University of Birmingham CAHA Study Tour

A daily blog to document the two-week adventure of our CAHA Study Tour in Italy! Read about our tour here, and use the links below to navigate the entries of our blog. Or, you can read our blog from the beginning: Click here for the first part from the beginning - Naples Click here for the second part from the beginning - Rome

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Day 15/15

11th April 2016

Our last day was a day of waiting.

We had to be out of our apartment by 10am, but we couldn’t be lugging our suitcases around archaeological sites and tourist spots. Instead, we lugged our suitcases over the cobbled streets of Trastevere that led to the Piazza di Santa Maria.

We set ourselves under the creeping sun, flicked through photos of the trip, sipped on coffee and sweet tea, and recalled our fondest - and some not-so-fond - memories.

Maddy and I wandered off around the surrounding streets, and visited the San Cosimato market that I had planned to see on the first day. It was oddly small, with only a few stalls set up, and fewer people, but I knew that the market closed at 1.30pm, and had probably dwindled since its 6am opening.

Sitting in the sun had not been our forte in days packed with moving and bustling onto public transport and ducking into crypts and beneath amphitheaters. So we re-located to a small restaurant in the piazza and lunched on Caesar salad and bruschetta, thankful for shade.

Our few hours of waiting slipped away and soon the Basilica bells were ringing 2pm. We dragged our cases back to the tram stop, arrived at Trastevere station - eerily similar to Campi Flegrei in Naples that we had been to so many times! - and then bought our tickets for our train to Fiumicino airport.

The trip was short and uneventful, and as we arrived in the airport, ready to split off to our respective terminals, it dawned on us that we were splitting up as a group. Study Tour - what we had been waiting for since First Year, and planning for every week in Second - was finished.

Of course, we still have to write our 3000-word reports, and draw together all our research and ideas and take into account the changes to our tour that might affect our question.

It had gone so quickly, and could be called nothing but eventful. We saw an entirely different culture, both in the people that swarmed around us every day, and in the ruins that had been crumbling around us for 2000 years and more. We tried our hardest to be Neapolitan/Roman, with cameras around our necks and wearing t-shirts when everyone else wore scarves. We moved through the city, on the metros and trams, sometimes walking up to 20,000 steps a day, with the knowledge and internal compasses of the locals. We gained clarity on our research topics, and in many ways gained no clarity at all. With so much to see, to learn about, it had been more than we’d set out to see.

Thank you, University of Birmingham.

- Bethan & Italy Group 7

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Day 14/15

10th April 2016

We rose early, popped to the shops to buy ingredients for dinner, and were ready to leave mid-morning for our visit for Ostia Antica.

We travelled by bus, and then along the Lido line from Basillica S. Paolo to Ostia Antica for about half an hour. We were ready, and excited, with plans of the site and our personal parts to visit written down - and then we reached the gates.

We apologise for the convenience, but the site will be closed today for hydraulic works.

With not a little annoyance, and some upset, we had to abandon an otherwise empty Ostica with heavy hearts. Social media and the Ostia Antica website had given no notice to its closure, and our previous excitement was replaced by the disappointment of all the excavations we would now miss. The four Mithraeums that were so vital to Freya; the excavations of the thermopolium and food production for myself; the temples and local statues dedicated to women for Philippa...

It taught us that sometimes disaster strikes, and no matter how hard we plan, they cannot be averted. We shared anger-tinged laughter with other tourists that arrived at the gates while we re-read the sign, and after a short while pulled our backpacks on again and heading to the station.

We split into two groups of three and four, one group heading back to the apartment, and the other into Rome to do some hopeful wandering. As my group sat on the metro to Colosseo, it dawned on me that I had seen a sign only days ago for a foodie hypermall, Eataly, that in advertisement images reminded me so much of the ancient marketplace of Trajan. And it was at the next metro stop.

