I Tried to Think of a Good Pun

Happy March!  I have officially been here for a month and am still in one piece!

On Friday, I had an all day field trip (the only official day trip that I'll have) to Tarquinia and Cerveteri to see some Etruscan tombs. Both sections of my class had to meet at the IES Center at 9:00 am sharp, where we got on a bus at 9:30 (yeah, I know).  We all filed onto a coach-like bus and settled in for the hour long ride.  Tarquinia is a little town on a plateau, so it was a bit like driving up the side of a mountain (anyone who's driven up the side of a mountain knows what I mean).  The roads were narrow, in true Italian fashion, and there were a lot of apartments buildings with a lot of lemon trees.  Suddenly, our bus slowed to a stop, which surprised me--the street that we were on looked pretty residential and I began mentally gearing up for a hike to the tombs.  Then, the bus started backing up.  And kept backing up.  For a mile.  On the side of a plateau.  I was so impressed!  This driver went well over a mile, in a bus, on narrow roads, and didn't make a mistake!  Then I made some comment about how baseball stars get paid millions and this guy was probably making jack, but had way more talent.  Anyways.....

So, the first set of tombs was set up on a hill that overlooked some farmland and a few vineyards.  The shacks that you see were built over the tombs later for protection.  The tombs themselves were, of course, underground.  We had to walk down a flight of stairs to a glass door and hit a light switch, which illuminated the inside of the tombs.  As with most ancient burials, Etruscans were buried with their families, pets, food, tools, and riches.  Sometimes beloved servants were killed so that they could serve the family in the afterlife.  Mrs. Brady so would have had Alice killed.  

Sorry.

A tomb shed.

Paintings in tombs could be anything from an everyday scene to depictions of debauchery.

Overlooking.

A mailbox perhaps?

The second site that we visited, Cerveteri, was far more lush than Tarquinia.  It had been raining earlier in the day, so everything was much more vivid; it was beautiful.  Here we actually got to go inside some of the tombs, which was really cool.  After our professor lectured for a bit, she gave us half an hour to wander about, so we did some climbing around and a lot of "This is so cool!"-ing.  

They kind of looked like hobbit holes.

It was beautiful and so green.

Corinthian column heads were modeled after these plants.

Oh, you know, in a tomb.

Standing on top of a tomb.  Do you like the umbrella peeking out of my pocket?

I always feel safer in a cemetery when I know where the nearest fire fighting jet is.

It's supposed to start getting up into the the 60's this week, so finally I will be able to enjoy some Mediterranean weather.  Hope all is well with you!