We arrived in Rome early Thursday morning and went straight to our hotel to check in. Hotel Smeraldo is in a fabulous location just minutes from the Pantheon and three blocks from Il Campo de Fiori, a lively square with great restaurants, trendy shops and plenty of places to get gelato. We started our Roman adventure with a cultural walk (our first of many) and a visit to the Pantheon, a temple built for the gods of ancient Rome.
The next day we boarded a bus and began our full day excursion to Pompeii. As we headed south, we made a short stop in Naples to visit the Naples National Archaeological Museum, the most important Italian archaeological museum and one of the oldest museums in Europe. The museum contains many collections of Greek and Roman antiquities including Roman artifacts from Pompeii. For lunch we stopped at a pizzeria in Pompeii where everyone got their own individual margherita pizza. After lunch it was time to explore the ruins of Pompeii. The city was completely destroyed in the year AD 79 when the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius completely buried the city in ash and pumice. The ancient city was lost until its rediscovery in 1749 and is still being excavated today.
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| Our first group dinner in Italy. |
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| The students help Chris with a reading at Pompeii. Talk about experiential learning! |
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| Group picture at Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background. |
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| Samara, Jennifer, Suzi and Katie pose on an ancient crosswalk at Pompeii. |