After some wandering around the streets near Pyramide, we finally came across a remarkable, towering metropolis of delicatessen food. It was filled with the smell of freshly baked bread, heady local beers and wines, maturing cheeses, pizzas oven-baked footsteps away, fish and meats prepared in front of us, avocados that glowed and pineapples rich with sharp juice. I couldn’t help but imagine that this sprawl of rich food and drink and local produce would have appeared in some similar ways two thousand years ago. Perhaps not in an indoor building with white-painted flooring and walls and electricity, but maybe in the sun-lit alcoves of Trajan’s market and the thermopolium of Pompeii and Herclaneum, where vendors sold watered cups of wine, handfuls of salted nuts and dried fruit, and rich cuts of meat cooked in front of you. 

Though the girls in my group wandered with awed eyes around the floors of Eataly, and were grateful for the delicious frappés of chocolate and hazelnut and whipped cream, I was almost grateful for Ostia’s closure for the opportunity to envisage - perhaps - a modern food culture.

We ate our lunch on the top floor of the building, quiet and clean and reserved for kitchens that were the classrooms of a resident cooking school, and then continued our journey into Rome. Conscious that we had seen all that we wanted to, and that the Rome 2016 Marathon was still underway in the centre of Rome, we wandered to a gelateria and café recommended to us some by local Romans.

The queue for Giolotti’s Gelateria told us all we needed to know about the store that stood only a few streets down from the Parthenon. Tickets for gelato were paid for at the door, flavours were displayed on screens above the counters, and the men moved behind the vats of gelato with awe-inspiring speed in the face of the tickets being waved towards them in hungry fists.

The coconut was bitty and fresh and sweet, the tiramisu rich and heavy, and the coffee divinely bitter. The whipped cream was thick and deliciously free - so be sure to say yes when asked! 

Moving on, we found a small, famed café that also had a queue, but with gelato dripping down our ice-cream cones and the sun bearing down, we had to turn the recommendation down. We popped our heads into a bookstore near our usual tram-stop, and flicked through the pages of Italian and a surprising number of English books. Determined to make the most of our final day, and my group dwindling down to three, we jumped on a tram to the Vatican to see the interior of St Peter’s Basilica that we had passed by on our trip earlier in the week. We arrived, and it was closed for preparation of the evening service, and we took this as a sign to return to the apartment - not before stopping off for cannolo and brownie at a tram-side café. Somehow, it was 7pm.

After a full day of food and maybe too much indulgence, I wandered from the apartment to take a last minute stroll around Trastevere, to enjoy the evening warmth and consider all that our study tour had been, all that we’d seen - and hadn’t - and all that we had come to learn and had yet to. 

Maddy cooked a delicious dish of pasta with courgette and aubergines and tomatoes when I arrived back, and, after packing, we settled in for a quiet night ready for our coming day of travel and farewell to Rome.

- Bethan

ps. I forgot my camera this day, so sadly my photos are only from my phone. Please enjoy, nevertheless!

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 13/15

9th April 2016

Our penultimate day was our last full day in the city of Rome before Ostia tomorrow, which meant that anything we had missed, or wanted to see that was based in the city, had to be done today. 

The original plan for the day was a visit to San Clemente (once a Mithraeum, now a church), then onto the Palazzo Valentini (an underground Roman site), the National Museum, a late lunch in the Park of the Aqueducts, and then watching the sunset from the Gianicolo Hill. However, with group members discovering new additional sites that were more relevant, the picnic in the park, and later Gianicolo Hill, were sadly scrapped. Instead, we headed for our first additional site, Trajan’s Forum.

 Accumulating another free ticket (thanks again, Ken!), we wandered through the Forum, which was surprisingly well-preserved, and offered more spectacular views of the city. Stopping for lunch on the stands set up for the Rome marathon the following day, we overlooked the Temple of Mars. With it starting to spit with rain, we hurried off to our next addition – the Domus Aurea. Unfortunately there was a restriction on the number of people allowed inside at once (25 people if you’re curious!) and most people had reservations; with the strict time schedule we were on, we couldn’t afford to wait. So Domus Aurea, was also sadly crossed off our list. It taught us an end of the trip lesson – even with impromptu visits to sites, it’s all about research, research and more research! 

