When it Rains it Hails- Pompeii, Naples, and Capri

Word of the Post: In alto, in basso (Up Top, Down Low)

Gushing waters, dark gray skies, rapid waves—just another weekend vacation away from Florence and Rome. This weekend we traveled to Pompeii, Naples, and Capri. Just like Venice, our group was welcomed with thunder, lightning, and a whole lot of rain (even hail, but that’s the next post).

Things I learned from this trip:

1. We can’t leave Rome or Florence without it pouring on us.
2. Pompeii was destroyed by smoke and ash from a volcano, but the roofs of the houses were destroyed by an earthquake that occurred earlier.
3. There are homeless dogs all over the ruins of Pompeii.
4. When your group is going to be visiting a very sketchy city (Naples), your program will book a four star hotel on a cliff overlooking the water, outside of the city to make up for it.
5. Lots of people like to run in the city outside of Naples.
6. This is an unusually cold October for the southern part of Italy.
7. Romans used to put marble skeleton heads on the dinner table by their plate as a reminder that death could come at any moment and you must live life as if every day was your last (Romans were way ahead of the game with that one).
8. Naples has the best pizza in the world.
9. The weather likes to change every 10 minutes in Naples.
10. Capri’s beaches have many jelly fish.
11. Capri is very, very, very expensive.
12. When jumping off of a boat, make sure you are careful because the boat is very wet. Instead of jumping, you will slip and then proceed to do a “face flop” into the water causing your nose to bleed from the impact. (Least fun thing ever).
13. Boat rides on hydrofoils aren’t for the Libs. Remember Dramamine.
14. It does hail in Italy (see newer post titled Eruption).
15. Always carry an umbrella.