Ercolano: The City of Hercules

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I have now found out more about the pending documentary aboard the Royal Princess.

Roisin received an email from the company explaining that during our cruise there will be a film crew on-board filming footage for a new six-part observational documentary series looking at life on-board Royal Princess. It is scheduled to appear on ITV next summer (2014), The documentary will follow the lives of the ship's crew and passengers. Filming will be taking place on-board Royal Princess between 14th October and 24th November 2013 with consenting crewmembers and passengers alike.

The production company behind this series, Pulse Films, have won all sorts of awards. As part of their initial research, Roisin has been asked (probably along with many other passengers) to complete and return a questionnaire. The questionnaire asked stuff like where have you been? Why do you cruise? Anything you'd like to share? It is also a consent form to allow you to be filmed. Roisin has provided them with the web address to our blog and the location of my Photo (Deck 12 starboard midships #585 opposite cabin #503!!!) Next stop serialisation in the Daily Mail??

However, all this won't be for a few days yet. Today we arrived in Naples. It is said that the Pizza was invented in Naples as well as the gelato (ice cream) especially the chocolate, strawberry and vanilla combination. They are also believed to have invented espresso coffee.

Napoli is the gateway to Capri, Vesuvius and Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast including Positano. There are plenty of gateways to choose from. We have been to some and unlikely to visit others. We have decided to choose a particular gateway today; the gateway to Herculaneum. Not so much of a gateway, more like a hole in a fence!!

Ercolano as it was known in Latin, along with Pompeii was buried by molten Lava, mud and ash on 24^th August 79BC. I think the date is well documented and remembered because it was bank holiday weekend!! Herculaneum, albeit much smaller that the more famous neighbour Pompeii, was the Beverley Hills of its time.

On that fateful day, a glowing cloud of ash and gas with a temperature of 400º rolled down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius to attack Herculaneum. 400º?? Surely it must have been a trifle hotter. I have just checked the guidebook and that is what it says. Blimey!! The Sunday roast cooks at a hotter temperature than that!! 400º is only about gas mark 7!!

We walked to the train station from the port. This was about 1½ mile straight up Corso Umberto and took about 30 minutes. The trains to Ercolano run every 20 minutes in the direction of Sorrento. The line is called the Circumvesuviana and was well sign posted in Stazione Centrale. Return tickets only cost €3.50. Added together with the €11 entrance fee in to the site, it is quite a saving on the $75 Princess were asking for one of their official excursion!!

After dodging the accordion-playing gypsies who walk up and down the train asking for money we alighted the train at Ercolano.

This following incident makes sense now. As there are no immediate signs pointing to the site, an elderly gentleman approached us. I thought he called me 'Scabby'. I tried to explain they were mosquito bites and were healing very well, thank you but Roisin saved the day by nodding and saying, in broken Italian: ‘Si, si'. The man pointed down the hill and in broken English replied; ‘5 minutes'

It turns out, the local has actually said ‘Scavi?' which is the Italian word for excavation!!. Sure enough 5 minutes later we were the entering the excavated remains of Herculaneum.

The town was actually founded by the Greeks between the 9^th and 8^th century BC and originally called Herakleion or ‘City of Hercules'. The city remained buried for almost 1700 years and until very recently, as no bodies were found, it was thought that all the inhabitants had managed to escape. However, as more of the city was uncovered a vast amount of bodies were found down by, what was then the beach. They had taken refuge in shelters for boats (the arches) hoping the sea would be their escape route. It was, in fact, their undoing as once their sailing crafts were wrecked by the failing ash and pumice, their fate was sealed by the pyroplas flow of lava rolling down the mountain at a tremendous rate of knots.

Our first impression as we looked down on the city is that it seems preserved in a far better state than Pompeii. It was apparently damaged far less by the weight of falling ash from Vesuvius. The buildings were quickly engulfed by toxic gas and boiling mud, which, as it solidified, prevented their collapse. Subsequently sealed under an airtight layer of volcanic rock, the partially excavated town still has many buildings with upper stories intact and frescoes and mosaics in an excellent state of preservation.