Quickly moving onto San Clemente, we arrived just as the doors were opening for the afternoon session. Some of us waited in the (warm!) church and caught up on writing up the day so far, whilst the others descended into the depths of the ancient Roman city to the Mithraeum. Sadly no photos were allowed of either the church or underground remains. With a few minutes to spare in our hectic day, we headed to the (dare I say best?!) gelateria, and in true British style, we ate our deliciously scrumptious Cannelloni, Snickers, and Cappuccino flavoured ice creams (to name but a few flavours!) wrapped up in scarves, as the grey clouds spat rain, walking to the metro outside the Colosseum.  

A mere two stops on and we arrived at Termini station, opposite the National Museum. We scuttled inside, out of April’s chilly and blustery winds, to find that the tickets we had bought at Crypta Babli a few days ago were valid here too (TOP TIP: this ticket covers all three of the National Museums in Rome and the Crypta Balbi over a three-day period, so you don’t need to buy a new ticket at each place! Or if you have Ken’s letter, you only need to present it once!). After dropping off our bags in the secure cloak/locker room, we split up to peruse the artefacts at our own leisure, with a meeting point and time arranged. 

The museum was fantastic. I initially thought that the museum was quite small, but this museum is the epitome of ‘quality not quantity’. There is such a variety in subject: from a section of statues of athletes, a glimpse at the garden fresco from Livia Drusilla’s Villa of Livia’s, an extremely impressive numismatics collections, and my favourite area: women and children, where we saw the Roman Barbie (which two of us had been taught about in lectures in Semester One!). 

It came to nearly closing time, and all of us feeling like an athlete post- (marathon!) race, we caught the metro to Pyramid and trundled to a restaurant built on Monte Testaccio that we’d passed on Monday. With an hour to kill before it opened, we found a place to grab a drink (hot chocolate to warm up our bones!), play some card games, and think about our favourite moments of not just the day, but the tour so far. 

Dinner was in a lovely restaurant full of locals (a sign of a great place), and not even the announcement of pizzas not being available, dampened our weary spirits. Hopping on a bus back to the apartment, it was time for a cup of tea, a hot shower, and well-deserved sleep before our final full day in Rome. 

- Philippa

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Day 12/15

8th April 2016

We woke to a windy and overcast morning, and with BBC weather threatening rain, we decided to not travel to the very open Park of Aqueducts and spend some more time at other sites. After a grocery shop and some day-planning, we left the apartment at 1pm and made our way to the Vatican. Having cleverly moved it in our itinerary from Saturday to today hoping it would be quieter; within just half-an-hour of queues and security, we were inside. 

After a quick lunch we made our way around the museum, in which a third of the rooms were disappointingly shut, but they nonetheless exhibited a vast collection of busts, sculptures and mosaics as well as 12th and 19th tapestry and modern art collections. 

The famous Sistine Chapel, we unanimously agreed afterwards, was a little underwhelming. The beautiful paintings and holy atmosphere was lost in the packed crowd and the ironic microphone announcements that demanded silence and no photos. Michelangelo's iconic ‘Creation of Adam', although much less prominent than any of us had imagined, being one of many in the highly-decorated ceiling, was nonetheless exciting to see as the original. 

We found our way back to the apartment via Trajan's Market to familiarise ourselves with our starting point in the following day’s travels, and a look at the famed Spanish Steps. We made an industrial size pasta bake with pesto and spinach and huge pieces of mozzarella, and in the evening headed into Trastevere's Santa Maria Piazza for evening cocktails, followed by a spontaneous trip to the Colosseum via the night tram. It was incredible to see it lit up at night, and we sat on the stands in front of the Augustan Forum to take in the lamp-lit views. Rome was so quiet that night, and we saw few people; for a few hours it seemed like the city was ours. 

- Freya

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Day 10/15

6th April 2016 

We started the day early, leaving the apartment at 9.10, only 10 minutes later than planned - our best time yet! We caught the 781 bus to Teatro Marcello and made our way (the long route around, we later found) to the Capitoline Museum. Greeted with Roman statues, we collected our free entry tickets (thanks Ken!) and entered the beautiful building. Downstairs was my personal favourite. Laid out in an inspiringly curated fashion, a series of inscriptions which gave us a touching and intimate insight into the lives of citizens, freedmen and freedwomen. Downstairs also held a spectacular view of the Roman forum in hazy sunlight, at which we may have pretended to be Roman leaders, addressing our people. Throughout the museum we found beautiful sculpture, mosaic and paintings of Roman, Greek and Christian origin. A sculpture that stuck with me was an early Roman Imperial marble base of greyhounds which looked very much like my own pooch! 

