Al among the Ruins

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12th day - Wednesday
We had planned on going into Napoli today but instead went to Pompeii. Sam & Terri went to Pompeii and we went to Ercolano. Beth & I hopped on the Circumvesuviana shuttle and headed to Ercolano/Herculaneum. The two sites are approximately 10 minutes apart by shuttle. Parking however is far easier at Pompeii than at Ercolano. Access to the autostrada is also easier from the parking lots at Pompeii.
If you are up for it, you could see both sites because Ercolano can be easily seen in about an hour. Pompeii is a different story. At a minimum, I suggest that if you are going there, you should allot 3 hours. Sam later told me that he was not prepared for the sheer size of the site. It is quite spread out.
My other suggestion is to wear sturdy shoes. You are stepping back in time and everything is rocky and uneven surfaces. During my first visit I saw numerous instances where people wearing open toed sandals took direct hits to the toes or turned ankles…ouch!
My last suggestion is to eat a hearty meal before going to Pompeii. The area immediately in front of the entrance is crowded with crappy eateries, assorted shysters and tacky knickknack stands (rubber tomahawk stands as Beth refers to them).
The area surrounding Erocolano is about the same. Beth and I were hungry after our tour of that site and so I asked a guy working at a construction site for a recommend on places for a decent meal. It was a coolish and rainy day and I asked where I could get some good zuppa (soup) or brodo (broth). He essentially said “Jeez buddy, you are out of luck. You’re not getting any of that around here.” “It’s all just tourist food, huh?” I asked. He nodded his head.
He was absolutely right. We were hungry and we ended up having a bad sandwich. The appropriate descriptive word is schifo !
And again there were hordes of school kids everywhere. The three principal groups were French, German, and Italian. The age range was from high school to elementary age kids. What amazed me was the young age of some of the French/German contingents.
I just figured that the Italian kids were fairly local and not far from home. The other kids, especially the ones that appeared to be elementary/middle school were a long way from home. I know that I would never want to be responsible for such a young group of kids that far from home.
My other observation was that of the three groups the Italian kids were the less fit; a polite way of saying “fat.” The French kids were quite skinny; it must be all that butter and cream!
Although the Ercolano site is more compact, it is more intact. You can even see charred timbers in some of the structures. How cool is that? The one thing that impressed me was the depth of the volcanic matter that was laid down in that eruption. The original beach of the Ercolano has been excavated. From the level of that original beach to the top of the present layer is a seriously impressive amount of material.
Sam had forgotten his jacket and it had rained during our visit so he was damp and needed to dry out. We headed home and made plans to dine at the apartment Sam was “volunteered” again for cooking duties and we made a stop at a Carrefour mall we noticed enroute to Pompeii. We stopped there for groceries. We thought that horseburgers would be just the ticket. Beth warned me not to get my heart set on that item. This is a little game God and play with each other. Every time I have my heart set on a particular item for eats it is without fail never available; so sure enough, no horse burger. I even asked one of the butcher shop guys but he said “Neigh” there wasn’t much demand for that meat.
We ended up with Sam cooking a very nice meal of veal cutlets and pork with carrots and potatoes. Still a horseburger would have really hit the spot!!!

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Photos

Above the Ruins
Herculaneum/Ercolano is a much more intact and compact site than Pompeii, Al took in the view

Look at the depth!
A strip of the original beach uncovered
look at the depth of volcanic material deposited
wow!

An enclosed orchard
Note the irrigation system along the side of the wall...quite sophisticated.

Streets & Sidewalks
The citizens of Ercolano had excellent streets and sidewalks.

A fast food shop
An ancient fast food shop
the large containers held food for hungry on-the-go customers

Keeping the "G" rating
Al takes a peek at a local beauty

Colorful Murals
After all this time it isn't difficult to imagine the original look

Wise Guy???
I discreetly snapped photos of a
routine traffic stop?? Seemed like a lot of firepower to stop one guy.