I cannot believe it has been a year ago from today that I got to go on a tour to Italy. Getting to sing in Pompeii was short and sweet. Well, I take that back, the drive was not short and sweet, it was a long 4 hours one way! We were not able to spend too much time there because of that, and sadly, I didn’t get the right spot for our meeting place and I missed my tour bus getting picked up. That was a very stressful 20 minutes. I knew I was NOT where I was supposed to be, but I had no idea where to go and I knew if I left the area I would not be helping the situation. I called the tour leaders of course and never got in touch with anyone. SO I sat trying to be patient, waiting to see if my bus would drive by the spot. Luckily, they came back for me and thankfully I was not left behind. That was a scary moment!

Singing in Pompeii was an interesting experience, the acoustics in the Colosseum were fantastic, the sound bounced right back into my ears. The tour guide only let me sing a very short song because of time constraints.

The story of Pompeii was very sad to me. There was an eerie and strange feeling throughout the ruins, it actually was a little creepy to me.  Seeing the victims who had been covered up and buried in twelve different layers of tephra, which had rained down for about 6 hours was disturbing. Heat was the main cause of instant death. On a lighter note, because of this tragedy the city was incredibly preserved so we were able to view sights, that remained pure and almost untouched. I enjoyed seeing a home where the owner had been quite wealthy. He had two back yards, one behind the other. It was very beautiful. This was the last city I saw before returning back home to America, land of the free…including a free and clean toilet. Boy do I love my country for many reasons. I’m so glad I don’t have to carry around toilet paper and spare change in my purse every day in case I need a restroom. As amazing as Italy was, I do have to say, I love the USA!