Pompeii and Naples

@Herculanium

@Pizza place in Naples

@Naples National Archaeological Museum

@Naples National Archaeological Museum

Today was a great start to the trip! However, the jetlag is setting in!

We started off the day with a healthy dose of a sugary Italian breakfast and then headed on our way to Herculaneum – the first, and lesser known, city to be hit by the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius.

After that, we headed to the city of Naples and had pizza and pasta at a really great traditional Italian restaurant.

We then proceeded to walk around the city of Naples for around 30 mins before meeting at the Naples National Archaeological Museum where they had amazing sculptures, mosaics and pieces of architecture from early Rome.

After that, we took our bus back to the hotel and had the decision to nap or to go explore before dinner. Dinner was yet again at another traditional Italian restaurant.

Here’s what one of our schoolmates had to say about the experience at Herculaneum:

Travis Evans: Today for our first experience, we went to and explored the ancient city Herculaneum. This city was built by the Greeks when they moved here, and it became a boat town. However, because of natural causes, the sea is now about a mile or so away from the city. Many people may not know that this city, along with Pompeii, was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius. Because of how close Herculaneum is to Mt. Vesuvius, this city (unlike Pompeii) was destroyed by boiling-hot mud that ranged from 500-900 degrees Fahrenheit. A fun fact that we learned is that the mud moved at around 100 mph. Because of how swift the mud was moving, much of the city stayed intact. The wood didn’t even have time to burn up! Next, we went to the Napoli’s museum. Here we got to see original depictions of Hercules and many other sculptures. Overall, it was a great and tiring day.