Greetings! An update from two ports that were filled with adventures, stories, tours, pictures and laughs. I still feel I am in the midst of a dream that I will awaken from in a few months and wonder if all these incredible adventures really happened. I strive daily to take in the reality of this adventure and live in each moment of the day.
Semester at Sea added a port at the last moment in Italy called Civitaveccia, which is a 45-minute train ride from Rome. We spent 3 days and two nights at this port and then had the option to travel on the boat to Naples, or independently. Rome we incredible, as expected. I have been fortunate enough to make this my third visit back to Rome, and each time, possibly with a deeper understanding of its history through my education I have come to appreciate the city more and more. We stayed in Hotel Tritone- right by the Treve Fountain.
The first day (July 1st) we arrived in Rome around noon, we gathered our group of 9 and met up at the hotel to travel over to the Coliseum. We were recommended this fantastic meal (Drink, Appetizer and Pizza for 8 Euros), and sat and enjoyed it in the cool air-conditioned restaurant. We paid for a tour in the Coliseum and had an older Italian man who was interesting but realized his crowd was 25 college students and as he lost some of the groups attention he proceeded to say “You Americans eat too many cheeseburgers, your attention is very bad. Italians eat vegetables and can pay attention for longer”. Though it was a true statement, it was surprisingly rude coming from a tour guide who was getting paid either way. We stayed in the Coliseum and watched dark storm clouds roll in as thunder begins to rumble the floor and lightening flashes in the sky. It was beautiful and uniting in that every tourist in the Coliseum gathered around the railing in the middle and watched in awe of this magnificent storm. Everyone was silent as the lightning and thunder dominated the sky and there were screams and vocal admiration of the wonder of this storm. The rain came a bit later but when it came it came hard.
We brought to life “when in Rome” and ran around in the rain in the Coliseum, taking pictures, videos and laughing contagiously as the child in all of us came to life splashing around in the puddles. All fun and games, until the rain stops and we realize we are soaking wet and freezing cold. We run back to the hotel, get locked out of the room and rush in to take showers and warm ourselves up. Don’t worry I have plenty of videos and pictures to entertain all these images. The first night, we went out after a wonderful nap and found a small restaurant in one of the quaint alleyways decorated with soft lights and wet streets in Rome. 
We sat down for our family dinner, the waiter being our grandfather. He was a typical Italian Grandpa, loving and warm and who made us laugh throughout the entire dinner (yes, I have pictures with him as well). We enjoyed wonderful wine, pasta and company. This was the best meal in Rome because of the amazing group of people I shared this meal with. We proceeded to go out after dinner, it’s amazing to look around a completely unfamiliar place and see familiar faces of fellow Semester at Sea students. It’s a community in its greatest definition. We had a fabulous time that night which ended with delicious gelato! 
The next day we went to the Vatican. We had tickets to the Museum at 12:00 and split up and spent as much time as each individual needed to stare in wonder and amazement the masterpieces of many artists who lived so many years ago. This visit to the Vatican was my second and it didn’t remain in my memory as I last remembered. I was 11 last time I went, and though I was tired from walking and touring, it was hard not to be amazed by the artistic interpretation of biblical stories and divine and human relationships. Staring at one picture for 5 hours wouldn’t be enough to fully understand each painting. After the museum was the much needed and appreciated nap which was interrupted by the 4:00 storm, the window in the hotel was open and the lightening was so close that it set off car alarms and hail dropped and danced on the roman cobble stone streets. We enjoyed another dinner by the Spanish steps, part of our group went out on the “Pub Crawl” but I was too tired and wanted to be ready to wake up for St. Peters Basilica the next day. I am so glad I didn’t go out, it sounded like a drunken mess and many people were dangerously wasted.
The next morning my friend Nicole and I woke up and traveled back to the Vatican to experience St. Peters Basilica in the early morning hours. The light shined through the windows in the top of the Basilica illuminating the gold outlining of the magnificent building. This building is indescribable by words. I was truly amazed of the art, sculptures and life of scriptures when Jesus told Peter that he would lay the foundation of the Church on Peter. Peter’s bones were literally made the foundation of this church as his remains lay in the center of the Basilica. 
