Pompeii

Rome Day Three: The original plan was to visit the Forum and Colosseum. We took the metro, got there early, waited with the other tourists in line, and at 8:30 a worker posted a sign at the gate saying they were on strike. On strike? What?! How can you be on strike when we came across the ocean to see this famous sight? Our thoughts were mirrored on the faces and in the conversations of all those around us. Thankfully, we would have one more day in Rome to do these sights.

David and I looked at each other and both said, "Pompeii?". We had thrown around the idea of going there on Saturday but hadn't made any firm plans or looked up the details. I had my Kindle with Rick Steve's Guidebook in my bag and so we quickly caught the metro back to the main station, bought the next tickets for the fastest train to Naples, and were barreling down the tracks before we knew it! On the train I thanked Rick Steve's over and over for giving me great info and jotted down all that we needed for switching trains in Naples, buying combo tickets for multiple sights, and directions for how to get to the main sight. By lunchtime we had arrived in Pompeii!

I ordered this book from the Scholastic book club when I was in elementary school. I poured over the story and pictures and was mesmerized by the tragedy. This book is now sitting in my classroom library and my students also love it. So I was quite excited to actually explore Pompeii for myself!

Look closely - Vesuvius is lurking in the background. The people of Pompeii didn't have any idea of the danger in their backyard.

A cast of a person's final resting position. How terrible it would have been to not be able to escape.

 Pompeii was buried in 13-20 ft of ash and pumice from Vesuvius. I was amazed by the sheer size of the city (about 20,000 residents) and the daunting task of excavations that have been undertaken to reveal the remains of the town.

Love the wheel grooves worn into the roads. Look closely down the road. See the 3 stones sticking up? These were for pedestrians crossing the roads when they flooded the roads for cleaning up the town. The number of stones also indicated if it was a one-way or a two-way street!

 Most people did not cook in their small homes. Instead, they would go to little restaurants to pick up their food to eat. These show where the cooking pots would be situated at the food places. I guess "to go" food is not all that new of an idea!

 Mosaics in the floor still remain

 Amphitheater

We hopped back on the train and stopped at the neighboring town of Herculaneum. This town is actually located closer to Vesuvius, but Pompeii was hit first because of the direction of the wind that day. Due to having more time to evacuate, almost the entire town of Herculaneum was able to escape the volcanic onslaught that buried the town later that day.

 Herculaneum is better preserved because of being buried under a pyroclastic flow of volcanic mud vs. Pompeii being buried under ash. However, much less of Herculaneum has been excavated because of being under about 60 feet of volcanic material!

 Vivid frescoes and mosaics are still visible on the walls of homes.

 Two story buildings are still standing with even burnt wooden beams visible after all this time.

The boat houses were emptied of boats (they helped people escape by sea) but about 300 bodies were discovered in the 1980s of the people that did not make it out of the town.

I loved getting to visit these remarkable towns full of such stories. I'm glad that the Colosseum was closed this day and that we took this side trip down south.