I've returned from Italia (pic and vid heavy)!

[Miss Z]

Hi again everyone!

I returned home from my school trip to Italy late Friday night and have had a fantastic time. The sights and expeiences I have taken in will be memories for a very long time for me. Towards the end, time seemed to fly by and I would definitely like to go back sometime to do all the things I may have missed.

I was on PT briefly yesterday, but I was still a little tired to upload my pics to photobucket so I saved them for today. I took absolutely loads of pictures so this is merely a selection of the best ones, hopefully I won't bore you by choosing too many

Oh, and to Michelle, I regret that I didn't have the chance to buy some shoes. We didn't visit Naples in itself as the teachers were concerned about pickpockets so missed all the bargains. I was planning to have a look for some in Sorrento on our final night, but, to cut a long story short, due to my lack of pockets I let a friend look after my money, however that friend wandered off and got lost, I spent half an hour waiting for him, then got fed up and borrowed money from a teacher, but then ran in vain down the main street to each sho only for them to close up. Needless to say I was not too pleased with that friend when I came across him .

Anyway, onto the pics!



Our first visit of the trip was to the Vatican, and this was certainly a very splendid way to start!



Inside the main area of the Vatican



The architecture was amazing, adorned with fountains...



...and statues.



The famous basilica of St Peter



The dome viewed from the inside



The view of the ground floor...from only halfway up the basilica!

Much more to come...

[Miss Z]

Me on the right with my best friend Victoria at the top of St Peters. It was a hard climb to the top with the stairs getting narrower and narrower, eventually receeding to a tiny spiral staircase with only a fraying rope to hold onto!



The view of the main piazza, where I believe the Pope often gives speeches.



Not entirely sure what this is, but it looks impressive!



Next we moved into Rome itself, and here is an obelisk taken from Egypt in about the 4th century AD.



The Pantheon, literally meaning 'All the Gods'.



And of course, who could forget the Colloseum?



It's amazing to think that so mucj of it, including the underground network of corridors, has survived to this day.



The last major part in our tour of Rome was the great forum. I have many pictures of this but I know to many they'll just be an awful lot of pics of pillars

Lots more to come, the Bay of Naples next...

[lvpets2002]

Oh WoW Great Detailed Pictures.. All looks so great.. thanks

[Laura's Babies]

Wow! That was the trip of a lifetime! I loved looking at the pictures.. Thanks!

[Miss Z]

On the coach journey to Sorrento, everyone kept their eyes peeled for Vesuvius's darkly famous double-peaked silhouette. All of a sudden it seemed to appear, and for the rest of the holiday it was never far away, always towering on the horizon. For those that have watched the BBC programme 'Pompeii: The Last Day', the final words which I added to the pic were most fitting when it was in full view!



The amphitheatre of Pozzuoli, the third largest amphitheatre in Italy.



This was a very interesting part of the trip. This was taken in the crater of the volcano Solfatara, a dormant but still very much alive outlet for its sister Vesuvius.



Jets of steam burst from small holes in the crater at about 160 degrees C, the ground is warm to the touch, and if you throw a rock at the ground, you can hear how hollow the plug of the crater is! This is some of the people on the trip going in to 'Hell', a small sauna fueled by the jets of sulphurous steam. Temperatures in it reach 90 degrees C, so you can only stay in for a matter of seconds before running out 'like hell'



Here you can see the sulphur deposits from the gases.



This mud is over boiling point at the bottom, so no mud baths here



Here is a very short video whilst I was standing in the most active part of the crater. It would have been longer, only the wind suddenly changed direction and blew the steam directly towards me, which instantly condensed all over me and the camera lense!

Much more coming!

[Alysser]

Hurry and finish posting Zara! I'll be here waiting...

[Miss Z]

Moving on to my favourite part of the whole trip, Pompeii. It was truly amazing to see so much of this once great city in ruins, but still standing. The cart tracks on the roads made it seem like it had been deserted only yesterday and it wasn't hard to imagine the streets bustling all those years ago. This was a cast of a person trying to get away when the pyroclastic flow of AD 79 hit Pompeii, and his/her dying pose was immortalised.



Pompeii's amphitheatre, far older than the colloseum and pozzuoli ones!



This 'graffitti' is an election campaign, preserved to this day.



Climbing to the top of the theatre, I couldn't resist taking this pic of the top of the Pompeiian buildings, with Vesuvius admiring its handiwork in the distance.



The view of the theatre itself.



This has to be my favourite pic of all, it sums up the feeling of Pompeii entirely. The forum is still a huge area, but nothing measures up to the scale of Vesuvius, whose eruption was so violent that the top third of the volcano itself was blown off. If you draw lines from each side of the volcano until they roughly meet, you can see how massive it must have been.



Probably the most famous cast in Pompeii is this person crouched with head in hands.

More still coming...

[Miss Z]

The excavation goes on, here some more pillars were being discovered just outside the city walls. There is most definitely so much left to uncover, who knows what still lies beneath the ground.



Moving on to the trip to the island of Capri. It rained and was quite overcast on this day, so we missed the opportunity to sunbathe on the beach, but at least it meant we got free time in Capri town to browse the designer shops with accessories worth more than my school fees!



Don't you just love the Med?



More of the rugged coastline.



Capri is the richest area in the bay of Naples, and I couldn't resist taking this photo of a map of Capri painted on the sun roof of an extravagant villa!