We arrived back in Naples mid afternoon and spent some time checking out electrical shops for either a Canon charger or a USB cable to mini USB. Finally defeated, we headed back to the ship. I was told about a shopping mall known as the Galleria Umberto 10 minutes from the port but still having 2 bars of life left in the battery, I decided that I could probably afford to defer the search for the holy canon camera 1000D battery charger of Antioch until the next port of call, Civitavecchia.

Back on board, we got in the lift on deck 6. The doors opened on deck 7. Two passengers entered the lift. For the briefest of moments I thought I saw my holy grail. No. I have had so many false hopes that I must have been hallucinating. I noticed the male who was holding the photo apparatus had a canon strap around his neck. The briefest of glimpses registered in my brain that his camera appeared the same shape and size as my very own. I tried to sneak a further glimpse to be certain. Time was running out. He may be getting out at the next deck and it would be lost forever. To hell with this. I tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Excuse me!' I said. ‘What camera do you have?

‘A canon', his wife interrupted.

‘Is that a 1000D?' I asked as if it sounded like I knew what I was talking about!!

I had just made the acquaintance of Brian and Larraine Hardy from Australia.

Larraine turned the camera so it was facing me. It seemed to happen in super slo-mo! It was like a ray of light beamed down from the heavens illuminating the number I had been yearning to see: ‘000D. Trumpets blared as the angel's sang a chorus of Hallelujah.

‘You have just saved my life!' I said to a startled Brian and Larraine. I explained my predicament and they agreed to lend me their charger. They shouted out their cabin number as I skipped out of the lift jumping as I clicked my heels. We're back in business I said to my self. Roisin said, ‘who are you talking to?

I said, ‘No one', but we all know it was someone!!!

At dinner, Davide asked me if I had thought anymore about trying L'Escargot - Snails. Oh, no! In all the excitement I had forgotten that he promised yesterday for me to try snails. I said, ‘But they're not on the menu!'

He replied, ‘I know. I had them cooked especially' as he produced a pot of 6 snails from a nearby tray. The snails were cooked in garlic butter and a white wine sauce. Not wanting to disappoint and feeling backed in to a corner; after all the trouble he had gone to, I popped one in to my mouth. Mmm!! Not what I expected. It is difficult to explain. No real taste apart from the sauce but I would say that it had the same texture as a king prawn.

We decided to take in the show tonight. It was a British comedian. The theatre was half empty. This probably has nothing to do with his act but as there are 3 shows each night (6:30, 8:30 and 10:30), there is always plenty of room. I had to laugh at one of his jokes!! Figuratively you understand, not literally!!

Those of you who have cruised know that the cabin steward each day will fold the toilet paper in to an arrow. He (the comedian) would do this every day before that cabin steward entered to clean his room. The joke is that the cabin steward thinks he hasn't been the toilet for 12 days. He doesn't leave chocolate on his pillow. Instead he leaves prunes!! I heard this joke on the Island Princess lat year. It may have been on a different continent and by a comedian of a different nationality but the punch lines remain the same.

The Royal Princess is one of many Princess ships that has MUTS. (Movies Under the Stars). Roisin and I decided to watch the latest James Bond movie Skyfall. I was impressed by the service during the movie. More so than on other ships where we have experienced MUTS. The opening credits had barely finished when a deck attendant came around offering popcorn. Next came slices of Pizza then not long after we were presented with a choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream and finally towards the end of the movie we were offered cookies and milk!! All this was free of charge of course and gratefully accepted, as we both knew we'd be visiting the gym the next day. No, better make that the next FEW days!!!

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Comments

[Elaine]

Can I have your autographs please !!!

[Dave]

3 things. I've done frogs legs but snails will be a real challenge, never let my mrs see these blogs or else we will be on the next boat and finally are you a consenting adult ?

[Maxine]

Wow. Looks amazing. Xxx