World Wanderings

•Quick note: I've uploaded two new entries at the same time, so there is this one and the one below it.

Last night I went to a concert outdoors in one of the main squares. It was a full symphony orchestra with chior. Quite the sight to behold. It was very well produced, with a red carpet, hostess, cameras on booms, giant LED displays, and some excellent lighting. They even displayed credits before and after the concert. It look like a lot of work and money went into this event. The backdrop was a well lit church, and the houses of Napoli. I kind of felt a little sorry for all of the residence that had bright lights shining on thier apartments all night. It was nice to see and hear a live orchestra, it has been too long. It topped off a good day.

I saw some funny things on my way back. First there was the he/she streetwalker who beeped thier horn at me and said chao. Yep, I just kept walking. Then I saw a couple on thier motocycle in front of a store doing a little window shopping. I'm sure the girl had seen it out of the corner of her eye and just needed to take a closer look. And why get off the motorcycle when you can easily drive down the sidewalk window shopping. I also was following a paranoid man, who kept looking behind him every minute or so. Then to top it off, I saw a dog walker following three dogs with thier leashes tied together. A lazy, but obviously effective, approach to dog walking.

I got the dorm room to myself last night as no one else had checked into the room, and seeing how it's in a 3 star hotel, it was the cheapest 3 star hotel room ever. Not too bad at all. Although I have to say it was a bit wierd sleeping in a room alone, I've gotten so used to other people being there.

Well today I went to Pompeii, wondered through the ruins, constantly tried to avoid the dusty winds, and enjoyed myself walking on and amongst the ordered chaos. It's a huge site to walk through. I wasn't expecting it to be as large as it was, and spent about 5 hours wondering throughout as much of it as I could see.

Yet again I ran into what seems to be a general lack of organized upkeep with the museums and sites in the area. Half of the streets where blocked off, and half of the main houses/structures were also gated off. Some of these had signs saying they were being restored, but most had no explaination. Oh well, there was still plenty to see regardless, and with a backdrop of a volcano and other mountians, it was a georgious place to wonder about. Luckily there was always a strong breeze, which helped to offset the heat and lack of any real source of shade.

If I came away with any revelations from Pompeii, they would be (a) don't built a village in the shadow of a volcano and (b) build your tables out of marble as they last through the ages beautifully. I think every marble table I saw was perfectly preserved and looked ready to use, I know what I want my kitchen table made of. Probably the oddest thing to see, though, where the preserved bodies with a plaster of paris shell. You could almost see the expression on thier face, it was pretty cool to see.

Well one more night of pizza in Napoli, then it's off to Venice.