Bay of Naples Excursion.

Soo I know it's taken me awhile to update and I do apologize. Sunday, when we got back, the first thing everyone did was get on their computers, i.e. Facebook, and reconnect with the world again.. so I didn't even bother with trying to upload pictures to this thing. Then on Monday, we didn't have class, but a few of us girls decided to wonder and shop around Rome for a bit. We got back to the hotel, I ran laps around the block, and then we had dinner. Today, we pretty much did the same thing, except I ate gelato instead of running :/ ... help. 

But, about the Bay of Naples... It was an incredible experience. My mind still can't wrap around what archeologists can do in order to preserve what they've been able to.

The Temple of Hera I. 

It's a Doric style temple built between 570 and 560 BC. As the years were passing by, and the temple was becoming outdated in style, the Greeks decided to build another temple dedicated to Hera. It was too sacred and special to knock it down, so they left it standing.

Temple of Hera II.

Constructed about 120 years after the first temple to Hera, the Greeks built this beautiful Doric style temple. Just a reminder to everyone, you have to try and picture these temples/ancient ruins as being extravagantly colorful and embellished. The Greeks and Romans loved to "overdo" everything. The entablature, which is the space between the top of the columns and the roof, would have had carved and painted mythological scenes depicted on squares or tablets. I wish they would fully recreate a temple, so one could see what it really would have been like.

No one really knows what this was. There are many theories -- ranging from a fish breeding ground to a public pool.. or maybe even both.

Temple of Athena.

It's located on the highest level of Paestum, is Doric in style like the other two, and dates back to around 510 BC. 

Talk about feeling like you own antiquity. :)

The forum of Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius looming in the background.

Stumbling across casts of bodies like this was strangely one of my favorite things. They have them randomly placed throughout. But anyways, during excavations they kept coming across these air pockets. Well, someone had a bright idea to pour plaster into these pockets, and shapes of bodies were the result. The ash and pumice that fell from the eruption were so hot that they incinerated the bodies and left an air pocket in the 13 to 20 feet of debris.

Some of the casts brought out bones that were left behind. This poor fella still had his teeth...

...and this one still had some phalanges. But also, the positions of the body show their element of surprise and how fast the process of being burned alive was. It's so sad to think about, especially when there were casts of little children displayed.

The theater in Pompeii. It's been mostly reconstructed, and sometimes people do perform here, or shows are held.

The Temple of Isis. 

Isis is the Egyptian goddess of protecting the sarcophagi in the afterlife, guarding women and children, and bringing the annual flood that provided harvest. 

The peristyle of the House of the Menander. 

Okay, so we got super lucky because the House of the Menander hadn't been opened in 22 years! But we got in and this is a fresco of Menander himself. He was a poet/writer and had one of the largest inner-city mansions. 

The amphitheater of Pompeii.

It's one of the earliest surviving amphitheaters we have.

The inside of the amphitheater. In 59 AD, a riot broke out between gladiators and the people and Nero punished them for 10 years -- no usage of the amphitheater.. and if you ask me, I think that was a tad bit too harsh.

The Cave Canem -- beware of the dog -- mosaic.

The House of the Fawn.

A replica of the Alexander the Great mosaic in the House of the Fawn. I can't believe something this intricate and detailed was used as the floor for a dining room. I wish I could be that rich.. 

Villa of the Mysteries.

The Villa Oplontis. 

This ancient Roman seaside villa belonged to Poppaea, Nero's second wife, and her family. She was later kicked by Nero and fell down stairs.. oh and did I mention she was pregnant.?. yea, not a nice guy.

Late second/early third style frescoes in a dining room of the Villa Oplontis.

Just an olympic size swimming pool in the backyard... nbd. 

Harmodius and Aristogeiton. 

These two men put down bad tyrants when they came to rule, essentially being the liberators of Athens.

The Weary Hercules.

He just completed one of his labors -- obtaining the apples of Hesperides.

The real Alexander the Great Mosaic.

Scipio Africanus. 

He was best known for defeating Hannibal at the final battle of the Second Punic War.

Hermes -- the messenger god -- with his winged sandals.

On the way back to Rome from Naples, we stopped at an AutoGrill and I found this. I had to get it because it essentially summarizes the American diet.. and it had been too long since I had french fries. Yummm.

Overall, I had a blast and learned so much! I can't wait to go back and just wonder around and explore, without having to worry about class or taking notes. But tomorrow we start back class in Rome again. :)