Wednesday was an amazing day of geography, history, business studies and even a little chemistry. Following an early start we took our first coach ride to the incredible ancient roman city of Pompeii. Here we were guided through the labyrinthine streets by our expert guide who told us the story of the catastrophic eruption of 79ad. We saw the eerily life like plaster cast remains of some of the 3000 victims of the disaster. He also painted a vivid picture of the day to day life for the Romans of Pompeii. From the life of the gladiator to the merchants that gave Pompeii its wealth, we saw how each layer of Roman society lived.
After a quick lunch stop at Pompeii we headed up to visit the villain of the story, mount Vesuvius. Although dormant the steam rising from the central crater clearly indicated the power of this wonder of nature. After a gruelling climb to the top of the mountain we met with Stefano, our resident expert guide who then took us on a very special tour of the crater. To say that the terrain was challenging is an understatement and all staff were incredibly impressed with the way that the students rose to this challenge. Whether it was the heat, the height, the rocky terrain or the 300m sheer drop into the crater all students completed the once in a lifetime experience. Our guide explained the story of the eruption and demonstrated the heat still escaping.
Given the exertion of the day, the evening was spent back at the hotel reviewing the impacts of tourism on the places that we had visited during the last two days. After a quick quiz bed was a welcomed site.