Sicily

After our class trip was over a group of four of us traveled down to Sicily for the weekend. We left Naples Friday night on a large ferry that took us down to Catania, Sicily. The ferry took 12 hrs but luckily we had a four person room to sleep in. In the morning we arrived in Catania where we explored for only a couple hours before getting on a train to our final destination, Siracuse. 

Mt. Etna. Europe's most active large volcano. (once we got on the island you could see smoke rising from the peak) 

This is a video taken from the ferry panning across the entire view from the deck. There were two decks of semi trucks at the bottom of the ship which you get a glimpse of in the middle of the video... 3 of those trucks were Ferrari shipments... we came up with some plans to boost the cars while we were waiting for the ship to dock haha.

The train ride took us south down the coast for about an hour. It was the most beautiful train ride I had ever been on (I haven't been on many but I can imagine this one would rank up there quite a ways). After being in the city for a month seeing open countryside was quite amazing. Although, this countryside was much different... instead of corn and soybeans it was rolling hills of citrus trees as far as the eye could see (with the exception of the east side which was citrus trees and then the beach).

Shot from the train window

Poseidon fountain at the train station 

We only spent about 36 hours in Siracuse but we managed to see quite a lot. As usual I will let the pictures show...

Rocky Beach

Crazy tree with branches that grow down into roots

Trees trimmed into one long block (yes thats my finger in the upper left haha)

This is pretty comical depending on your age

Mom - I found AFLAC! (I asked him to make the sound for me but he wouldn't do it)

This is a clip of a very strange sport we witnessed being played... we don't know what its called but it looks like a cross between kayaking and water polo.

Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime

Huge ceiling from the inside

Video of the ceiling

One of the very dark but cool paintings in one of the sanctuaries
(if you look close you can see the angel embracing the figure)

Ruins in Siracusa

Greek ampitheatre outside of town
(yes I said Greek even though this was in Italy)
Many of the best kept Greek ruins are actually in Italy because most of what the Greeks built in present day Greece are badly vandalized or even destroyed.

Rock from the ruins that fell while we were visiting... I held it for them until they could brace it.

Greek Colosseum

Ear of Dionysus (cave - you could whistle or yell and it would echo for nearly 10 seconds)

New corvette we spotted in the streets... expecting to see a Ferrari? just wait...

We just happened to stumble upon a Ferrari club meeting in a parking lot

No luggage in the trunk here...

Capri

Capri is an island off the coast of Italy, about 15 miles from Naples. We took a ferry from Naples early one morning and spent most of the day on the island. The island has been inhabited since ancient times but there are not a lot of ruins left behind. We were there during the tourist off season and at times it almost felt as if the island had been deserted, but it was beautiful none the less. 

Leaving Naples. (this is the only time naples looked clean... from far far away.)

Vesuvius from the ferry

East Side of the Island

West Side of Capri

Capri from the harbor

Small Beach

View from above

Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius looming in the distance

Pompeii, as you probably know, is the ancient city that was buried in lava and ash by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2000 years ago. Scientists say that these are some of the best ruins in the world because they were so well preserved by the lava and ash. These ruins were discovered in the year 1599 and are still being uncovered today. Certain areas of the ruins were covered by up to 20 feet of this lava and ash. When archeologists began uncovering the city they noticed stange voids in the volcanic rock they were clearing out. After many of these experiences they finally discovered these voids were made by bodies from 79ad when Vesuvius erupted. Poeple and animals were intombed in the rock. The actual bodies had long since decayed or been melted by the temperatures of the lava. These voids were filled with plaster to to make casts of the bodies. This is by far the most eerie expierience of the ruins. On many of the casts you can see the emotions in the face of the people as they run, or hide, still held in perfect position.

Anyways on the lighter side... The sheer size of these ruins is mind boggling. We were there the entire day and I feel like I only scratched the surface. There are roads and city blocks of ruins for nearly 200 acres. You can stand at the intersections of the streets and you cant see the end of the ruins in any direction. In the city there was also a colosseum, two theatres and a large forum.

There has been heightened activity under Vesuvius recently and sceintists there say that a large eruption is likely within the next 20 years...but this doesn't seems to bother the 3 million people living around the base (most densely populated volcanic region in the world)... Glad I got out of there in time! haha.

Last, is something that is quite eerie and ironic. When closely examining one of the walls in the city we noticed that some of the bricks were made from pumice, which was likely volcanic rock from an eruption previous to the 79ad eruption... The people of Pompeii were killed by the very thing that provided them with the means to live.

Typical Pompeii street and buildings

Ancient brick oven. (the inside was about the size of a walk-in closet)

Small temple

Various food and liquid storage pots and one of the entombed bodies

Another body

I think these pretty much speak for themselves

Ampitheatre that is still used for events today

View from top of the seating into one of the forums

Massive colosseum which is now overgrown by grass

View from the top 

Ancient dog mosaic which literally says "beware of dog"... kind of funny

Vesuvius from the air on our flight home from Sicily