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June 5
Day 25
Contiki Day 16
Pompeii,
ITALY
Day 25
Contiki Day 16
Pompeii,
ITALY
Me at the Ancient City of Pompeii
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Click the pic to view all photos for this entry.
Everybody Needs to Ride Ouranos
The Journey...
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~*OPTIONAL*~ Guided Tour of Pompeii
The once thriving city of Pompeii lay buried for centuries under thick layers of ash which rained down after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. It was rediscovered in the 17th Century and two-thirds of the city has now been excavated. A local guide takes you to the important sites and explains the history of this fascinating city. -Contiki
15.00€
The once thriving city of Pompeii lay buried for centuries under thick layers of ash which rained down after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. It was rediscovered in the 17th Century and two-thirds of the city has now been excavated. A local guide takes you to the important sites and explains the history of this fascinating city. -Contiki
15.00€
This morning we were up and on our way by 7:30am. It was a little sad to leave Rome. I really loved the city and there was still so much more to see. As we continued on our journey I made a point to back here some day.
Today’s itinerary was a little different since we weren’t going to reach this leg’s final destination until tomorrow morning. After a tour of the ruined city of Pompeii, our next destination was a ferry boat where we would have an overnight ride across the Adriatic Sea to the Greek island of Corfu.
I was still exhausted from our big day yesterday. It felt good, though. I was tired because we had accomplished a lot. I fell asleep as soon as our day song finished playing on the coach and slept straight through until we reached Pompeii.
We arrived at the outskirts of Pompeii and met our local guide. He was a funny looking guy with really crazy hair. We were also going to have lunch here before continuing our drive, but Ryan told us that there was only one restaurant here and we HAD TO eat at it. Pompeii was a pretty touristy place, so we found it odd that there was only once place to eat. He then explained to us that the restaurant was run by the Mafia. Ahh, so that’s why it’s the only one.
Today’s itinerary was a little different since we weren’t going to reach this leg’s final destination until tomorrow morning. After a tour of the ruined city of Pompeii, our next destination was a ferry boat where we would have an overnight ride across the Adriatic Sea to the Greek island of Corfu.
I was still exhausted from our big day yesterday. It felt good, though. I was tired because we had accomplished a lot. I fell asleep as soon as our day song finished playing on the coach and slept straight through until we reached Pompeii.
We arrived at the outskirts of Pompeii and met our local guide. He was a funny looking guy with really crazy hair. We were also going to have lunch here before continuing our drive, but Ryan told us that there was only one restaurant here and we HAD TO eat at it. Pompeii was a pretty touristy place, so we found it odd that there was only once place to eat. He then explained to us that the restaurant was run by the Mafia. Ahh, so that’s why it’s the only one.
Our local guide handed maps of the city to everyone and we began the tour. In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted and covered Pompeii in feet of hot ashes. It consumed the entire city. There was no warning and the entire population was wiped out that day. 1600 years later the city was discovered and it’s excavation began. I found it amazing that the city was so well preserved. The streets seemed un-touched and although most of the buildings were badly damaged, you could still make out what it probably looked like 2000 years ago. Some of the signs on the shops were still in tact. They were actually quite strange. Our guide walked us past a baker’s shop and said that it must have been a really good bakery. At close inspection of the sign, it had a man holding some sort of pan wish a massive erection bigger than his body and huge sagging balls (the happy baker?). Our guide said phallic symbols like that were all over the place. The better renowned the tradesman, the bigger his penis was on his shop's sign (could you imagine if western culture was like that today? Trump Tower in NYC would have a massive cock on the side of it).
(I outlined the man in black so it's easier to see)
We spent about an hour on the tour, although there was enough to see to spend an entire day. I really wished we had more time. There were a few buildings that were almost completely in tact and still had the original decor inside the rooms. Near the end of the tour, we walked past an area that housed plaster molds of people that died in the eruption. The molds were taken from the hardened ash and gave an eerie description of their final day.
