To the Ruins of Pompeii

As I entered the ancient city of Pompeii, I was in awe of how well structured and organized the town was. The city was literally frozen in time. We explored the city and saw their amazing engineering feats and organizational skills. They utilized aqueducts to transport water to the city. Not only this, but the villagers of Pompeii had built water heaters to heat the water from the aqueducts to create spas without the assistance of natural heated springs!

The columns and buildings were mostly made of bricks with mortar to hold them together as well as lava rock. But the really interesting thing was that all of the buildings, both inside and out, were covered in stucco over the brick and painted with bright colors that have since faded due to sun exposer and polluted rainfall.

The mosaic patterns were also so detailed and extensive. I could not believe how the citizens of Pompeii could have created such beautiful works of art solely by hand! This city was just so different from anything else I had ever seen. There were literally complete skeletons that had been taken out from the compressed ash with the help of a plaster to preserve the shape and integrity of the find. You could see the teeth on some of them they were so detailed!

After 2 hours spent scurrying all over Pompeii, we moved on to the Amalfi Coast. We ate lunch in Sorrento at a great pizza place in the middle of town. From there we drove around the city and Positano. The coast was beautiful and then we even saw some Italian movie being filmed in the area. The city was very pretty and was nice and quiet-a nice change of pace from some of the other cities we have ventured into.

By 4pm it was time to head back to the boat. We came back and relaxed before we went out to the deck for a nice buffet dinner looking out at the sunset.

Courtney Dumas

Barcelona Day 2

Today in Barcelona a tour guide led my family and myself around the city. I learned all about Gaudi architecture and Barcelona's history. The designs were amazing and I could not believe that so many of Barcelona's buildings were constructed of ceramic! The designs were so ornate and the attention to detail was fantastic.

I toured cathedrals, museums, the heart of the city, and so much more! The culture is just so fantastic!!! After our 4 hour tour we grabbed a tapas style lunch and relaxed in the room before we hit the city again. My aunt and I spent at least 2 hours exploring Barcelona's shopping, modern, and historic districts. We must have walked around 4 miles at the least.

 

 We found some great gelato and smoothies along the way as well as stumbled upon street mimes (the people who paint themselves to look like statues and hold still to entertain the public). They were so colorful! There was a great market as well!

 
On the way back to the hotel we took pictures by the arch of triumph. I love this city and am sad to be leaving tomorrow, but at the same time I am excited to be moving on to the next countries in this Mediterranean cruise!


 




 

 

      Courtney Dumas                                    

Adios Cleveland, Hola Barcelona!

Today was great! I made the long venture from Cleveland to Barcelona, over 7 hours, but in the end it was worth it. I survived the flight running on 1 hour of sleep due to the chatty stewardesses and the noisy man that sat behind me. But the endless episodes of the Office during the flight made up for the lack of sleep as well as the fact that I made it to Spain!

Once we reached the Palace Hotel at around 10:30 am, my family and myself found that we would not be able to get into the room until 3pm. Luckily the room was ready before expected and we were able to get settled and freshen up by 2:30pm. With a basic idea of where we were and where we wanted to end up, we headed out to take Barcelona by storm. Taking many of the side streets, we were able to gain a greater idea of the true Barcelona and not just the one seen in travel guides.

I had the opportunity to explore the city and get an idea of where everything was before our in depth tour tomorrow. We saw the Cathedral of Barcelona and the Roman Wall, as well as Main Street. The architecture was amazing and the weather was fantastic! I had a blast getting to know the sites and sounds of this city.

   There were mopeds left and right and Gaudi inspired buildings everywhere you looked. The tiny stores were quaint and unique in their own way. On top of it, I got the chance to practice my rusty Spanish!

After a few more hours of exploring, we were ready to kick our feet up and rest a bit before dinner.

For dinner we went out to a tapas restaurant, something Spain is known for. Dinner was great and I even tried some fried small fish…

After dinner I had this delicious brownie and ice cream for desert! Once we finished we headed back to the hotel to get some rest so we would be all set for our 4-hour tour around Barcelona the next day.

 

Courtney Dumas