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Published: December 12th 2005
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Napoli and Pompeii December 12, 2005
Hi everyone!
The Italians ability to organize things last minute is amazing. I found out I was going to Naples on Thursday night, and on Friday night found out I was leaving at five in the morning. I went with a church group that was going to see the “precipe”(nativity scenes). It was a four hour bus ride from Irsina to Naples, but I spent most of the time talking with Siripan, the other exchange student in my town from Thailand, or reading Zorro in Italian. Before dropping everyone off, the bus driver drove us around some of Naples. From the bus was a great view of Vesuvius, I took a ton of pictures, but the cloudy weather didn’t make for a nice background. We entered a cathedral, called church of the new Jesus, before entering the street with the precipe. Church of the new Jesus doesn’t make a lot of sense since there only ever existed one Jesus, how could there be a new one. I was talking to someone when I was entering the church, but when we were fully inside the church and I looked at the ceiling my
mouth dropped and the words holy crap slipped out, not exactly the best thing to say in a church. It was amazing, I’ve never see anything so beautiful in real life. Pictures don’t compare to the real experience, and according to the sign up, you weren’t really supposed to take pictures or videos (but I did! Bad Alyssa!). The street where all the nativity scenes was so crowded, and now I have discovered I am no good at navigating through crowded narrow roads, I was stuck behind people a few times. On the street there were more things than nativity scenes being sold, pirated dvds, copied CDs, souvenirs, Christmas ornaments, and many other things. Maddalena, my Italian teacher, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite adults, and I bought three dvds together, I hope they work. She and I went to the museum of San Lorenzo Maggiore, and an archaeological site underground of roman Naples, under the museum. The site is underground because the ancient peoples built on top of old buildings and cities instead of demolishing them. In the site there are traces of Greek Naples, which existed several centuries before Christ, and above that is the roman
ruins of a market place, then medieval ruins. By the time we got out of the museum we had lost track of all of the others. That didn’t bother me though, because then Maddalena and I got to wander around with a little more freedom. We walked around some of Naples, which I have decided is now one of my favorite cities. There are so many historical sites there is no way I could remember them all, I guess if you are really curious you will just have to come for yourself, I recommend it. There are two things typical of Naples, babba and pulcinello. Babba is a liquor soaked dessert that looks like a popover, that can also have fruit and cream added, and it is very typical of Naples. A pulcinello, I guess, you could describe as a clown in a white tunic with a black mask with a beak nose. I’m no good at explaining you’ll just have to see the pictures for yourself. Before the bus headed home, we stopped at Pompeii. Unfortunately the ancient part was already closed, but I saw the church which gave just about the same reaction I had at the church
in Naples. We arrived home at around eleven, to a crummy rainy weather, not a great welcome back. I enjoyed the trip so much though, I’m so glad I got to go, and am thankful for the Italians ability to organize things last minute.
Last week Saturday there was a day of culture for my town, which meant we got to miss school to go around to the historical sites in town, and see exchange students from Potenza. I found out that Irsina used to be much more populated and important, when it was the seat of a bishop. The church of San Francesco was once a castle, but then Federico II of Sicily gave it to the Franciscans who converted it into a church and monastery. There were many other things to see that day, but the church of San Francesco was my favorite. There were some beautiful frescos, which you weren’t actually supposed to take pictures of, but I did because I didn’t understand at the time that it was not allowed. At some point I am going to have to start followed those rules about camera use, because if I keep pushing my luck, I might eventually
get my camera taken away. Well that’s all for now, have a great week!
~Alyssa
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Papa
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What is this world coming to when everyone else are taking finals and you are swearing in churches. Swear outside churches. Papa loves you