After the tour, we all went for lunch at the Mafia restaurant. A small pizza, a bit of pasta and a ham & cheese sandwich (for later) came to 20€. I couldn’t believe it. I got twice as much food at my lunch yesterday and it was 5€ cheaper. The food wasn’t that great either (except for the sandwich).
We got back on the coach and continued on our way to Brindisi - the port where we would catch our ferry. During the drive, it was time for another one of Ryan’s devious games.
Ryan told us to get a piece of paper, rip it in half, and give the other half to the person we were sitting next to. I tore a blank page out of my journal and gave half to Erica. Then he told us to write down a dare for the other person, but not let them know what it was. We also had to write our name at the top of the page and the name of the person that the dare was for. I actually had a hard time thinking of a good dare. Finally, after some deliberation, I wrote down “Erica must do five body shots off three different guys form our tour”. I didn’t know it at the time, but the Canadian version of “body shot” and the Aussie version are a little different. In the Canadian version, a guy would pour a shot of alcohol down his body and Erica would have to catch it in her mouth and lick it off his chest and stomach. The Aussie version is much tamer. As I was told from the Aussies on the tour, all the she would have to do is get a guy to lay on his back, put the shot glass on his stomach, and lift the glass into her mouth without using her hands. Erica is Canadian, so after I learned there was a difference I thought it would only be right that she did it the Canadian way.
Everyone handed all the dares up to Ryan and then he explained that there was a catch to the game. The dares weren’t actually for the person next to us, they were for ourselves. He then read out everyone’s dares and made a few changes to them so they would work for the other person. Erica had dared me to hit on five unattractive girls at our up-coming pool party in Corfu. He changed her dare so that she’d hit on guys instead of girls. I asked him to change mine so I’d be doing body shots off girls, but he thought it would be funnier to stick with guys. I didn’t think it was very funny. I decided right then and there that I was not going to do my dare - and if I did it would at least be the Aussie way. I didn’t like the idea of having to lick alcohol off my male tour mate’s bodies - I don’t think any of them liked the idea either.
Some of the other dares were really funny. Kansas Chris had to kiss a homeless person, Matt had to walk through the Corfu pool party completely naked and hit on a random guy, Ashley had to announce that she shit her pants and liked it, Theresa had to profess her undying love for me, Julia had to wear hooker makeup, Graham had to dress in a woman’s bikini - that’s just to name a few. I wish I could remember all the dares. Most were really funny. Luke and Jay didn’t understand the directions quite right and ended up daring each other to do the same thing. They had to dive into the pool in Corfu wearing nothing but string and a paper cup. Ryan scheduled most of the dares to happen tomorrow night in Corfu, so it would prove to be a very interesting party.
Games like the dares would always bring us closer as a group. By this point I felt as close to (if not closer) to some of my tour mates than some of my best friends back home. Kansas Chris and I were becoming really good friends and Ashley and I were, of course, becoming inseparable. Her and I just clicked really well. It wasn’t anything romantic either. I know a lot of people thought we had something going on, but it was nothing like that. We just had similar personalities and could always make each other laugh. We could make any situation into something funny. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed with someone as much as I did with Ash (and Chris, but that came later). I was beginning to feel really tight with almost everyone. The only people that still weren’t socializing were the few girls that sat at the front of the coach. I would always get the feeling that they thought the rest of us were immature or something. For the most part, they were right. We were on holidays. We weren’t back home at our regular jobs where we had to be responsible. As soon as I booked the tour I intended on having fun like I was sixteen again. I don’t know exactly what it was, but those girls just didn’t seem to like anybody else.
In general, I’d have to say that there wasn’t anyone that I didn’t like (although that would change a bit by the end). I wish I could sit here and name all the people I was becoming awesome friends with, but I’d end up naming almost everybody. American, Aussie, Canadian, Kiwi - it didn’t matter where anyone was from. We were all getting along so well it was starting to feel like we were all meant to be on this tour together. It’s hard to describe the social aspects of the tour in a travelogue. Just think of it this way: how much time do you spend with our best friend in an average week? How much does that add up to in a year? If you only see your best friend a couple nights per week for about three ours at a time, that’s only six hours per week. That works out to 24 hours in a month and 288 hours in a year. Today, on day 16 of the tour, we had all been together for 384 hours.
