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| The Grandeur of the Greek Temples at Paestum |
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Sunday, July 4, was a “free” day.
The group split into two groups more along the lines of age rather than whether we were Latinists or not. The younger group took a ferry to Capri and took a boat tour
and hiked up to see Tiberius' villa. They also got to see the Blue
Grotto... I would have liked that!
The young-at-heart generation
followed a tour leader, Tom, to Paestum to see the museum and ruins
there, particularly the Greek “Tomb of the Diver” and the
incredible Greek temples. Southern Italy was dotted with Greek
colonies for centuries, giving the culture of the south a different
flavor from Rome and the north. For more pictures of Paestum, visit this set on Flickr.
It was worth the trip despite the
fact we missed a train. This forced us to delay in the lovely town of Solerno
where we saw its “Duomo,” which oddly doesn't have a dome as far
as I can tell.
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| Tomb of the Diver |
That evening we were all exhausted,
except Sister Therese, who had prepared a detailed lecture about the
early history of Pompeii, which she attempted to deliver after dinner
between 9 and 10 pm. Unfortunately for her, but perhaps luckily for
the rest of the group, she kept getting interrupted by fireworks and
so had to cut her presentation short. It sounds like a full day at
Pompeii is on the agenda for tomorrow.
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| Interior over the Nave at Solerno |
I have had some serious medical issues
with my knee since my Treeing Walker Coon Hound knocked me down on
February 4. My orthopedist told me before the trip he thought I
would get better without surgery and gave his ok for me to go. I was
not sure he was right, but I am walking and going up and down stairs
and mostly staying up with the group. And the knee seems to be
feeling better each day. It seems a miracle in this land of holy places and healing. I begin to hope that the doctor was right.
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| Magnificent Temple at Paestum |
Many thanks to the National Endowment for the Humanities for making this portion of my trip possible.
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