Two weeks ago was our Bing Trip, when all of us here in the Stanford in Florence program get a weekend of travel paid for by the Bings, who are very, VERY rich alums. This quarter the trip was to Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast. Pretty much amazing.
After a long (very long) train ride to Naples, the first thing we did was get on a bus to go to Pompeii--and promptly sit for 25 minutes in a traffic jam IN THE PARKING LOT. I'm not even kidding. Pompeii was 100% worth the effort, though; it was far and away my favorite part of the trip. It was just so... impressive, both how well preserved everything was and how advanced the urban design and the technology were, considering it was a fairly small and unimportant town built over two millenia ago... Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the ruins:
One thing that really freaked me out about Pompeii was that there were stray dogs everywhere. For the most part they lay completely motionless, but every once in a while they would suddenly start following us or chasing each other. Here's a picture of several of them fighting in front of the remains of the forum and Mt. Vesuivius.
The next day was our tour of the Amalfi coast; we drove along tiny, TINY little cliff roads along the coast and stopped at a few of the towns. The only thing to say about this is that it was ridiculously beautiful. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea:
On our third and final day, we went to Naples. And by "went to Naples" I mean "went to a monastery and then a pizzeria outside the city and again saw Naples through the bus windows." The Stanford Center staff didn't want to give any of us the opportunity to be robbed or hit by a car in Naples (two things they warned us about extensively and assured us would happen to anyone who was in Naples for a significant amount of time). I can't say I'm too disappointed, though; when I got back to Florence, I saw a story about cops and bodybags in Naples. It turns out we left just before the Mafia turf war started there... Not too sorry to miss it, to be honest.
Now I actually have to study, seeing as I have a midterm in two hours, but be on the lookout for my next post: The Ross-Sullivan family (sadly minus Jocelyn) does Venice!
Bacioni, a presto!
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