The Abingdonian 2019

17 www.abingdon.org.uk Michaelmas Term diminishing the action dramatically, we were advised to use water from a bottle instead of a stake to ‘impair’ Henry Muller’s eye. We also explored Capua amphitheatre, where among the maze of passages, chambers, and tunnels that lie underneath the stage, Dr Burnand joined the second years in a game of tag. After a filling dinner at Hotel Tourist, the Abingdonians ventured into the centre of Sorrento, discovering a seemingly endless labyrinth of colourful stalls that sold everything from leather duffle bags to limoncello. We spent the whole of Wednesday visiting Pompeii, the ancient town near modern Naples. Pompeii was destroyed, together with Herculaneum, Stabiae, Torre Annunziata, and other communities by the violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. The circumstances preserved the remains as a unique insight to Greco-Roman life; even the colour remained on the murals of houses. From the amphitheatre to the House of the Faun and its Alexander Mosaic, we ended up in the theatre where everyone (including some unfortunate tourists) was subjected to a mock-Roman play courtesy of the sixth formers. On the sixth day, we discovered the beauty of Campania. Stopping at Amalfi we had a chance to dip our feet into the clear waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea and relish the 5-euro ice creams, while at Paestum, the huge Greek temples set against the backdrop of the verdant Italian mountains were magnificent. The ruins are famous for their three ancient Greek temples of the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BCE. Before returning to Sorrento, we paid a visit to Paestum’s museum, which also contains the finds from the Greek site of Foce del Sele. On Friday, our last day in Italy, we visited the Roman town of Herculaneum, beneath the suburbs of Naples. As the sister-site to Pompeii, we were surprised to see wooden lofts, wine racks, and bed frames. Instead of volcanic ash, the inhabitants of Herculaneum were buried by a pyroclastic surge, which carbonised wood and left the city under 16-25 metres of rock. Most of the furniture, from a baby’s cot to household shrines, is now conserved in storerooms, but a few pieces remain on the site to give an evocative impression of Roman life. On our way to the airport, we spent some time in the grand Naples Museum. On display was a collection of Greek and Roman antiquities including mosaics, an accumulation of Roman erotica from Pompeii, sculptures, gems, glass, and silver. Wistfully, we boarded the flight home and soon after midnight the next day were all back at Abingdon, with a much greater insight into the history and languages we are studying. With the lights once more all too bright and the suitcases all too heavy, we were more than glad to pile into our beds and fall asleep. We are very thankful to the teaching staff who accompanied us and in particular Dr Burnand, for organising such a delightful trip. David Haar, 4MP