Today (July 8)
Today we went to 3 different Roman villas--2 in Stabiae and 1 in Boscoreale.  Stabiae was an exclusive Roman resort, much like Malibu, CA today, and the villas there were immaculately done.  Just one villa alone was over 160,000 square feet....yes please!  Here is me and Katelynn "eating dinner" in one of their dining rooms (called a "triclinium" in Latin):

And yes, the Romans ate their dinners while reclining.  After Stabiae, we moved on to a working farm villa at Boscoreale, so we got to see how most Romans really lived.  The museum at Boscoreale also had a special exhibit of body casts from the area, so here are a few interesting ones:

Yesterday (July 7)
We had a more sophisticated day yesterday since we spent our day at the Archaeological Museum in Naples.  The museum is huge, so even though a major section of it was shut down, I was exhausted by the end.  My favorite part was the frescoes, taken from the ancient sites around Mount Vesuvius.  I've never seen so many up-close--it was wonderful!  Romans used frescoes in such imaginative ways, and it was really cool to see the variety of style and mythological reference.

On a separate note, Meghan pay close attention now, I had a total Liz Gilbert moment.  I went to the best (and most famous) pizzeria in Naples for lunch and shared a cheese pizza!  The choices at this place are cheese or extra cheese, so it was not a tough decision to make, but boy was it good!  This place is such a hole in the wall, was full of Neapolitans, and I swear at one point we thought there was a man getting beat up or something in the kitchen.  Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of myself enjoying the yumminess, but it was one of the highlights of the trip so far.

The food overall has been just fabulous, by the way.  We've been eating all meals at our hotel (or getting a bagged lunch), and the pasta has been the best at night!  I'll try snapping a few pictures for you foodies to enjoy.  Miss you all!

Me being served a nice cold beverage by the "ancient bartender," Terri (at Pompeii the other day)