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Ciao!!
Today we arrived in Naples, Italy. After two long days of touring we decided to only do a short day off the ship. We decided that Pompeii is the place to be and sign up for a 3.5 hour tour. It's basically a bus trip to the ruins (about 20 minutes away) and guided tour of them.
Unfortunately the tour leaves at 8:00am or 1:00pm. We decided that that 1pm tour is going to be in the heat of the day (I really haven't talked about the heat ........ well, it's HOT!!! I'm not talking about the fashions or females - although both are also hot - but the actual heat index. It has been about 90 each day but, with walking around and going into various places that aren't air conditioned it feels much hotter) so we resign ourselves for another early day. I actually slept great Tuesday night so, last night I don't think I even got 2 hours; it's going to be a long day.
We are ready to leave the boat at 8:00am and are delayed by some type of immigration problem. Everyone is put on hold and we don't get off until about 8:45. Our tour guide is Guido and he is very dramatic about describing Pompeii; he really likes his job. Everyone gets a wireless headset so we can listen to him guide us around the ruins. Before we get off the bus he makes sure we know that the walking will be a little rough. The streets are made of uneven stones (Pompeii was destroyed in 79AD) and at various points we need to go uphill. By the time we get off the bus at 9:30 the sun is beating down and we realize that the decision to go on the early tour was smart.
Pompeii is really cool. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD and killed all of the inhabitants of the city. It was a bustling Roman city with it's own marble forum (with shops and a football field length promenade), temples, houses, condo's (yes, condo's) and 24 (yes, count them 24) houses of prostitution. Since it was a port city the sailors needed something to do when then arrived. Unfortunately, most of the "working girls" has various diseases and a good percentage of the men would catch something and die (Penicillin hadn't been invented yet and there was no was no cure to the "gift that kept on giving.") Eventually Nero banned prostitution and they were forced to go underground and only come out at night; hence the term, women of the night.
The relics that they have been able to uncover are truly amazing. Once I get home I'll post a bunch of pictures of pots, utensils and even casts of people and a dog. It seems that some people fell in the mud which covered them and they became encased in the lava. Over the years their flesh would disintegrate and when they were found the archeologists would inject plaster into the void to create a perfect cast of the bodies and dog.
The residents actually had a chance the day before the eruption to escape when the volcano began to spew pumus stones and the ground shook violently but, they thought the worst was over. The next day the volcano erupted and the entire society was destroyed in just over a minute. Mount Vesuvius was 12,000 feet high right before the explosion and now is only 4,000 feet; literally 2/3 of the mountain was blown off in a matter of seconds. At least they really didn't know what hit them.
We are back by the Ship by about 12:30 and decided to walk to Naples (which is really just a two or three block walk) to have lunch before going back on the ship. We stop at a nice little place, order some Proscuitto w/ Mellon, a Pizza Margherita (which was invented in Naples) and a Ham Calzone. The food is as fresh as can be and really good. I finish it off with a double espresso. Bellisimo (I think that means very good.)
Back on the Ship it's nap time and then dinner @ 6:30. We are going to the Cirque De Solei Dinner and Show. The Show is typical Cirque De Solei stuff (and very good) but, dinner has a lot to be desired. It's like typical dinner theater food and we could do without it. After the show we stop by the pub (Sheehan's) and have some chicken wings and chicken fingers finished with a good Root Beer Float.
We then hit the casino and I am the first to break in the ships brand new automated Roulette table. It has an actual wheel and ball but, the rest is a big computer touch screen to place your bets. It does 50 spins an hour and it's like playing speed Roulette. The technician says they are going to slow it down a little bit tomorrow. I play for about 45 minutes and make a few bucks but, it's a little nerve wracking trying to make sure I get my bets in on time.
We are back in the room now (it's about 11pm) and are turning in early for the night. I get to sleep late tomorrow as we are at sea. I'm looking forward to sleeping in and then hanging by the pool. We also have tickets for Nickelodean Slim Time Live in the main theater @ 1pm and I'm actually looking forward to it.
We realize that we only have three more nights of vacation and can't believe that the first full week has gone by so quickly. We're looking forward to the next few days before having to hit the daily grind again.
On a side note, we spoke to Nicole in Israel today. She was in Eilat for three days and was really cranky (what a shock!) I think that she realizes that this is her last week in Israel and isn't all that happy to be headed home soon.
I'll give everyone a run down of our day at sea tomorrow night.
Mark
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