My weekend in Pompeii was quite exciting. I had studied archaeology before I switched my major, so it was a dream come true to visit such an iconic archaeological site! I gained a new perspective when our guide (who happened to be an archaeologist that did excavations at Pompeii) told us to turn around and look to the horizon. What sat towering in front of me was the biggest volcano I had ever laid eyes on. Vesuvius or in Italian Vesuvio meaning mountain of fire basically. This changed how I viewed everything I had learned about Pompeii in the past in the sense that I realized just how close the danger was. It really brought up a fact that I learned when I was 10: the Pompeiian people didn't even realize there was any danger as back in 79AD there was no word for volcano. They had the belief that Vesuvio was a mountain that was home to some of the Roman Gods. This truly meant that they didn't understand what the earthquakes were caused by before any of the volcanic activity started. For me it was also life changing in the sense that everything I had learned about with both archaeology and volcanology (the scientific stem field in geology for volcanic studies) was finally being seen in real time right in front of me. I still love archaeology so I still take my experiences learn from them, and form new questions to further my understanding. I stayed about 30 minutes away from the park in a small hotel. It was on a very lively street where most places were open until 3 in the morning.
Add comment
Comments