Hey guys! I know it's been awhile, and I apologize. I'll make up for it with this post though, I promise. Hopefully you won't get more mad that you have to read this entire thing to catch up with my life. Heh.
Well ... since Cinque Terre, I've been very busy.
School has been getting much harder for one thing, not to mention I've just started working at the Capp Bar on campus making coffee and such for my work-study ... my first coffee apparently tasted like scrambled eggs, but I was getting rave reviews by the end of my shift. Which reminds me: Joe Kaiser asked me to drop his name on my blog. Joe, you can thank me by telling people my coffee is terrible so I can actually get some homework done on the job.
In other news, 3 weeks ago UD took us to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. Both were spectacular. It was very hard to imagine life in an ancient city for obvious reasons before the trip, and after not so much. Pompeii was not at all what I expected .. I thought it was much more ruins and rubble than it actually is. There's even an Cafeteria and Pizza place preserved so well, that they -- oh wait. I guess they built those after the eurption for the tourists, but they sure had me going.
Mt. Vesuvius is similarly amazing. The massive crater in the middle of it makes it easy to picture the utter ruin and devastation that was unleased upon Pompeii. From the top of the mountain, it was extremely windy. (If not for all the gelato I've been eating, I might have blown away). We got some great pictures to say the least ... maybe more so of me and my friends than the view, but whatever.
Friday we had been bussed to the area, Saturday we saw Pompeii and Vesuvius, and on Sunday we were allowed to either head back to campus or go see Capri on our own. Being the adventurous chap I am, I decided to head on over. Capri is, by far, the most beautiful place I've ever been lucky enough to see on planet earth. I need to go back eventually. The main attraction of the island, "The Blue Grotto," is a beautiful cave. At least, that's what google images tells me: the tide was too high that day, and the tours of the cave were closed. Nevertheless, we spent the day hanging out on the beach, swimming in the Mediterrean, and exploring the island. And all we found were gelato places ... weird.
The following weekend I stayed on campus and spent 3, for lack of a better word, delightful days in Rome. They say all roads lead to Rome, but once you're in Rome, they never told you how easy it was to get lost. Not that getting lost is a bad thing of course .. but it can be stressful. On Friday, I essentially walked the entirety of the city, North to South. It took me about 2 hours. On Saturday, my good friend Bishop Evans walked me around the city and took me out to lunch. It was a fantastic day -- Rome without someone who knows their way around can only be so fun. We walked in and out of so many churches I think he might of slipped a mosque in and I wouldn't have noticed. On Sunday, I spent the morning with the Bishop and 2 of my best friends in the Vatican, and then out to lunch again. Those 3 course meals, by the way, are very filling. Not that there isn't room for gelato, of course, but it can get a little tight.
This past weekend I voyaged out to the island of Elba, the isle where Napolean was held in captivity for some years. We spent Friday night sleeping on the beach of some random Italian town, and were in Elba by Saturday for lunch. Elba is a beautiful place; it reminded me of the Cinque Terre's. We toured the house and gardens where Napolean lived .. I did't feel all too bad for the guy. His bed was made of pure gold, for crying out loud. Friday night, however, was miserable. We decided to camp up in the mountains, and it rained cats and dogs. Literally. Around 3AM, 4 very tired, wet americanos could be found walking down the main street of Elba. We ended up staying in some guy's backyard .. it might have been the worst night of my life. What we did to anger Posiden beats me, though.
Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I can make it out to Ireland for Thanksgiving Break, and Barcelona and Switzlerand for our last 2 weekends. Next week I head out to Greece, where the women are supposed to be a good time. I guess I'll just have to see for myself.
Check out the pictures!
As always, God bless, and wish me luck. Ciao.
Jacimo
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