Pompeii & Herculaneum

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Geo: 40.7492, 14.5007

Today was our last day on the Italian mainland before heading to Sicily and a private tour of Pompeii and Herculaneum with our lovely guide, Barbara.

The benefits of being with a knowledgeable guide are so evident when you are in places like these. Barbera was able to put everything in historical context, describe daily life and allow us to imagine what these cities were like in AD 79.

In addition to knowing the history Barbara also had extensive understanding of the actual archeological excavations and had been involved in a number of the Pompeii projects. So she pretty much had all the answers to our questions.

Fun Fact: It is no longer correct to refer to the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum as being caused by an 'eruption' of Mt Vesuvius (which usually indicates a lava outpour). It has been scientifically proven that it was an 'explosion' - The build up of gasses under the cone of Vesuvius were unable to escape and finally the pressure blew the top of the mountain and the ash cloud descended on Pompeii.

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