Charlie Hurring
As we cruise along the Italian countryside on our way to Venice, I can reflect on the past few days in Florence. For me, Florence was definitely my favourite place of the trip to date, I loved the low key atmosphere of the streets and the natural beauty of the town, in contrast to the bustling streets of Athens and Rome.
For me the highlight of Florence was Pompeii. About an hour outside Florence, Pompeii is an ancient city that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79AD, and has since been excavated to provide a popular tourist destination. What I found so interesting about Pompeii was how untouched the town has been by modern society; you can see exactly how the locals used to live, which is something that is very hard to find around the world. We roamed around Pompeii for about two hours, and really got a glimpse into the daily life of the Pompeians.
This experience will leave a lasting impression on me as I was able to see just how different, and in most circumstances difficult, life was for most people centuries ago.
Another memorable experience has been a new game that the boys have developed. In the game, the boy giving the speech on the certain historical landmark has been given a word that they must say in their speech several times. For example, Tommy Hayes had to say 'peasant' seven times during his speech on the Duomo, providing outstanding laughs among the boys. Other attempts were very unsuccessful, eg Sam Bassett, who's attempt to incorporate the word 'pingers' three times into his speech caused nothing but awkwardness and cringing among spectators.
