Day three consisted of an early bus ride from our hotel in Rome. We traveled down south to Pompeii where we enjoyed a guided tour of the ruined city. The city was spectacular. We learned how technologically advanced the citizens were for their time. We saw intact homes and bars, and a bathing pool. We were also able to see a body cast in plaster, frozen in the form it died in while under the ashes.
After seeing the city, we went to a nearby pizza restaurant where each of us enjoyed a freshly-made pizza. After lunch, we continued next door to a cameo shop where we learned about the homemade jewelry made using conch shells. We were able to explore the shop and buy jewelry if we wanted to.
Then we went back into the busy marketplace and were allowed to shop for more souvenirs. Once back on the bus, our tour guide and chaperones surprised us by allowing us the opportunity to ride through the beautiful city of Naples, a major city near Pompeii. We took a panoramic tour in our bus. Our tour guide, Silvana, wanted us to see Naples because as the saying goes “once you see Naples, you die” because the city is so beautiful that nothing compares. After taking scenic pictures at the top of the hill with a view of the city and Mount Vesuvius, we went to the town square where we were allowed the time to explore. Many of us bought gelato (again) and others were on the hunt for Italian fashion.
After Naples, we embarked on a three-hour bus ride across Italy to Bari, where we boarded the overnight ferry that was going to take us to Durres, Albania. Another surprise for the day was the rough waters we encountered on our ride through the Adriatic Sea. Moises Cosme pointed out that “our night was as rough as the waters,” which summed up the night very nicely. To calm our nerves, we played a group game called “What Do You Meme?”
Although the sea was rough, our spirits were still high as we were on our way to Albania!