After two hours engrossed in beautiful imagery, we sat on the Capitoline Hill and ate our lunch, people-watching and ducking from pigeons. We then began the second half of our day in which I’d planned a route of various sites that would be of interest for our projects. We walked back to the Theatre of Marcellus, which towered over us with its impressive arches and through to the Portico of Octavia which sadly had scaffolding surrounding it, obscuring it from view. Nevertheless, we were impressed by its scale as we imagined Ovid and his companions hanging around it on the hunt for women. It’s proximity to the theatre in which tens of thousands of spectators would visit was of special interest to Philippa - whose project focuses on women - as it meant the dedicated portico was in a well-seen and well-traveled location. 

We then trundled on our way to the Pantheon, which was unsurprisingly magical, and sat for a while breathing in it’s scale, resting our feet and debating whether the hole in the top had glass in it or not. (I won that bet, by the way. It is simply a hole and the floor is curved in a way that drains any rainwater. The majesty of architecture!) Leaving the Pantheon, we followed those who had been previously and turned a corner to find the magical Trevi Fountain. What amazes me about Rome is how close together such impressive sites are, so that you can quite literally stumble upon them! After an obligatory group selfie with the fountain we followed our noses to an incredible ice-cream shop. I had a scoop each of blueberry, forest fruits and coconut which were all almost as glorious as the fountain itself! (I’d even hasten to say best coconut ice-cream I’ve ever tasted!) After refuelling on sugar, we wandered over to the Ara Pacis which, again, we got in for free thanks to our letters from Ken. I was astounded by the floral decoration, part of the topic I am researching, and read that the frieze with spirals is actually a single plant made up of numerous different species. 

This was officially - according to our itinerary - the end of our day, but as we were so punctual in the morning we realised it was only 2.30pm! So as we were on a roll and already in town, we decided to find something else to have a look at. After looking at a map, we found that the Castel Sant’Angelo, which is also the Mausoleum of Hadrian, was just across the Tiber from us, so we set off again. On our way, we were distracted by a police officer speeding past on a motorcycle. Soon to follow were tens more, accompanying swanky black cars with blacked out windows. It turns out the Norwegian royal family were inside. We were impressed, but Philippa was a little more than impressed. She jumped. She squealed. I think she may have hyperventilated? 

The Castel Sant’Angelo was magnificent. A mixture of Roman and medieval, catholic and pagan due to it’s fluctuation in function from mausoleum to fortress, to castle, to museum. We walked the place over more than enough times for our state, delirious on sun, extreme amounts of walking, and starry-eyed by the spectacle of sights of the day. Finally, Freya turned to me with eyes turned down and whimpered, ‘I think I need to go home.’ We all agreed that we were very impressed, but also had reached the delusional hilarity stage of tired. Philippa fed us some biscuits to keep us going until we reached home. And so, with heavy hearts and heavy feet - not alike swift-footed Achilles - a quiet bus followed by a familiar sardine-tin tram took us home to Trastevere. Now, we dine, and ponder the majesty of the day. 

- Maddy

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Day 9/15

5 April 2016

I eased us into our first day of Rome by planning a gentler day than wandering around all the central Roman sites (Colosseum, Forum, etc.) My research project focuses on the differences between modern and ancient food cultures in Italy/Rome, and so when planning our mini guides according to our draft itinerary, I researched surrounding food markets/areas that we could visit.

We went to the supermarket this morning to do a group shop for essentials and dinner, and after that visited a nearby tabacchi to buy our 7-day CIS card. This will allow us to travel on the bus, metro, tram, and train – the same as our travel cards in Naples. Our Rome accommodation changed last-minute whilst in Naples, so the directions I’d written for our study guides weren’t as accurate as I’d hoped. We eventually found the right bus stop that I’d found in the morning via Google Maps, and were on our way to our first stop: Piazza di Santa Maria Trastevere.