A couple days ago, one of the guys made a comment that the girls on our tour didn’t have much talent (and by talent he meant looks). I don’t know what kind of girls he was looking for, but I think by talent he was referring to ditzy American cheerleader type girls with bleach blonde hair and fake tits. No, we didn’t have girls like that on the tour. Most of our girls were educated, classy and definitely not slutty. They were good looking too in a non-trashy type of way. I think the type of girls he was looking for weren’t the type that would take a 46 day tour around Europe. And what was he here for anyway? Was he on this tour to get laid by the same sluts that he can find back home, or was he here to have an awesome experience seeing Europe? That whole comment really pissed me off. I sort of wish I called him on it, but in the end I don’t think it would have been worth the conflict. I thought our girls were great to be around. The guys were awesome too. I’ve probably said this before, but I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.
Anyway, back to the day. Nothing very exciting happened up until arriving at Brindisi. We drove through southern Italy and said goodbye to the amazing country as we continued on to Greece. When we arrived at the sea port, Ryan told us that a lot of the ferries had unique names. Our ferry’s name was “Ouranos”. That brought up a whole array of cheesy quotes like:
“Hey Amos, do you think you’ll be able to fit the coach into Ouranos?”
“Ouranos is pretty big”
“I wonder what the inside of Ouranos looks like?”
We got back on the coach and continued on our way to Brindisi - the port where we would catch our ferry. During the drive, it was time for another one of Ryan’s devious games.
Ryan told us to get a piece of paper, rip it in half, and give the other half to the person we were sitting next to. I tore a blank page out of my journal and gave half to Erica. Then he told us to write down a dare for the other person, but not let them know what it was. We also had to write our name at the top of the page and the name of the person that the dare was for. I actually had a hard time thinking of a good dare. Finally, after some deliberation, I wrote down “Erica must do five body shots off three different guys form our tour”. I didn’t know it at the time, but the Canadian version of “body shot” and the Aussie version are a little different. In the Canadian version, a guy would pour a shot of alcohol down his body and Erica would have to catch it in her mouth and lick it off his chest and stomach. The Aussie version is much tamer. As I was told from the Aussies on the tour, all the she would have to do is get a guy to lay on his back, put the shot glass on his stomach, and lift the glass into her mouth without using her hands. Erica is Canadian, so after I learned there was a difference I thought it would only be right that she did it the Canadian way.
Everyone handed all the dares up to Ryan and then he explained that there was a catch to the game. The dares weren’t actually for the person next to us, they were for ourselves. He then read out everyone’s dares and made a few changes to them so they would work for the other person. Erica had dared me to hit on five unattractive girls at our up-coming pool party in Corfu. He changed her dare so that she’d hit on guys instead of girls. I asked him to change mine so I’d be doing body shots off girls, but he thought it would be funnier to stick with guys. I didn’t think it was very funny. I decided right then and there that I was not going to do my dare - and if I did it would at least be the Aussie way. I didn’t like the idea of having to lick alcohol off my male tour mate’s bodies - I don’t think any of them liked the idea either.
Some of the other dares were really funny. Kansas Chris had to kiss a homeless person, Matt had to walk through the Corfu pool party completely naked and hit on a random guy, Ashley had to announce that she shit her pants and liked it, Theresa had to profess her undying love for me, Julia had to wear hooker makeup, Graham had to dress in a woman’s bikini - that’s just to name a few. I wish I could remember all the dares. Most were really funny. Luke and Jay didn’t understand the directions quite right and ended up daring each other to do the same thing. They had to dive into the pool in Corfu wearing nothing but string and a paper cup. Ryan scheduled most of the dares to happen tomorrow night in Corfu, so it would prove to be a very interesting party.
