Pompeii. One of the world’s most famously preserved ruins of an actual living and functioning Roman city, covered in over 19 feet of ash and volcanic debris from the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This has been one of the excursions I have been most looking forward to and I can tell you that it did not disappoint. After learning about ancient Greek and Roman history during my three years of Latin courses in high school, I have always been fascinated with the culture and mystery of these once famous peoples. With Pompeii being on my bucket list for a very long time, I am so happy to say that today I finally got the opportunity to cross it off!

I absolutely cannot believe that places like this actually exist and that I’m lucky enough to be able to see them in person! This ancient city truly is preserved in time and it’s incredible that I get to actually walk the same streets that Romans once did. See down below for example!

While I easily could’ve spent the entire day exploring the ancient streets and sidewalks, walking my way through history, the cobblestone roads and beating sun left us with quite an appetite! After refueling with pizza at a local restaurant, we stopped at one of the best pasticceria and gelaterias in town. Of course no day in Italy is quite complete without a little gelato!

Fun fact: the archeological ruins are named Pompeii, but the surrounding town is called Pompei (with only one i)!

That’s all for this post! It’s time for me to go eat the big bowl of gnocchi my host mom set out for us for dinner and hit. the. hay. It’s officially been 3 weeks and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my time here. Stay tuned for more adventures and travel tips coming in the future!

Ciao a tutti!

Kasey