We wandered down a few streets before arriving in the Piazza – which was empty. We had started our day later than expected after the supermarket, and I thought I’d missed the opening hours. (I realised later in the evening that the market I expected to see in the Piazza should instead have been the Piazza San Cosimato market – a measly two minute walk away! Needless to say, I will be visiting again one early morning this week.) Before leaving we popped our heads into the Basilica di Santa Maria, a gorgeous structure with gilded, golden ceilings and Renaissance paintings, and it made the visit worth it.

After Santa Maria, we headed into Campo di’Fiori to see the market there. There were stalls of rainbow-coloured pasta, kilos of sundried tomatoes, tomatoes green as emeralds, bottles of delicatessen oils and vinegars, and rich meats and pungent cheeses. Though it felt quite tourist-focused, it was really interesting to see how food culture has maintained its social sphere where people have to physically go to a market to purchase their food from a handler/grocer/farmer. It suggests that we – or the Italian culture – has not been desensitised to the food being purchasing and eaten from a supermarket, and where having the name of the farm owner on a cellophane wrapped pack of bananas is the closest we get to the origin of our food.

From Campo di’Fiori we walked to Testaccio Market – or at least we thought we did. We walked into the Piazza where I thought the market was, and I was hit again with the disappointment that perhaps I had missed its opening hours despite my research. We sat down in the square to eat our lunch, framed around a fountain of amphorae (perhaps a reference to Monte Testaccio). An Italian local wandered over to where we were sitting to say hello and talk to us about his visit to Scotland and Hadrian’s Wall, and we took the opportunity to ask him about the market. He said it had closed two years ago, but the new market had opened up just down the street as a permanent, indoor market, and would probably have some stalls still open. We thanked him and rushed down the road, where indeed there was a market – and a gelato stall! The market was an interesting reflection on how some markets have moved from a spontaneous, fluid, and open affair to something that is enclosed and permanent and more in-line with our modern, indoor shopping experiences. Campo di’Fiori seemed like an imitation of what markets used to be, with tourism rather than authenticity keeping it alive.

After Testaccio we wandered down the road to take a look at the Monte Testaccio, a mound of amphorae shards that had piled up over hundreds of years during the classical period to form an artificial ceramic hill. We walked to the Piramide metro (so-called because of the 12 BC Pyramid of Sestius outside it), to Colosseo. Passing the Colosseum and Forum, we made our way in the rising heat to the Crypta Balbi with the directions I had printed, a museum built upon the remains of the Theatre of Balbus. It laid out what the historical centre of Rome looked like in its classical contemporary period up until the Medieval Ages, and held a Mithraeum that was unfortunately only open on Saturdays.

We made a quick café stop to get more gelato and caffè freddo (and use the free WiFi for directions!), and then jumped on the tram that stopped a two-minute walk to the apartment, where we enjoyed much-needed showers, an hour’s nap, and cooked a vegetable and formaggio risotto for dinner.

A long, fast-paced day with some confusion, but we had a wonderful first day in Rome, and we can’t wait for our second tomorrow!

- Bethan

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 8/15

4 April 2016

Today was the day that we would be leaving our apartment in Naples and moving to our new home in Rome. Our train wasn't until 4:25 in the afternoon, so we had a lot of time to kill! As our landlord didn’t need us out of the apartment until midday, the morning began as a relaxed one (apart from those who hadn’t quite finished packing yet, and the kitchen cleanup crew!).  

A few of us decided that we would re-visit the National Archaeological Museum of Naples in the morning before check-out to see any exhibits that we may have missed. This was a nice way to spend our last day in Naples; appreciating their incredible collection of Roman artefacts and artwork.

Once finished at the museum, we grabbed lunch using leftover groceries and made our way to Piazza Garibaldi to wait for our train. By this point, we had about an hour and a half to wait, so we sat outside a cafe in the station to relax for a while. We played card games - Speed, Sevens, and Spoons all made an appearance - had a gelato or two, and relaxed until it was time to board our train. The train was luxury compared to the metros we’d been on in the past week, almost like an aeroplane! Getting all of our luggage loaded on was a bit of a struggle, but we were blessed with free WiFi for the whole journey (except for poor Freya!) and beautiful views of the Italian countryside.

