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Day 2 - Ciao Italia4/27/2018 This day started somewhere around 8000 miles in the air with Gus' excitement to see our first bit of European land. Crossing over all that countryside and transitioning to the gorgeous mountain ranges of the Alps truly was a sight to behold. Ever Googled "scenic views"? Well to the owners of the little houses we could see scattered around that view was just a Tuesday morning peek through a window. Gawking at the view, sleep became the last of my priorities. Few more hours of flying later and we finally hit European soil, for the first time in my life too. Hustling through immigration, we got on our bus to Naples. No rest for the wicked here. Thus began my first sights of Italy. It was hard to pinpoint why but the vineyards and farmland looked almost familiar. Definitely not from an American perspective but familiar nonetheless. You could tell tis wasn't your traditional corn and soybeans that were being grown in these fields. Small villages were littered between farmland with housing that was In no way similar to those back in America. They were almost villa shaped with many of them built on varying levels of elevation. The rest of the bus ride included a lot of inner turmoil as to whether I should be catching up on much needed sleep or basking in the country around me. After a quick stop at the hotel with about 20 minutes to gather ourselves it was off to the walking tour of Naples. I had my expectations of what monuments and unique architecture I was to expect and this city blew that all out of the water. The smooth transitions from the old city to the new city, the timeless architecture, the long narrow paths, the cobblestone roads; everything had me in awe. This city gave me a new appreciation for the art and culture of the lost worlds around us. The art was subtle yet extremely striking and this was on full display in the Capella Sanservo. The sculptures and artwork in the Capella looked ageless and pure and somehow still wrought with emotion and drama. However what captured my attention the fastest was the beauty of the Veiled Christ statue laid on the nave of the museum. It depicted Jesus after he had been crucified where he had a thinly placed veil over his body. However, Jesus was still alive when he had the veil on top of him and this sculpture captures the essence of that perfectly. You can notice how the veil was sculpted to seem to be sucked in to the nostrils and the mouth of Jesus, affirming the fact that he was still alive. The intricacy of the artwork on display took my breath away and gave me new appreciation to the incredible world of Christian artwork. The emotion on display in all the sculpture and the drama captured in each sculpture face set the scene of a story being told in the silence of the sculpture. What was most enticing was the vibrancy of what was around me. The city was alive and upbeat. It was a Friday evening after all but the city was beating with energy. Kids playing football in the local town squares, school tours of the ancient museums, lovers canoodling under the setting sun on the castle walls, friends catching up in hole-in-the-wall bars for a drink and a smoke, street performers enticing passers-by with their songs. The sounds and sights of the people and life of the city was an unforgettable first experience and I hope this is the atmosphere I am going to be exposed to for the next seven days here. The day ended with dinner beside the sea for a taste of the infamous Naples pizza. It delivered. We also how far our basic math stretched in many attempts to split the bill as the restaurant itself would not do that. Gus and I finished with some gelato as we watched the streets come to life at night. It was a moment of silent reflection as I watched the city pulse with energy and I attempted to gather my thoughts on the magnitude of things I learned in my first trip to Italy as I pondered how it was going to get better than this.
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