Day 16

Excited to finally leave Naples!  Onto a bus heading towards the ancient city of Pompeii.

So brief history on Pompeii.  This was a bustling Roman city nestled between several mountains and sitting right alongside the Mediterranean sea.  There was a large earthquake on August 23, 79 AD.  The following day, Mount Vesuvius started a two-day eruption, thus covering the city in volcanic ash for nearly 17 centuries.

Hard to figure out where to start.  Pompeii was not a small town.  In fact 4 hours was no where near enough to run through the entire city.  We only saw around 40%, which is disappointing.

Unfortunately we have become so conditioned to avoid buying what vendors throw in your face that we ignored the guide book to Pompeii.  Would have been nice to figure out what we were looking at, however we did jump into a few tour groups.

Next place we went is to the Amphitheater.  This...is the small one in Pompeii.  Perfectly preserved, we are very lucky to be able to walk something that literally has not been changed in thousands of years.

 Dang who is that kid with those huge calf muscles ...must walk alot of stairs. And no that is not a man purse, it is my camera case.

Cool activity grounds.

One thing I did manage to catch from listening in on tour guides explained these marks.  The carts used by merchants for travel were pulled by horses and used very large wheels.  The several hundred carts passing by a day would lead to an eventual weardown/shift in the cobblestone road.  Very neat to to see wear that is not recent.  Just another tribute to how beautifully this place was preserved under volcanic ash.

These weird little lion statues may not look like much, but they are the original legs to a table.  However it was not just any table.  The table belonged to the person who was first of sixteen to stab Julius Caesar in his assassination not too far from where I stay in Rome.  The man was exiled and his goods sold, the wealthy family here obtained the table at auction some 2000 years ago.

I put this up because I always think about how long ago the Civil War was for the America.  Pompeii was encased in volcanic ash what seems an amazingly unbearable time ago.  2000 years.  Well, actually when the eruption happened, there were signs of history from nearly twice as long to Pompeiian's as they are to us.  They are currently excavating remains from 3500BC.  Nearly 5511 years ago remains are still there.  That is simply unfathomable to me.  Here is where I see the oldest things that exist in the world.  Rome can't even hold a candle to that.  5500 years ago.  Think about it.

These are the remains of an upscale restaurant.  Thankfully I caught a tour guide explaining this, or I wouldnt have figured out what they were actually.  There are dozens of restaurants around Pompeii and are identifiable by the holes in the serving counter where fire would be beneath.  This is one of the nicer restaurants I found.  If my Grandpa lived in ancient Pompeii, this would probably be one of his favorite places to talk about.

 Pompeii was a town that had nutrient rich soil, and thousands of acres of land for growing food.  The garden has been re-used and reconstructed by analyzing the preserved roots of the old garden.  Some of the plants had to replaced by our modern plants since some of the plants there have changed drastically in genetic structure over the thousands of years.

Did I mention that we were in the small amphitheater?

Camera started giving up on me here, I just need a few more pictures!!!!!!

When the eruption happened, many people ran for cover.  The air was full of volcanic ash, completely void of oxygen.  Most people were suffocated to death.  These are some people who ran into a house nearby and are preserved very well.

Really sad, but look at the child cuddling against his mother while they faced death in the face.  Several bodies of children were in this house.

A determined look on this man's face.  He was fighting until the end, maybe that was his family he is looking over.  Really makes you wish you could figure out what his final thoughts were.

Human or animal, no one made it out alive.  This was a family dog that was found and preserved perfectly.  It is sad to think of, but it is how life and history happened.  We should be glad to have the opportunity to learn and honor the people and animals who lost their lives in this town.








Okay how about some happy photos??

 How does the most beautiful place in the world sound?  The Almafi coast.  This is on the other side of the mountain from Sorrento, and is the very quiet town of Positano.

If Hilton Head Island, SC and Lake Tahoe, CA had a baby, and that baby ended up being a superhero, this is what it would end looking like.  Truly the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life.

The town of Positano is unbelievably peaceful and so beautiful.  Unfortunately this is where my camera gave in.  Don't worry, what are friends for if you can't steal their pictures?  Look for tomorrow's blog for a better description as this blog is already so full of great stuff!










Sorry it took so long to read, but this was one day I will never forget.  I am so fortunate to be able to put this into writing and remember it forever.  By the way: obviously I couldn't include every picture I took in Pompeii in the blog or I would be writing until I left Rome in three weeks. Check Facebook for every picture. Thanks for reading!