---

so, the trip to pompeii was good fun. i must admit, i got tired walking around for hours among really old buildings, but i'm certainly very glad i went. not that i had a choice, but whatev. the best part of the trip was the drive there and back. we drove through the apenine mountains, and i got to see naples from the bus. the apenines are amazing. unfortunately, i couldn't take too many pictures of them b/c when all the best stuff was going by [on the ride back], i was getting my independent study seminar and thus couldn't be like -professor quinn, hold on while i take a picture from this speeding bus! they were all rough and jagged and snow covered like i guess the alps are, but they were huge, rolling green masses with some jagged spots but for the most part they were smooth like hills. and there were all these fields spreading out before them, and grassy hills with sheep running around, and picturesque villages built at the foot and lower part of the mountains. one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. i took a few pictures of them, which you will see.

oh, i think i have aobut 200 pictures, so i'm going to have to upload them in installments.

oh! i did something that made me happy yesterday. so, we're hanging out in pompeii, looking at all the incredibly intact frescoes on the wall. i see one, think, hmm that looks familiar. based on my great knowledge of shakespear [haha], i was able to identify one of the frescoes as a depiction of the legend of pyramus and thisbe. this impressed davide, and i got to tell my other less literate [haha, jk] friends the story behind it. but then i lost smart points by absently referring to it as a mosaic. geez.

i wanted to thank all of you who leave comments, messages, and facebook wall scribblings. most of my roommates have mentioned that their friends don't contact them hardly at al and that this makes them sad. its hard to restrain from bragging about how super great all of you are about keeping in contact with me. seriously, ya'll are the best.

there are so many more pictures that i will update asap. just wait.

---