This video cracks me up every time I watch it. I think I overdosed on lemon slushie so my voice was kinda high and hyper, but this is basically a video of us having a short sit on a pebble beach we found whilst the boat came in. This is one of my friends 'Fenton', really called Adam but always known as Fenton nearly falling over in the sea!



And a little pic of me in my fave outfit, lol.

Still some more (bored yet)?!

[kittycats_delight]

phenomenal pics Zara...so sorry you didn't get to go shoe shopping. You will have to come back and we can go together. We have some friends in Naples so we will be safe with them and we can hit the open air markets (mercato) for some great deals. Also maybe we can hit Milano and get to all the designers main shops. Prada, Valentino, Cavalli, Versace, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and the list goes on and on.

Can't wait for the rest of the pics. I guess seeing I am here I should probably start posting some pics huh. I have been so neglectful about that. I think I have tons and Guido has vacation in a couple of weeks so I will be sure to get some from this part of Italy.

[moosmom]

Zara,

Your pictures certainly brought back wonderful memories for me. Now, I'm SURE you also went to the Spanish Steps and the Fountain of Treve(sp?), correct?

Thank you for such a beautiful walk down memory lane. I also went with my best friend, Susie, my Mom and a whole class full of people. Susie and have been the best of friends for over 40 years!!

Did you happen to see the cats? How about the Catacombs??

[Miss Z]

Our visit to Herculaneum was brief and it seemed rather insignificant compared to the likes of Pompeii, but it was interesting all the same. I think this is a wall painting of the most important Roman god and goddess, Jupiter and Juno.



We visited the largest villa of Herculaneum, known as the house of the deer. The original sculptures from which it got its name have been taken to Naples Museum, so this is only a replica.



Another little vid, this time the trek up Vesuvius. Not easy! Underfoot is dusty with volcanic ash and the wind wasn't kind either. I sound horribly out of breath so once again that's not my normal voice, but those who have heard me on 'let's hear you' threads know what I sound like anyway



When we did get to the top, at first you could barely see a few metres ahead as the whole peak was engulfed by a cloud. Then, without warning, it cleared for literally minutes, so I snapped lots of very quick photos. This is the view over pretty much everything coastal that rests in Vesuvius's shadow.



This is part of the crater, although it may not look like it. When the next Plinian eruption occurs, the sediment plugging the crater will go up like a champagne cork, not a comforting thought!



And finally, Victoria and I just about managing to stand up with the wind pelting us at the highest point of Vesuvius (and Fenton somehow got in the shot too )

I hope you all enjoyed my pics, I certainly enjoyed taking them!

[Alysser]

Finally your done..

OK, first off, thank you for bringing back memories of Italy. I went in 2004 and I miss the place like crazy. I loved each and every one of your pictures, Zara! This trip looked fantastic and fun-filled with a bit of the educational experience of course...I love the Pompeii pictures, that city would be so amazing to visit, it's so weird though how everything seems frozen in time. I remember the Vatican, it was beautiful. Did you guys get to see the graves of the popes? Rome is such a cool city to go too, I loved that most of all throughout my trip. Did you go in the Colleseum? Did you visit Piza? If so, did you climb the leaning tower of piza? Now that is a killer!!

Sorry for so many questions, but one more lol...

Did you try the pizza in Italy?? It's so good it's indescripable.

[Miss Z]

phenomenal pics Zara...so sorry you didn't get to go shoe shopping. You will have to come back and we can go together. We have some friends in Naples so we will be safe with them and we can hit the open air markets (mercato) for some great deals. Also maybe we can hit Milano and get to all the designers main shops. Prada, Valentino, Cavalli, Versace, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and the list goes on and on.

Hee hee, that sounds great! I did make a few purchases, mostly on Capri, which included perfume, a trinket box, lemon chocolate (mmmmmmm) and a choker from the Swarovski crystal shop in Capri town But then the lack of shoes does mean I will have to go back at some point and fulfil that part of the trip!

Zara,

Your pictures certainly brought back wonderful memories for me. Now, I'm SURE you also went to the Spanish Steps and the Fountain of Treve(sp?), correct?

Thank you for such a beautiful walk down memory lane. I also went with my best friend, Susie, my Mom and a whole class full of people. Susie and have been the best of friends for over 40 years!!

Did you happen to see the cats? How about the Catacombs??

Hi Donna! Yes, we did go past the Spanish steps but we went past a little too quickly for me to take a pic. We unfortunately missed the Trevi Fountain as I think the teachers we once again worried about pickpockets. I'm sure one day I'll go back and see it for myself!

Yes, I saw quite a few cats, and have a funny little snippet about a particular cat. Just before we left Solfatara we had a little relax time by a small cafe. I was sat outside with Victoria, Fenton and his friend (known as 'Bambi', don't ask ) and a little black cat came along and sat near our table. We were told strictly not to touch any stray animals, so I improvised by talking to them, lol. She looked at me for a while, so I randomly mimicked a 'meow', to which the cat promptly meowed back, seemed to smile, and then went on her way. It was as if we had just exchanged good afternoons. Fenton fell about laughing that I could communicate with cats and I was 'catwoman' for a while, hee hee.

Yes, we visited the catacombs too, they were very interesting, but quite chilly!

Thanks to all who have replied so far too

[DrKym]

Welcome back sweetie! The pics are amazing, and I am so glad you got a chance to see so many amazing and wonderful sights.!!

[Catsnclay]

Well that's it, we must someday soon get over there! I just loved the "armchair traveling".


You take great pictures, and make us feel like we were there with you!

We really need to start traveling!!!!