Well technically, I've already been here for a day and this is definitely not the first thing I've done (today I visited the old ruins of Pompei and saw mummified people and a mural of a very cheerful Venus, for example) but there we go.
I also got to see the school I'm working at today, which was nice. The staff are friendly, the headmaster doesn't speak a word of English, and the kids tried to tell me a joke which took about ten minutes to get to the end, but it was actually quite funny. I don't start there till next week now, as I have to travel up to Rome for an induction with the British Council. So Wednesday = start of new job.
Now for some observations about Pompei!
1) It is currently far too hot for September. But maybe that's just me being British, I can't be sure.
2) The only wildlife seems to be stray dogs, pigeons, lizards and insects. Also, one small cat that we saw near our hotel.
3) Italian mosquitoes are the only ones that like to eat me...
4) It is possible to buy dinner for two here for less than €20, unlike in Venice and some other parts of the country. All you have to do is ignore the places with 'tourist menus' and follow the people who look like locals to a place with cheap and delicious pizza.
5) After eating my first calzone for lunch today, I can confirm that they are, indeed, very tasty.
6) If you go to the right handbag shop when they have a promotion on, you can get a free cuddly turtle!
7) If the weather is too nice for an umbrella (which it probably will be until November), and you don't want to carry it around when it's been rendered obsolete, use it instead as a sunshade (also helps if, like me, you forget your hat).
8) There are some very nice hotels here, even if they look a bit scruffy on the outside. Fortunately, ours does not, and it has some very pretty mosaic tiles :)
9) There is a train line here that has the sole purpose of circling Mt. Vesuvius and going through all the little villages around it. They have the main train line, and the little Circumvesuviana. It's a bit like the St Ives Branch Line, I suppose.
10) Flats in Pompei are HUGE. Claudia, my mentor at the school and one of the English teachers, has a flat for four people with four rooms, which might not seem like much, but let me say this: my mum and dad's bedroom could probably fit twice into one of theirs...
I think that might be the end of my blogging for now, at least this entry. I'll leave you with a few more of the pictures I took today!
Ruins of the Pompei Amphitheatre
View of Vesuvius from one of the reproduced vineyards
Looking down one of the roads (no idea what it's called) with 2000-year-old paving stones. Very bad for ankles...
I'm not entirely sure what this used to be, but it's one of my favourite photos so far :)
Until next time,
