A Little More About Day 7

Salvete omnes,

As El's poem suggested, yesterday (Thursday, 12/18) was yet another busy and amazing day. We hiked up to the top of Mount Vesuvius, visited an interactive museum of ancient Rome, the Mav Museum, and then toured the imperial villa at Oplontis. 

The weather was absolutely perfect for hiking; the sky was bright blue, the sun was shining, and the air was cool and refreshing. A good portion of the group wished we could hike up Mount Vesuvius from the very bottom, but the bus ride up was still fun. There were so many hair-pin turns that it was almost like riding a roller coaster. Our bus driver made the tight turns effortlessly; we're always impressed by his driving skills. Once we reached the top, it was a ten minute trek up to the volcanic crater. A mountain man and his dog, Fritz, led us there. The guide was hilarious and the dog was adorable and affectionate, and the view was breathtaking. We came back down to where the bus was parked and ate lunch in a little cafe/gift shop before driving back down the mountain. Most of us napped on the bus.

We really didn't know what to expect when we got to the Mav Museum. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and was unlike any museum I'd ever seen. The rooms were dark, with screens that you could interact with on the walls and the floors, depicting ancient Roman architecture and statues. There were even hologram-like images of ancient Roman artifacts that seemed to be floating in mid air! We watched a 3-D movie about the Vesuvius, in English. Exhausted from the hike, we were disappointed to see that there weren't any seats. But since we seemed to be the only people in the entire museum, we decided it'd be okay to sit on the floor. Little did we know that it was really a 4-D movie, and the floor would shake when Vesuvius rumbled! 

The imperial villa was incredible. There were elaborate paintings on the walls, and beautiful courtyards surrounded by ancient stone columns. Walking around, we imagined what the villa would have looked like in ancient Roman times. This was made a lot easier by our wonderful tour guide, Anna, and by the fact that the site was so well-preserved.

By the time we got back to our hotel Sorrento, we were exhausted (but not too exhausted for a little shopping, of course). We had dinner at the hotel, and it was, as usual, delicious.

Ciao for now!