headed south to Pompeii for the day

Continuing with our Italy memories...the 3rd day our our time in Italy we took the train south to where the ancient city of Pompeii was discovered. We woke up early to make sure we could get down there at a decent time. During this travel experience, we had to quickly learn the method of traveling on trains. For instance, sometimes there are only certain times when trains leave the city you're in, and arrive at a certain time. Well, we had to take one train to the big city of Naples. But, we had to hop on another train to get to the smaller town of Pompeii. This required us to figure out what time we had to get on the train in Rome in order to get to Naples at a certain time in order to catch the train that left Naples to take us to Pompeii. This was my first experience of having to figure something like that out. I'll admit, must to Derrick teasing, that I like to drive my car. And, I can hop in it and drive off whenever I want. But, trains are a different story.

Anyways...getting back to Pompeii...Background story of Pompeii:
Pompeii was a booming Roman trading city some 2000 years ago. In 79 A.D., a nearby volcano, Mt. Vesuvius, erupted and stopped the city of Pompeii in it's tracks by burying it with 30 feet of ash and lava. The blanket of ash completely covered everything, and the lava created a protective shell over it all, which is what aided in the great preservation of the city so that in the mid 1700's, scientific excavations began to uncover the ancient city, in remarkable condition...all things considered.
Once we reached our destination, we rushed to catch a bus that would take us to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. Back in college, Steve had taken a college-group trip to Italy, and when they climbed the volcano, they couldn't see much because the top of the mountain was in a cloud. So, he was very excited that when we arrived in Pompeii, it was a beautifully clear day.

I wish I had taken pictures of our ride up this volcano, because it was a little nerve-racking. We road a typical coach bus to the top. The first half of the ride was fine, but then the climb started to get steeper, and the roads began to hairpin back and forth. On top of that, they turned into only one lane traffic...which would have been fine if we were on the "up" route...but, the buses who were making their way back down were using the same roads we were! How they did this was that if they were coming up on a blind turn (which was pretty much every turn), the buses would sound their horns to let any oncoming traffic know they were coming up/down. Crazy Italian bus drivers! It didn't add to the discomfort that while ascending this mountain, traffic had to halt because we had to let an ambulance past! Both Emily and I were thinking that this was totally crazy...that we were going to fall off the side of the cliff!

So, the bus took us about 3/4 of the way up the volcano. That last 1/4 we had to walk...more steep slopes and hairpin turns. But, we all made it! And, the view was spectacular!
That afternoon we explored the ancient city of Pompeii. It was pretty amazing to walk the many streets, peek into the many roofless rooms, and gaze among the various relics that have been recovered. It made it even more amazing to know that normal people like me once called this city home and made their lives here.
Some key things that I remember were seeing the plaster casts of people. They aren't really the people, their more like moldings.

When archeologists were uncovering, whenever they came to a whole, they would pour plaster into it s that once the plaster hardened, they could see what kind or organic thing made up the hole before it decayed. Much to their surprise, they began digging up a lot of human-body-shaped molds. They have a few of these on display in various spots in the city. I almost didn't like to look at them...out of reverence or respect as to how they died. But, I did keep reminding myself that they were plaster molds, and not the actual bodies.
Another pretty amazing thing I saw was in the streets. There were chariot wheel ruts wore into the stone streets. They are from the many times the chariots rode over the certain places on the roads...so many times that they eventually wore through the stone. You could definately tell which roads were traveled more frequently.

And, another thing was that the road where also used as sewage and waste-water flow...the "first sewage system", you could say. So, pedestrians would walk alongside the streets...on a sidewalk type of thing. And, if they needed to cross the street, there were "stepping stones" at the intersections so that they wouldn't have to step in the waste water that would flow through the streets. Kinda interesting.

One last memory of Pompeii was that there were stray dogs roaming everywhere! Toward the end of the day, one of the dogs took a liking to us, and began to follow us around. We were on our way out, and this one dog was following us, and it was almost as if he was talking to other dogs we passed telling them to join us, because we would look back, and at one time there were like 3 or 4 other dogs following us, too.
There was definately a lot more historically cool stuff that was there, but I guess I didn't totally get into it that day...so I remember the random stuff from Pompeii. Oh well :o)


Here's more pictures from Pompeii

The entrance to the ruins is through these gates, called the Porta Marina because it faces the sea. These were the most famous gates of the city. There are two openings: one was for pedestrians (the smaller one to the left), and the larger one was for animals and vehicles.
Here we have a wine bar. There were so many of these throughout the city...on every street. The terracotta looking holes are really huge clay pots that are built into the bar. They would put various kinds of wines in each so you'd have your choice of what you'd like to drink from their selection.
Above is a very ornate mosaic floor that was uncovered. It is a scene from the Battle of Alexander. This was a floor in Pompeii's largest home now called the House of the Faun (it had 40 rooms). The art form of mosaic was pretty popular throughout Pompeii.

This is a courtyard that was in the same House of the Faun. Can you image having 40 rooms in your house, plus a few courtyards? That'd be a little too much for me.

Here is a bakery. Derrick's peeking into the oven...which looks like a modern-day pizza oven. The large stone towers are flour grinders...grain was poured into the tops, then donkeys would push wooden bars that would turn the stones, and eventually powdered grain dropped out of the bottom as flour.