Napoli & Pompeii

Wow, who could've guessed that I wouldn't be very good at this blog thing.
Anyways, life is getting busy here in Rome. I spent last weekend in Naples with a few friends, which was a definite learning experience and a great first trip. Our hostel was amazing and we ate "the best pizza in the world" in the town where pizza was invented. However, you know you're in a sketchy place when police stop you and tell you to watch your wallet or kind old men on the bus tell you exactly how they would steal your camera if they wanted to.

For the sake of brevity, I'll just share a few highlights:

• Pompeii was out of control. It is such a giant place that we spent 6 hours there and didn't even see half of it. I was surprised to see stray dogs all over, sleeping in the Forum Baths and under collapsed columns. Wandering around the remains of a 7th century B.C. civilization was much more engaging and satisfying than I had expected. And don't tell the Italian government, but I stole a tile that I found in the trash pile behind a tomb.
• Practicing Italian skills with the very friendly Neopolitans.
  
• Pigeons fighting over spaghetti on the street is one of the funniest and most Italian things that I've ever seen.
• Because of a movie that came out recently, young Italians have been chaining padlocks to lampposts, particularly on a specific bridge in Rome, but we found some padlocks in Naples too.
  
• We met an Italian who looked exactly like a 20 year old Bob Dylan in a bar in Naples and when we told him this, he pulled out a necklace with a tiny harmonica and started to play it.
  
• Spent the last day wandering around the Bay of Naples, which is beautiful and full of tiny colorful boats. We also went to the Castle of the Egg, which sits out on the bay, and did some people and stray dog watching. And having excellent weather the entire time.
  

For now, I'm catching up on school work and trying to make a sculpture with wax and string. I'm also teaching English to a 6 year old named Mateo and his 3 year old brother "Terrible Tomaso" and they teach me more Italian than I teach them English. I'm leaving this weekend for an art history excursion to Florence to see "the David" and hopefully some other old art.

Ciao,
Grace