Pompeii and Sorrento, Italy

Today we saw some really cool things.  We went to Pompeii, and had a tour of the "re-discovered city".  It was buried in 30 feet of ash from the volcano Mt. Vesuvius, that erupted in 79 AD. The city of Pompeii had a population of 20,000-25,000 people.  It was re-discovered in 1748, and in the mid 1800's they discovered that they could put plaster casts of voids in the ash that contained human remains, and trees and other things.  They plaster casts could show the detail of the faces of those killed in the volcano.  They found 4,000 bodies, and nobody knows what happened to the rest of the population.  There is still 1/3 of the city left to excavate, but they are not doing it right now.  It was an amazing thing to see, there are a lot of ruins left, and we learned a lot about Pompeii, and how they lived life.  

We then went to Sorrento, and it was beautiful.  It is a little city with great shopping, and had an amazing view.  If only we had a few more hours, we could have eaten more gelato, and spent more euros!  We also had our second game, and we ended up pulling off the victory 8-1, the referee struggled, but we still did okay.  Off to bed, tomorrow we head to the island of Capri, and then to Rome!  Still so many things to see! The weather is amazing here, and everyone is having a great time!  Til tomorrow!   

Naples, Italy

Today we woke up, and ate some more of those delicious crepes, and then headed back into Paris for one last chance to see stuff.  Jen and her mom, and Stacey and her mom went to the Opera House, and they said it was beautiful.  Some people ran to Moulan Rouge, and others of us stopped to see the Basillica, and good work to all the people who climbed all those stairs to the top!  

I have a funny story, we were walking up this hill to see the Basillica, and we came across some people who were trying to tie these strings on our fingers.  So, I (Bug) and my husband Chris, missed that meeting, where they specifically said, "NEVER PUT YOUR FINGERS OUT!"  So, I am easily tricked, and they were telling me it was a trick, and this and that, and I was excited to see the trick, but slightly hesitant, because the rest of our group (A group of like 50 people)  were screaming, "Bug, no Bug, come on Bug", and I was confused why everyone was panicking.  So, Chris is tied up, but slipped his finger out in time, and they let me by, I was surrounded by a couple of them.  I guess, they tie that string on your finger, and pull it really tight, and make you pay to take it off!  Sort of funny, but could be scary!  The group did a good job of keeping an eye on everyone, to make sure we made it through safe and sound.  

We arrived in a little place called Naples today, not really the prettiest part of Italy, and slightly scary.  We had to get off the bus and walk a few blocks to the hotel, and they told us to all stay together, and not let too much space get between us!  It was a sight to see, 69 Americans, pulling our big rolling bags through the ghetto of Naples!  It was great!  Tomorrow we are off to Pompeii!  I will let you know what adventures we find there!  I am posting a picture of what Naples looks like from our hotel, it is the one with all the trash in the street :)

                                              

Europe . . . Paris, France

So our journey in Europe begins . . . we arrived on Sunday, April 27, 2008. We had a delightful flight that took up an entire day, so when we opened our beady eyes, and finally arrived, it was Sunday!  The trick is, once you get here, even though you have not slept in over 24 hours, you have to do your best to stay awake the entire day.  We were feeling good, got our stuff and hopped onto the bus to Notre Dame.  We had the opportunity to see Mass.  It is not every day that tourists are taking pictures of Mass, it was pretty cool.  Some of us went to the Louve, where we saw the one and only Mona Lisa!  We saw a million paintings, and sculptures from lots of famous people.  If you took 30 seconds to look at each piece of art, it would take you 3 1/2 months to see everything in the Louve, that's how big it is.  We also hit up the palace of Versialle, King Louie the fourteenth had it built. It had a amazing garden that took 36,000 gardners to build it.  Some people partied all night long, and went back to Paris for the night, and others went home and nestled in bed.

Today we had a delicious breakfast, where we had crepes, nutella, and more delicious crepes.  We took off to the Eiffel Tower, and it is a spectacular sight to see.  We had to push and shove some people around to make sure we stuck together as a group!  Some people get so excited they try to push to the front!  We took a boat tour of Paris, down the Sin River.  An interesting fact that Jess Aquino told me, is that 55 dead bodies are found each year in the Sin River!  We did not see any!  We had our first game tonight, and we won 1-0.  Katie Larkin scored on a PK.  It was really, really, really cold today, and we had some rain!  Yesterday it was like 70 degrees!  Kind of reminds me a little bit of UTAH!  Glad we could have a little piece of that with us here in Europe!  We have eaten rotten cheese, some good pasta, and paid 5 euros, which in the Americas is about $7, for a single can of Coca Cola! It is true!  When you need it, you need it!  After the game we ate some healthy food at McDonalds, yes they have them here in Paris!  Now we are off to bed, tomorrow we head to Naples, Italy!  Yeah, time for some Gelato!  Until tomorrow!  

PS: Sorry there is only 1 picture, the internet is in French, and I can't get it to work :)  Italy, more pictures in Italy!