Once in Rome we hailed taxis, made our way to the new apartment, and settled in. Rooms were chosen and dinner cooked - followed by a lovely evening of card games.

What a way to start the week!

- Lia

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Day 7/15

3 April 2016

After waking up at a reasonable time, we ventured to Ercolano Scavi station on the Circumvesuviana line. We were coming to know the Naples transport impressively well! A short walk brought us to the ruins of Herculaneum and before entering, we couldn’t help but stop to gaze over the ancient site in its entirety.  

When we did eventually arrive we were unfortunately greeted by a ridiculous number of tourists. Halfway to the ticket office we realised that it was a Sunday (free entry), which explained the lengthy queue; the latter half of the hour wait was exasperating, especially in 26-degree heat!    

We spent the afternoon roaming the many narrow streets of the ancient town and were pleasantly surprised at how well-preserved it was. The visit to Pompeii on Friday gave us great means to compare Herculaneum to. We came across a number of insulae and thermopolia, although we were sadly let down once we were informed that the Villa of Papyri was closed for excavation.

Despite some confusion on the location of the boat houses, as expected it was an emotional experience seeing the skeletons of those affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Having sufficiently fulfilled our research objectives, we met as a group for a late lunch and had a browse in the gift shop.

Although the return to Ercolano Scavi station was a difficult affair, we decided to head to Toledo to buy last minute necessities for Rome. We headed back to the apartment to freshen up before treating ourselves to dinner out -- after all, it was our final night in Naples! After a glass of wine or two later we decided it was probably a good idea to pack and get a good night’s sleep ready for Rome the next day.

- Charlotte

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 6/15

2 April 2016

After such a productive and long day yesterday (a third of the way through our Study Tour!) we decided that we’d have a bit of a rest day on the archaeological sight-seeing. We’d reserved Saturday for another day at Pompeii in our itinerary, but we’ve come to learn that plans can change quite quickly.

I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to walk up Vesuvius whilst in Naples, so I headed to the volcano while the rest of the group headed to the outskirts of Naples to do some exploring and find a cloudy beach.

Having researched the route the night before, and already travelling it to Pompeii and Villa Poppaea, I hopped on the Circumvesuviana train at Garibaldi and headed to Ercolano. I was grateful that my research had proved true, and bus ticket vendor for the ‘Vesuvio Express’ was to my left as I left the station. I bought a joint ticket for the 30-minute bus trip and an entry to the crater.

The bus journey was a little nail-biting, the driver swerving around awkward corners on the road and beeping to narrowly miss motorbikes and cars, but I got there in one piece! Hoodie tied around the waist, backpack hoisted on, camera around the neck and water bottle in hand: I was ready to tackle Vesuvius!

Admittedly, the Express had already brought me and a coachful of tourists already 1000m up, but the half an-hour steep walk in the heat to the crater was a little tiring. Thankfully there was a cool breeze, and the views of Naples and the inside of the volcano was incredible. While having lunch and looking over the Bay of Naples, the city and the stretch of sea, it suddenly dawned on me how many people would have been affected by the eruption in 79 AD. Though the population would have been much smaller, Vesuvius was no longer a mass of black on the horizon, but something much darker – as we came to see in the boathouses of Herculaneum.

The driver had given until 5pm for our coach to come back down, and at that time we headed back down to Ercolano station. I got the train Ercolano to Garibaldi, and then onto Campi Flegrei. Sitting in a quiet apartment for half an hour, I was told that two other members of the group were in Naples doing a bit of evening shopping before the stores closed. I hopped back on the train, and got the tube to Toledo station – apparently voted one of the most interesting/beautiful metros in Europe!

We popped our heads into a few stores, before making our way back to the apartment at 10pm to make a quick bowl of courgette and tomato pasta, and playing a game of cards in the kitchen before bed.

