Pompeii

Pompeii

Apologies to anyone who reads this and thinks there's another way to spell Pompeii. I learned there are several but it depends on whether you're American, Italian or dead (like a Pompeiian).

As we were boarding the dreaded Circumvesuviana train, we met a couple from Sydney Australia, engaged in a conversation that lasted all the way to the front gate and started off to discover the ruins together. Almost immediately we were separated but had traded cell phone numbers so got back in touch within a couple of hours. We rented English headsets so we could enjoy a self-guided tour and were amazed by the incredible civilization that included everything from food kitchens with multiple pots for service 'on-the-go” meals to brothers complete with paintings suggesting various sexual positions one might try.

Most of the really valuable mosaics and valuable artifacts had been long-ago removed to the National museum in Naples and I swear if I ever get to that part of the world again I swear I'll go there.

It was rather warm that day but practically every day we'd been out it had either rained or threatened so we were sure to bring rain gear. As it turned out, it only sprinkled for a brief period before we were once again relegated to short sleeves. It stayed that way the rest of our time there.

For us, the most amazing things about Pompeii were the fact that you could glean so much about what life was like there from what little still remains.

Rutted roads with crosswalks between where the cartwheels went, fast food outlets, stables for horses with hay lofts, beautiful homes with courtyards that featured fountains and gardens, bath houses with hot and cold running water, indoor plumbing and toilets – all these features were functioning in this city of 20,000 over 2300 years ago.

There was also evidence of graffiti that noted such inflammations as the fact that Nero's mother was a mortal (such blasphemy!)

The experience was definitely one of the high points of our trip and, tiring as it was, the experience will always stick with me of being in the middle of a coliseum where battles occurred between gladiators and wild animals.

The entire site is over 60 acres and only 60 percent of it has been excavated. After its discovery in the late 1700's excavation began and has been ongoing since that time. It is pretty obvious where future excavations will occur and who knows what new discoveries will be uncovered.

Despite it being fairly early in the year, there were still quite a few people there. Until we got off the 'main drag', the streets of Pompeii were still crowded, mostly with Italian tourists.

Perhaps next time, we'll have a chance to visit Herculaneum, the other city buried during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Speaking of the crowds, I recall Margi having told me of how many fewer people there were in the cities we visited when she was here with her mother in 1980. II shudder to think what the crowds must be like in the summer. In addition, the heat, at least from Rome south must be withering. Not a combination I'd like to try!