Games like the dares would always bring us closer as a group. By this point I felt as close to (if not closer) to some of my tour mates than some of my best friends back home. Kansas Chris and I were becoming really good friends and Ashley and I were, of course, becoming inseparable. Her and I just clicked really well. It wasn’t anything romantic either. I know a lot of people thought we had something going on, but it was nothing like that. We just had similar personalities and could always make each other laugh. We could make any situation into something funny. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed with someone as much as I did with Ash (and Chris, but that came later). I was beginning to feel really tight with almost everyone. The only people that still weren’t socializing were the few girls that sat at the front of the coach. I would always get the feeling that they thought the rest of us were immature or something. For the most part, they were right. We were on holidays. We weren’t back home at our regular jobs where we had to be responsible. As soon as I booked the tour I intended on having fun like I was sixteen again. I don’t know exactly what it was, but those girls just didn’t seem to like anybody else.
In general, I’d have to say that there wasn’t anyone that I didn’t like (although that would change a bit by the end). I wish I could sit here and name all the people I was becoming awesome friends with, but I’d end up naming almost everybody. American, Aussie, Canadian, Kiwi - it didn’t matter where anyone was from. We were all getting along so well it was starting to feel like we were all meant to be on this tour together. It’s hard to describe the social aspects of the tour in a travelogue. Just think of it this way: how much time do you spend with our best friend in an average week? How much does that add up to in a year? If you only see your best friend a couple nights per week for about three ours at a time, that’s only six hours per week. That works out to 24 hours in a month and 288 hours in a year. Today, on day 16 of the tour, we had all been together for 384 hours.
A couple days ago, one of the guys made a comment that the girls on our tour didn’t have much talent (and by talent he meant looks). I don’t know what kind of girls he was looking for, but I think by talent he was referring to ditzy American cheerleader type girls with bleach blonde hair and fake tits. No, we didn’t have girls like that on the tour. Most of our girls were educated, classy and definitely not slutty. They were good looking too in a non-trashy type of way. I think the type of girls he was looking for weren’t the type that would take a 46 day tour around Europe. And what was he here for anyway? Was he on this tour to get laid by the same sluts that he can find back home, or was he here to have an awesome experience seeing Europe? That whole comment really pissed me off. I sort of wish I called him on it, but in the end I don’t think it would have been worth the conflict. I thought our girls were great to be around. The guys were awesome too. I’ve probably said this before, but I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.
Anyway, back to the day. Nothing very exciting happened up until arriving at Brindisi. We drove through southern Italy and said goodbye to the amazing country as we continued on to Greece. When we arrived at the sea port, Ryan told us that a lot of the ferries had unique names. Our ferry’s name was “Ouranos”. That brought up a whole array of cheesy quotes like:
“Hey Amos, do you think you’ll be able to fit the coach into Ouranos?”
“Ouranos is pretty big”
“I wonder what the inside of Ouranos looks like?”
This was going to be my second time on board a large ship. My first time, riding the ferry from England to France, showed me that I get sea sick. My first ride was only a couple hours - this one was going to be all night. Ashley gave me some Gravol (an ant-nausea medication) and we boarded the ship. The second I stepped foot on board I got the same dizzy feeling as before. I could once again feel the ship going up and down in the waves. Everyone else could barely feel the boat moving, but to me it felt like I was on a roller coaster. The sad part was, we hadn’t even started moving yet. The initial nausea wasn’t very bad, but I think that’s because the medication was working.
Our cabins were actually pretty nice. They each had a full bathroom and had four bunks to a room. It would have been better if there were windows, but as it turned out we weren’t going to be spending much time sleeping. Our arrival time in Greece was scheduled for 5:30am tomorrow morning.
We had dinner on the boat and the longer I was on board the worse I started feeling. After dinner everyone went up to the lounge and some people went and sat on the back deck. We hadn’t departed yet and I was dreading how I would start feeling when we actually started moving.