- Bethan

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 5/15

1 April 2016

After a fairly relaxed, but still relatively early morning, we journeyed to Pompeii Scavi station, conscious that we had completed almost a third of our whole tour. Thankfully, the journey was somewhat smooth, especially in comparison to others we’ve been faced with in the last few days – getting on the wrong train was fortunately avoided! 

Despite some confusion with tickets, we all managed to get in and headed straight for the Forum. After deciding a time and place to meet for lunch, we split off into two separate groups ( we thought it easier since everyone had different topics). We spent the morning wandering the many streets of Pompeii. There were certain buildings/aspects my group wanted to see, first and foremost. In the morning we saw the House of the Faun, the Villa of Mysteries, Street of Tombs, the small and large theatres and gladiators’ barracks (among various houses, shops and restaurants) – all of which did not disappoint. We met back at the Forum for a sunny lunch until we continued on with our exploring. 

The afternoon brought us past the Amphitheatre, Palaestra, Stabian Baths, House of Menander, and (after some slight navigational difficulty) the Lupanare; the latter of which we were the most excited for and which was a favourite of all of ours. We ended up finishing at a fairly reasonable time and, feeling sufficiently fulfilled with what we had all seen, we headed back to the station. Our journey back was somewhat eventful (a broken down train, to say the least), but we did manage to survive getting home. 

A quick trip to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies was needed, and we then found ourselves happily relaxing back at the apartment. For dinner we even made an attempt at making our own pizzas from scratch!

- Tara

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 4/15

31 March 2016

Our day started out with a luxuriously late start; leaving our apartment at around 9:30am to catch a train from Campi Flegrei to Pozzuoli Solfatana. Our initial plan was to visit the ruins of ancient Baiae (or ‘Baia’ as it’s locally known); however this journey didn’t turn out the way we’d planned! On arrival at the metro station in Pozzuoli, we got ourselves lost. (Again.) It turns out the main train station in Pozzuoli isn’t as easy to find as Google Maps says it is! As we began to wander around the town, we came across – quite by chance – the Flavian amphitheatre. This was a site that we had originally planned to visit on our travel day to Italy, but (for obvious reasons) we gave it a miss.

After a short walk around the outside of the surrounding gates we found the entrance to the site. Once again gaining ourselves free entry (thank you, University of Birmingham!) we started to explore. We first went down underneath the amphitheatre; it always seems – at least to me – the most exciting part of this type of structure because of the hidden passages and awe-inspiring arched corridors. Whilst we were looking around, we ran into a cheerful Italian man named Sergio who worked there. He told us some very interesting facts about the site and the gladiators, such as where the aqueducts were and how they would have worked, and how the gladiators and wild beasts were hoisted up into the arena. Another thing that Sergio did was treat us with exclusive access to areas of the site not currently open to the public! We were able to further explore tunnels and see a beautiful original piece of ceiling décor.

Leaving the amphitheatre behind, we wandered in the direction of the Pozzuoli train station, using directions an elderly Italian man gave us. One thing I’ve noticed in Italy is that everyone we ask for help has been extremely helpful; even if there’s a language barrier they gesture wildly in hopes we’ll get the message (and we usually do!) After getting lost, again, we got help from a woman we found sitting in a nearby piazza. She spoke very good English and ended up walking us to the nearest train station, Cappuccini. (SPOTTED: a Robert De Niro lookalike… Or was it?) From there, we hopped on a train headed to Lucrino. Once getting off the train, we couldn’t find any signs pointing to the archaeological park of Baiae. It turned out that we had got off at the wrong stop, so headed back to the station and rode the train for one more stop, to Fusaro. From there, we asked a security guard for directions, walked up a hill and voilá! We were there!

Baiae was absolutely amazing. The views were intoxicating, so much so that we simply sat on a bench overlooking the sea for at least 15 minutes. The archaeological ruins themselves were very interesting. Secret tunnels leading to open rooms, and the many staircases to climb kept us constantly encountering new things! Perhaps the most interesting element in Baiae, aside from the views, was the so-called ‘Temple of Mercury’, or ‘Temple of Echo’. The dome-like structure was flooded with water, and the echo inside was enough to disorientate! We spent (maybe) a bit too much time in there, testing our harmonies, making sound effects and pretending to be the Clangers.

