So today began early again in our second attempt to catch a 5:40am train to Pompeii!
Luckily we were able to get a taxi this time around and both Tibby and I agreed that it was by far one of the best investments we have made thus far! Not only were our feet saved another few moments, but he got us to the station in record time and we were able to find some good seats with plenty of minutes to spare!
Once our train finally did take off it took about 3 hours to reach Napoli (Naples) and then from there we tried to figure out where to catch our next train to Pompeii. Unfortunately, nothing was listed on the departures board so we asked an attendant and he basically told us to run because it was about to leave. YIKES! Not again!!
But it wasn't as bad as yesterday and we made it on just fine.
From there it was only another hour or so until we pulled into the little station. We then asked which way to the ruins and it only was a few kilometers away so we just decided to walk it.
Modern-day Pompeii was a fairly nice little town from what we could see, with lovely sidewalks and tons of flowering bushes and trees. The weather too wasn't too bad and there was a decent cool breeze from the ocean so it kept the death-grip of the sun at bay.
When we finally made it to the actual ruins it was a bit hard to see everything because of all the flora surrounding the entrance walkway. Also, we were trying desperately to time our steps right to avoid the huge tourist groups that were descending rapidly upon the site.
However, once we made it into the main ancient courtyard, we were amazed! It was soooooo big!!!
We thought, once we climbed up a few steps, that we could see most of the city and it was quite huge - but I can tell you right now what we first saw was not even a 10th of the entire complex.
It literally was the entire city that had been uncovered!
Also, it was really neat but a little daunting to be able to see the hazy outline of Mt. Vesuvius in the background. Knowing that thousands of years ago in 79 AD, that volcano completely encased and destroyed this entire site was morbid, sad, and somewhat fascinating.
This fascination came especially in the fact that so much of the buildings and architecture had been amazingly preserved. We could see the layouts of houses, sidewalks, shops, restaurants, etc. that were all eerily quiet but showing signs of definite inhabitants and use. Ovens and niches for household gods were tucked into walls, staircases were still erect, huge cistern-like pots for water sat in the ground, old terracotta pipes and drains were still visible, decorative tile and brickwork were abundant, counter-tops, tons of ancient columns, rain-water pools, and even ruts in the cobbled roads from years and years of chariots and wagons were all still clearly visible! This last phenomenon was by far one of our favorite parts of the ruins. To be able to walk through where the ancient Romans rode throughout their everyday lives brought home how real these people were and how terrifying it must have been to have seen and felt the cataclysm that would inevitably end their lives in an instant.
...Tibby on one of the many Roman roads...
...like a ghost-town...
...many frescoed walls were even still preserved!
...the also had this big shed in the middle of the city that was FULL of pottery and articles found on the site...
...as well as those famous and heart-breaking plaster casts of the dying citizens...
...this was a cool part - the curve of one of the roads were chariots would always come down - and you can still see the ruts in the road!!
....sooooo cool!!
...existing pipes!
Also, just a ways outside of the main city, there was this gorgeous, really-well restored villa that was huge and featured tons of beautiful mosaic floors, painted walls, and frescoes that seriously blew our minds!!
....soooooo gorgeous!!!!!!! Look at how vivid those colors are!!
So, after our drooping jaws pulled themselves up off the floor again, we decided we were rather hungry so we decided to grab a slice each of margherita pizza and then finish off with a delicious chocolate & vanilla Magnum ice cream bar before heading back out to finish our exploring!
Our next goal was to try and reach the area where the old Colosseum was. Supposedly it was built at least 100 years BEFORE the Colosseum in Rome and yet it almost seems in better condition - just a bit over-grown...
..we also decided to indulge in the open arena and show you our mad gladiator skills....
Anyways, after the Colosseum, we wandered back through the city and passed by more amazing sights...
...the reconstructed (and still actively-used) old amphitheatre...
...more frescoes!
...old Roman signage and graffiti!
...ancient buffet counter with pots for food!
...this was the most beautiful fresco in the entire city - sooooo gorgeous!!!
...this was just one of the many fountains throughout the city where the citizens collected water - and you can still see on either side where there are indentations in the stone from numerous hands leaning on it to fill up their buckets!
...this was also cool, it was a vineyard that was replanted according to the ancient remains that were buried under the ash!
And I will mention one last place we went to but I'm gonna just put in a disclaimer here....the following pictures are a bit, well, quite scandalous...
These are the famous frescoes in the ironically well-preserved Pompeii brothel...
...one of the tiny stone beds (there were 4 in all)...
And here they are...well just a few (we thought we'd spare you the rest), but you get a good idea...
Awesome ;)
Anyways, with that fascinating building we thus ended our tour of the ancient city and headed out to catch our train back to Rome.
We admit that we did stop at a McDonald's in the train station because we, for some reason, had a huge craving for french fries, and they even had these potato-wedge things called Miami Fries that were super tasty!
But after we finally got back home we tried to navigate the buses and avoid the tweakers until we finally got back to our hostel and eventually tumbled into our beds.
Even though it took the whole day, Pompeii was over and beyond anything we expected so we agreed it was definitely deserving of the time allotted.
Once again, how lucky are we?!
Till tomorrow!!
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