After we got settled in, which took a while (I booked the hostel separately from the rest of the group, so my bed wasn't ready), we hopped a bus to the ruins at Pompeii. It really is quite something; it is the only complete example we have of an ancient Roman City, owing to the speed and violence of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD which completely buried the city. It was sort of surreal, walking through it.
Here are some pictures:
We spent a good 3-4 hours wandering around Pompeii but only saw between 1/2 and 2/3 of what there was to see, but by that time the sun was going down and we were all pretty tired, so we headed back to the hostel. We took a light-rail train back to the city and walked back to the hostel (which was much easier without 35 pounds of crap strapped to me). Along the way, we found this little pizza place, where I had, I kid you not, the best pizza I've ever eaten (and that's saying something!). I just wish I could remember the name of the place!
Friday, our train for Venice didn't leave until 3:15 in the afternoon, so we took a light-rail train out to this little town called Sorrento, which is on the Mediterranean coast. Now, here I have to make a confession. Before I left for this program, my family made a big deal about my going to Italy; they thought it would be the coolest, most beautiful place ever. Now, for a week, I really couldn't figure out what it was about Italy that appealed to them so much. After only two hours in Sorentto, I knew.
Beautiful doesn't quite seem to cut it.
Anyway, we got into Venice around 9:30 at night. Had to take a bus to the Bed & Breakfast we booked, since it was actually a couple miles away from Venice itself (or at least the island). It was really expensive, I paid about 95 Euros for the two nights we were staying there. Let me tell you, it was worth every penny.
Saturday was the day we decided to explore Venice. A word of advice; if you ever plan to visit Venice, dedicate an entire day to your stay there. Not because there is a whole lot to see and do in the city (there isn't), but because you will spend at least half the time trying to figure out where the heck you are! No lie, we met a woman who has lived in Venice her entire life, she's 40 years old, and she says she still gets lost at least twice a week!
Anyway, here's the pics:
Just to give you an idea of how hard it is to navigate the city, The islands of Venice(the area with all canals) cover an area about the size of a medium-sized town. St. Mark's Square (top picture) is on the other side of town from the train & Bus terminal. We arrived at the bus terminal at about 11:00 in the morning. It took us, I kid you not, until 3:30 in the afternoon to find St. Mark's Square.
Sunday was interesting. We caught a double-decker bus from Venice to the town of Villach, right on the Austrian side of the Italian border. It was about 3 hours, and we were on the upper deck. Never done anything like that before; it was kinda fun. From Villach, it was another three-hour train ride back to Salzburg. We got in around 7:00 or so at night (the train was late. surprised?), and by that time we were all exhausted.
So, that was my ten day trip to Italy. I have to say, I had a really good time. Sadly, this might be my last blog post; this weekend is the last one our Eurail passes are valid for, and I (obviously) didn't go anywhere. There's still a few things going on in Salzburg, though, so maybe I'll take some pictures around town and post them up. Well, whatever I do, I will write one final post when I get back to the US, which is less than two weeks away. Man, where has the semester gone?
So, until next time, peace.
-Raptor