We spent the evening train hopping, finding our way to the nearest beach, having a swim, and ending the day with dinner in Mergellina. Sun burn aside, all-in-all a pretty incredible day!

- Lia

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 2/15

29 March 2016

The day started with an early rise, which wasn’t too bad after the 12 hours sleep we got last night! Before breakfast we made a trip to the local supermarket where we picked up our individual snacks, as well as breakfast and items for our group dinner cooking (plans for make your own pizza tomorrow, watch this space!). 

After breakfast we headed to the metro station Campi Flegrei (being careful crossing the roads with the crazy Italian drivers!) and made our way to the main station, Garibaldi. We travelled with a 7-day travel pass that we bought from a local tabacchi, and which cost us only €15 for almost the whole week’s transport! From Graibaldi, we caught the train to Torre Annunziata, where the Villa Poppaea was a quick five minute walk in the sunshine from the station. 

With letters from from the University, we got our free tickets and made our way to our first ancient site of the trip! The villa was amazing. We were startled by the preservation of the walls; we could still see all the intricacies of the paintings - the little bees, goats and birds. It was a very enjoyable walk around, marveling at the huge pool that Poppaea (Nero’s second wife) would have bathed in, and all the sitting rooms she would have lounged in! We had our packed lunches there, accompanied by the typical local dog (dog one of the day!) and then headed back to the train station to go to Vesuvius.

After making our first rookie error, we ended up unexpectedly back at Garibaldi station - we had assumed every train stopped at all the stops, and had got onto a direct train by accident! Quickly rerouting, we jumped onto the train back to Vesuvius, but realising that we had spent longer at Villa Poppaea than we had anticipated, and with the cloud covering the volcano, we decided to move Vesuvius to another day. Instead we headed straight to Sorrento, where we had a wander down the beach (had a quick paddle!), were greeted by another local dog (dog two!) and then followed the scent of pizza and pasta to a restaurant. A delicious and filling meal of pastas, breads and pizzas later, we wandered back to the train station (spotting dog three), stopping for an Italian ice cream on the way and admiring the beautiful evening city lights.

We’ve just got back into our apartment at 10.30pm and are sorting out our finances for the day, writing up our visits to help us prepare for our projects, and getting ready for that all important slumber for a very early start tomorrow - our train to Capua is at 7.45am!

- Philippa

[caha-study-tour-blog]

Day 1/15

Monday 28th April 2016

After a 3am start to catch our flights - and running on little or no sleep - half of us finally arrived in Naples to begin our study tour. We settled in to the apartment we had rented for the week, and then wandered down to a small vendor to buy some food for the evening; he sold tomatoes in kilos and fennel the size of small footballs. The rest of us finally arrived at the apartment, having travelled from different airport.

Struggling with the tiredness of being awake for 24+ hours, some us made a tomato linguine for the rest of the group as a bit of R+R. We sat around the kitchen table making a shopping list for the morning and a plan for the following day:

- Buy a 7-day transport pass from a nearby Tabacchi

- Visit:

the Villa de Poppaea

the National Park of Vesuvius

and then catch a boat/train/bus around to Sorrento in the early evening.

Bed came around early - 8pm for some of us! - and we’re quietly glad for that 12 hours of sleep before we had to be up in the morning.

- Bethan

[caha-study-tour-blog]

This blog is run by a group of seven students travelling to Italy for a two-week Study Tour as part of our course. We are all Classical Literature and Civilisation students, and will be visiting a range of sites to help us gain evidence for our individual research topics:

Food culture in ancient and modern Rome; flora and fauna in ancient artistic depiction; ‘muted groups’ in ancient Rome; the lives of the Pompeiians before the eruption of Vesuvius; the ancient cult of Mithras; Roman classical sculpture; the deification of Roman women.

We will be travelling from the UK to Naples for one week, during which time we’ll also visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. We then travel down to Rome for a week where we will also be able to visit the remains of Ostia Antica.

Our Study Tour will be a brilliant opportunity from our department to gain first-hand insight into ancient Roman civilisation, and to analyse remaining material culture for an academic purpose.

- Bethan