ridiculous sounding voice you can possibly imagine. As soon as he opened his mouth, Stacy and I looked at each other and stifled the laughter that threatened to burst out of us. It was great. 3.5 hours of "the voice." We spent rest of our holiday imitating the voice whenever possible.

Sunday (April 16):
Day around Krakow. Today Stacy and I woke up late and went to St. Mary's Church in the Main Market Square to see some of Easter Mass. Then we stopped to get something to eat (but of course) before continuing on to the Wawel Castle. On our way to the castle, we bumped into Michael, one of the guys who was staying at our hostel whom had been out with a bunch of us Friday night. After the castle, we headed down to the Jewish Ghetto to check it out and ended up bumping into a fellow Canadian traveller named Jason. All 4 of us toured around the Ghetto for a bit and then headed back to our respective hostels for a bit of a rest. We arranged to meet up around 8 in the main square to watch the Easter performance of the 12 Stations of the Cross. After that we had dinner (of course!) and then hit a few bars in the city.

Monday (April 17):
Lany Poniedziałek!!! Um....not much happened today. We had great plans to go to Warsaw for the day but instead got woken up at 10 am by Michael (who is from Poland but moved to Australia when he was 10) pouring water on us as we slept in our beds! Still feeling the effects from the previous night's Scattergories: Polish Bar Version, we got up and went out for lunch (of course!). Then it was back for a nap before going out to meet Jason and a few other people for one last hurrah. We ate some dinner (of course!) and then went to another bar/nightclub place. We ended up spending most of the night watching couples and playing Polish Mis-Match, which since Polish women are incredibly good looking, usually ended up in being a mis-match for the girl not the guy.

Tuesday (April 18):
Last day in Poland. We got up early to make sure to finish our souvenier shopping before having to leave for the airport. Then we had our farewell feast, and got ready to leave.

All in all it was a great trip! Krakow is a beautiful city, and the food is fantastic!!!

About Time!

Yes my faithful readers, it is finally here! The long overdue Poland Trip Update!

*applause* *cheering* *mass hysteria* *riot police break out tear gas*

I *Heart* Poland

Here's why:

1) Cabbage rolls
2) Perogies
3) Blintzes
4) Poppy Seed Cake
5) Keilbasa

*yum yum* Bug is STUFFED! And happy.

6) People who go out of their way to NOT walk into you
7) People who say "excuse me" (in Polish) so they DON'T bump into you

These things don't happen in Italy. Stacy and I tested it out today by walking directly into people's paths to see what Polish people do. We were pleased to see that they move out of the way.

Tomorrow: Auschwitz-Birkenau

Bug On The Move

Off to Krakow, Poland tomorrow VEERRRYY early in the morning. Getting up at around 4:30 am to be exact. Catching the 5:50 am train to Bologna, and then a 9:30 am flight to Krakow. My friend Stacy, one of the third grade teachers, decided to come with me on my trip so we should have a great time. She is part Polish and has some distant relatives just outside Krakow. We are hoping to visit them over the weekend. Of course neither of us speaks a work of Polish, so it should be interesting since none of them speaks English! The only Polish Stacy knows is some religious church song she learned as a child. And I can say "good," so between her singing and my applause and praise, we should get along just fine!

The plan is to spend Thursday in Krakow, visit the salt mines on Friday, Auschwitz on Saturday, either the relatives or Krakow on Sunday, and the mountains or Waraw on Monday. Then Tuesday we will just have lunch and shop in Krakow before our 5:30 pm flight back to Bologna.

It should be a blast! I will update as soon as I can. Happy Easter everyone!

It's That Time Again

While getting all your dental work done within a year and a half means that you're home free for the next 6-7 years, it also means that all your fillings start to wear down at around the same time, thusly all needing to be replaced within months of each other.

Yes. I seemed that it was once again time to visit the dentist. One of my molars had been hurting on and off, which I attributed to a cavity under my filling. I knew I had to get it checked out, but the question was where? I spoke to a few teachers at school, but most of them are from England and just get their dental work done when they fly home for a weekend.

In my class about a week and a half ago I was talking with my students about the future and what they wanted to do when they grew up. One of mine said he wanted to be a dentist like his mom. Bingo! So, on Monday when I had my parents' meetings, I asked her if I could make an appointment to see her. Ironically enough, she is the wife of the bone doctor who tried to hit on me when I asked him to take a look at my broken thumb (I never did let him give me a check up, by the way). How's that for coincidence.

Anyways, today I went to meet her in a small town called Legnaro. She came to pick me up at the bus stop with her son, my student, and his older brother who is in 5th grade. Everything went well. A little painful, but not too bad. She was not officially working today, so it was just her, the kids, and me in the office, and she left the door to the room open so she could keep an eye on the kids while she worked on my tooth. At one point I opened my eyes while she was drilling, and all I saw was my student's face peering over her shoulder, through a magnifying glass no less, into my mouth. It was pretty funny. There's nothing like a kid present to help stand up to your fears and act brave. Especially when you teach that kid, and have to face them respectably on Monday morning.

After she filled my tooth, she took me out with them for an apperativo at a nearby cafe before driving me back home, which I thought was pretty nice of her.

So now I have a new tooth that, when it stops being sensitive from the drilling, I am sure will be good as new. And the best part about it all??? She didn't even charge me for it. How incredibly awesome of her!!!