Pompeii

Our cruise landed in Naples on Thursday. When we got into port we first saw a big castle. But we were going to take a tour of Pompeii, so we had to get on a bus to get to the ruins. I was the only kid in our group. Once we got to the ruins, we got a radio and headphones so we could hear our guide better. Our guide’s name was Elena — my mom said, “Elena, like the Disney movie?”, but I told her the Elena from the Disney movie was spelled the same but you actually say “Ah-lay-nah” and for our tour guide, her name was like “Ellen” with an “a” at the end.

Before we entered the city of Pompeii, we first went to a shop that sells cameos — that’s what my mom called them, but they are faces carved into shells. We got to see how they were made. I guess Naples is known for their cameos.

Inside the ruins, I was amazed at what the houses and shops looked like. I was surprised at how important water was — they had fountains all over the city, and they had baths with water running through the walls to keep the room warm. We went into the gymnasium where the people got to train. They even had a swimming pool! We also saw some Pompeiian fast food places.

Pompeii was super hot, and there were so many people, it was like Disneyland in summer. It was so hot that I had to get some gelato before we left. I got cookies and cream AND mint! [Mom’s note: I was not aware that Eli had two kinds of gelato…that was Dad’s doing!]

It was a really hot day, but fun too.