This was a very eclectic day to say the least. I ate pizza for the umpteenth time, got the worst diarrhea of my life, and met Viola Davis....but we'll get to all of that. First, we woke up completely NOT hungover since I followed my handy dandy tips on how to keep from getting a hangover. I managed to look presentable by slapping on some war paint and dousing my eyes in Visine; I was ready to go at around 6 in the morning to meet the tour bus at Piazza del Popolo. We got a deal which included a bus ride to and from Pompeii, a full guided tour, and a lunch stop on the way back. We even got to stop at a museum in Naples to check out some of the history of Naples, this in itself was a treat. This entire tour was purchased from www.getyourguide.com/ . The final price was $145.51 per person and it was completely worth it. We waited at the Piazza on this grey and gloomy day for our tour guide and bus, both showed up promptly and on time. Our tour guide was very friendly and theatrical, able to answer any question we threw his way. We headed on toward the coast of Naples, where Pompeii is, stopping for a brief break upon being close to arrival. It was here that I encountered the fresh lemonade and orange juice stand that tore my stomach up to shreds. I ordered a massive drink for insanely cheap, and it was delicious, the epitome of a freshly juiced beverage...however I was unaware that we could not take drinks on the bus so I guzzled the whole thing without stopping.... Now, I was in trouble. I didn't feel the effects of the drink until we reached our lunch-stop destination and we were seated with a very nice British family on a "Holiday". After chatting with them over thick-crusted Naples style pizza (not to be confused with the thin crusted Roman pizza), I began to feel bile rising in my throat and definitely started seeing double. I politely excused myself as I made a mad dash for the ladies room and I'll let you guess what happened next... Moral of the lesson, NEVER CHUG AN ENTIRE BIG GULPS WORTH OF AN ACIDIC FRUIT BEVERAGE. After that horrific experience and having a laugh about the incident, we headed on to Pompeii, which was magnificent. It was awe-inspiring to walk with a tour guide who was born and raised around the ancient ruins of Pompeii and hear about the stories that ignited worldwide intrigue and investigation as to what life was like before the eruption! The weather was way better than what we left in Rome which was great, considering we did a lot of walking on this day. After wrapping up our tour, we headed to the city for the Naples National Archaeological Museum. Upon arriving, the weather became a bit rainy again, but this was okay since we were planning on being inside for a time. By this point, my friend and I were exhausted from staying up late the night before and waking up so early, so we slugged along, mustering up whatever excitement we could about the massive statues that were constructed by artistic geniuses. One thing I learned from this museum trip is that the ancients were obsessed with fertility, and as a result, we saw many statues and art pieces of the male anatomy. So if coming here with children...expect a LOT of questions. The museum is huge, and it took over an hour to get through, but it was amazing to see life breathed into marble by artistic minds of ancient times. Once we met up with the rest of the group to leave for the day, I was really feeling the drag and drain from the day's activities and I fell sound asleep on the way back; I was hardly able to wake up upon arrival back in Rome. At this point, my friend and I wondered what we could do since partying was out of the question on this last exhausting day. We decided to keep it low-key and go to dinner at "Il Brillo Parlante," which ushered in one of the strangest dinners we have had since coming here. My friend and I tried to mix it up by trying something other than pizza, and that was a mistake as the food was just okay. The server was a bit curt and strange, catering all of his attention to a strange woman behind us who might have been someone similar to a witch. She would point at my friend who had an olive skin tone much like herself and ask the server questions, he would then ask us those same questions. We didn't realize what was going on until we started seeing him relay the information back to her. Needless to say we were very creeped out after asking him numerous times what the woman wanted with us, he would act as if he had no clue what we were talking about, mumble, and dart off... After eating and watching this strange woman talk to her small potted plant she put on the table, we were thoroughly spooked, deciding to go out for gelato down the street (what calms nerves better than an iced treat?). We picked a random gelato spot that was open fairly late on a Sunday and decided to sit down to enjoy our treat. As we entered, we spied a familiar face walking out as we were walking in... Viola Davis from How to Get Away with Murder!!! My blood ran cold as I debated what to do, we didn't want to be a nuisance, as she was clearly on vacation, but we figured no one knew who she was here anyways (which we later confirmed after talking to the counter workers after). We politely asked her if we could get a picture, and she hesitated, finally saying yes and allowing us to snap a shot with her individually. After getting a picture with this legend, my friend and I were high off of adrenaline, completely awestruck at how we could have possibly met such a big celebrity so far from home! Needless to say it was all that we talked about the rest of the night. Maybe the witch woman didn't put a curse on us, but blessed us instead with good fortune! Orrrrr we were making a big deal out of nothing...
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