I hope that some of my pictures will be able to describe the beauty of this building. We met up with the rest of the group and traveled back to the same area of the city as the Coliseum and entered the Palatine remains. We walked around this area and had to use our imaginations to picture the buildings that lay in ruins at this time. This area was a hill that housed the palaces of the emperors of Rome. We then ate our last meal in Rome, shopped; enjoyed gelato and RAN to catch our train back to Civitaveccia to get on the ship to head to Naples.
Naples is a very dirty city. It is the second most populated city in Italy (Rome being the first) 
The first day I tagged onto a SAS trip to climb Mt. Vesuvius, the volcano that buried Pompeii. We took a bus up the volcano and then were dropped off to climb the rest. This was amazing because we hiked (very hard!) to the top of the crater and looked down into a huge drop off. The mountain was still active as steam rose from the rocks and was hot to touch. Our tour guide demonstrated how a newspaper would light on fire just by putting it by the hot rock; it was amazing because as the mountain sleeps in dormancy with the power to destroy as it did in Pompeii. Unfortunately I was not able to go to Pompeii, I saw it from on top of the crater but did not experience the actual ruins. I regret not going because I listened to some people who said it wasn’t worth going to. Maybe I will return again and see Pompeii.
We celebrated 4th of July with a “family dinner” and fun out on the town in Naples. It is interesting how people do not know their alcoholic limits; I guess I am the one who is deemed to take care of others. The age difference between someone who is 19 to 22 is a reminder of how maturity comes in the midst of those few years. I still had an amazing time!
The next day we took an hour ride ferry to Capri, an Island that was the vacation spot to Emperors and royalty in Ancient Roman times. This place was indescribable beautiful as white houses decorated the hilltops and turquoise water slashed against the cliffs. We took a two-hour tour around the Island and stopped at the famous “Blue….”, we took a rowboat into this cave, which presented a dark cave with brilliantly blue water, which illuminated the cave. The rowboats were accompanied by the Italian voices of the men rowing which echoed in the cave. This moment of beauty is imprinted in my mind and will remain as my “happy place” which I will often visit in times of stress and anxiety. I also have pictures and videos to bring to life the reality of this beauty. We toured the small Island and did a bit of shopping, we caught our ferry which was only supposed to be 45 minutes that turned into an hour and 15 minutes leaving 15 minutes to get back to the ship before receiving “dock time” there was a group of 20 of us in a dead sprint while receiving cheering from Italians on the street who were getting free entertainment! After the run, we made it on the boat with 4 minutes to spare before receiving penalty for being late! Last night the ship celebrated a belated 4th of July with a delicious BBQ and party. It may be my most common phrase but THIS FEELS LIKE A DREAM!
Thanks for staying with me if you have read all of this, I know it’s a lot but I hope to be able to bring to life my experiences on this trip!
Again, for my poetry class here is my entry for the trip:
Thunder rumbles as dark clouds gather above the ancient ruins of the Coliseum. Lightning clashes, powerfully breaking the silence of the fallen and persecuted.
Thousands of souls linger for two thousand years; their teardrops fall with the rain
Clouds spread their limbs and crawl over the tops of the volcano and pour themselves into the deep crater as the majestic mountain lays dormant and silent with the capability of darkness to destroy and kill. The ancient ghosts lay frozen in Pompeii.
Soft waves splash against the small boat as they carry the horizon up and down in the corner of my eye. The sun is strong and bright and warms my skin. The sky is decorated with puffy clouds as I rest, remember and lay content in the warmth. Quiet and peaceful thoughts consume my mind as they did in the minds of great emperors of Rome on vacations in the same place I rest.
-LB
This reminded me of Montale’s poem “Personae Separatae”
“ Speech is a little thing; in these raw and clouded new moons,
space is little too; whats missing,
what wrenches the heart and makes me linger here
among the trees, waiting for you, is a lost sense, or fire,
if you prefer, to print the ground with
parallel figures, reconciled shadows…”
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