NAPLES, POMPEII & OSTIA ANTICA

Visiting Naples and Pompeii was a surprisingly fun, memorable, and insightful part of my study abroad experience. A few friends and I took a bus from Rome down to Naples for a short weekend trip, which we planned because our Ancient Roman Civilization class had a mandatory lecture at Mount Vesuvius, located in Pompeii. Pompeii is just a short and very inexpensive train ride from Napoli, so we did what our professor suggested and made a weekend trip of it. Not a bad way to spend the weekend while also meeting class requirements!

Just like Rome, there are cobblestone streets for days! Wear your comfiest shoes. 

The things that I remember the most fondly about Napoli are: 

- the super narrow streets! So narrow that maybe one small car, at best, could get through. 

- The whole city just seemed super old, but it had a ton of charm. It felt noticeably different compared to Rome. 

- I felt a lot of respect for the traditions and way of life. 

- the vendors selling their food on the super narrow streets (this wasn't very common in Rome, at least to my memory)

- seeing allllllll the laundry drying outside - no dryers in a lot of places in Europe! Something I learned the hard way. But it also made me appreciate having dryers in the US a lot more. Drying socks takes a long time. Don't even get me started on jeans. Rome also had lots of clotheslines on people's patios, but in Naples, it just felt a lot more visible instead of hidden away. 

- I had the best pizza of my life at the birthplace of pizza - just a regular pizza with ricotta cheese on it that I seemingly can't find anywhere in the States. 

- Our Airbnb host was kind and the layout of the Airbnb felt modern and Scandinavian. I enjoy experiencing what life is like, from the simplest and most basic parts of daily living on up. So that means the furniture, what do the outlets look like, the decor, utensils, etc. It's fascinating to me, and I feel like you can learn so much about another culture just by observing the details of everyday life at its most basic element. 

We spent a while by the Gulf of Naples, which opens to the Mediterranean Sea, catching the very strong breeze and touring a castle. Apparently there are quite a few to choose between! 

The downside to the story is that the day that we had our on site lecture at the ruins of Pompeii, we couldn't see Mount Vesuvius at all due to the weather. So we just had to imagine that it was there. Beyond the clouds somewhere. 

Andiamo a Ostia Antica!

I also want to share a few photos of Ostia Antica, an ancient city about 30 minutes away from Rome, located right on the coast of the Tiber. Today, it's a well preserved historical site. Our professor did a lecture here, so naturally, we had to find a way out of Rome and venture into the unknown to learn more about history. ;) It's always these moments of getting outside of my comfort zone that propel me to grow, even if I need to be pulled out of my comfort first. 

It was kind of crazy to me to see the waves and the beach, while knowing that I was in Italy. It looks just like a beach in Southern California. We're far more alike and connected than we think, and we share the same things. The same beauty, the same sunsets, and the same God who made it all. 

Kinda cool also to see the directions listed!! 

Have you ever visited Naples, Pompeii, or Ostia Antica? What would you want to see or do the most?