I sat in the lounge for a while, but the nausea kept getting worse and worse. It started to get so bad that I thought it would be best to go outside cause I was probably going to puke. I went on the back deck just as we embarked on our voyage across the Adriatic. As soon as the engines started running the vibration got even more intense and the waves got stronger. I ran to the edge of the deck and hung my head over the side of the boat. I had a couple dry heaves, but I somehow managed to keep dinner down. Amos and Ryan came over to see how I was going. They gave me some inspirational words like how I’d eventually get my sea legs, but all I wanted was to get off the ship. Having to spend the next ten hours on here seemed like an eternity. Tyler went looking for a place for me to sit that had less vibration. He found a wooden platform in the middle of the deck that wasn’t as bad. I went and sat on it and it actually helped a lot with the vibration, but nothing could cure the slow up & down motion that was making my head spin. I spent the next hour or so hanging my head over the side of the ship, but I never did puke. I think the Gravol was helping with that. My tour mates were really awesome in comforting me and making me feel better. I wish I could have enjoyed this ride with them, but my body just wouldn’t allow it. The best place for me was bed.
When I was sure I wasn’t going to get sick, I walked to my cabin to go to bed. I couldn’t even keep my balance while walking and almost fell going down some stairs. I crawled onto my bunk, laid down, and tried to sleep. The second I closed my eyes the room started spinning out of control. This sort of thing usually happens when I go to bed really drunk. I can usually stop the dizziness by putting one hand on the wall behind my bed, but apparently that doesn’t work with sea sickness. I tried to lay there and ignore the feeling, but it just became too much. I hopped out of bed, ran to the bathroom, and made it to the toilet just in time to hurl my guts out. I tried to go back to bed again after that, but as soon as I laid down the dizziness got worse again. I went back to the bathroom and threw up a second time. This time it made me feel a lot better. I went to bed again for a third time and was finally able to pass out. Good thing I had this experience before booking a week long cruise in the Caribbean.
Our cabins were actually pretty nice. They each had a full bathroom and had four bunks to a room. It would have been better if there were windows, but as it turned out we weren’t going to be spending much time sleeping. Our arrival time in Greece was scheduled for 5:30am tomorrow morning.
We had dinner on the boat and the longer I was on board the worse I started feeling. After dinner everyone went up to the lounge and some people went and sat on the back deck. We hadn’t departed yet and I was dreading how I would start feeling when we actually started moving.
I sat in the lounge for a while, but the nausea kept getting worse and worse. It started to get so bad that I thought it would be best to go outside cause I was probably going to puke. I went on the back deck just as we embarked on our voyage across the Adriatic. As soon as the engines started running the vibration got even more intense and the waves got stronger. I ran to the edge of the deck and hung my head over the side of the boat. I had a couple dry heaves, but I somehow managed to keep dinner down. Amos and Ryan came over to see how I was going. They gave me some inspirational words like how I’d eventually get my sea legs, but all I wanted was to get off the ship. Having to spend the next ten hours on here seemed like an eternity. Tyler went looking for a place for me to sit that had less vibration. He found a wooden platform in the middle of the deck that wasn’t as bad. I went and sat on it and it actually helped a lot with the vibration, but nothing could cure the slow up & down motion that was making my head spin. I spent the next hour or so hanging my head over the side of the ship, but I never did puke. I think the Gravol was helping with that. My tour mates were really awesome in comforting me and making me feel better. I wish I could have enjoyed this ride with them, but my body just wouldn’t allow it. The best place for me was bed.
When I was sure I wasn’t going to get sick, I walked to my cabin to go to bed. I couldn’t even keep my balance while walking and almost fell going down some stairs. I crawled onto my bunk, laid down, and tried to sleep. The second I closed my eyes the room started spinning out of control. This sort of thing usually happens when I go to bed really drunk. I can usually stop the dizziness by putting one hand on the wall behind my bed, but apparently that doesn’t work with sea sickness. I tried to lay there and ignore the feeling, but it just became too much. I hopped out of bed, ran to the bathroom, and made it to the toilet just in time to hurl my guts out. I tried to go back to bed again after that, but as soon as I laid down the dizziness got worse again. I went back to the bathroom and threw up a second time. This time it made me feel a lot better. I went to bed again for a third time and was finally able to pass out. Good thing I had this experience before booking a week long cruise in the Caribbean.
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