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Blogs from Pompei, Campania, Italy, Europe - page 5
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February 24th 2010
As we headed south towards Napoli, we found ourselves lodged between some pretty massive hills and the ocean. It was very interesting because the flatland that surrounded us was actually very reminiscent of the area of Queensland around where my Aunty Tracy lives, near Ashford or Bonshaw. It's very dry but there are still a lot of green areas and patches of Eucalypts and Wattles. If you had told me 12 months ago that I'd be seeing Wattle in Italy, I would have definitely scoffed, but as we drove the yellow blooms were more and more frequent. Along with the wattles and countryside, we also had a steady stream of hookers by the side of the road to keep us entertained, as we made a game of rating them out of ten, most of whom never ... read more
February 5th 2010
Friday 5.2.210 day 114 Pompei We went to Pompei today not know we accidently walked in the exit but as we were looking for the ticket office we walked out another exit and payed if we had have know we could have see it for free. It was worth the €11 each to get in. It was good to go in winter when there was almost no one there. We got to see the whole site in about 3 hours some of the houses that say you have to book ahead to see where even open for us to see. It is 66 hector site that was a city housing 20,000 people about 10 % of then died when Mt Vesuvius erupted. There was an earth quack a few years before and a lot of the ... read more
October 14th 2009
Wednesday 14th October Pompei - A city excavated It is not such a beautifully fine morning but it is still dry and we hold out hope that the partly overcast sky will clear for our trip to Pompei. After yesterdays running of the gauntlet,now to be known as “How to avoid oncoming Italian drivers on narrow roads”Gretchen has relented and said she would drive RR out of Sorrento to visit nearby Pompei rather than dismantle the car & remove it from the area piece by piece. The short drive off the peninsula went without a hitch and we didn’t even meet any cars on the twisting,winding road down the hill to the main road. We did however take the wrong for in the road and ended up driving through the ugly city of Castelammare di Stabia ... read more
October 2nd 2009
What can I say about this amazing place? After nearly 2000 years it's amazing to be able to see a city where people lived and worked. Sadly most of the items found in Pompeii have actually been sent to a museum in Naples (Napoli) so you can't see the houses as they were found, but the buildings themselves are fantastic. In some cases there are also still fresco's on the walls and fantastically tiles floors. The Amphitheatre was particularly interesting as there had been a riot there and it was closed down for around a decade. (I can't remember what caused the riot mind you and I've sent my journal back to Oz). The city is much bigger than I had expected so I wasn't able to get around it all. One of my favourite things ... read more
September 23rd 2009
WOW! Thats the only way to describe Pompeii, was truly amazing, the whole city is almost perfectly preserved after 2000 years. Have never seen anything quite like it, and was fascinating to see how many of the ideas and techniques used to build a city all those years ago are still used today, another one of my "highly reccommended" places to visit.... read more
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September 8th 2009
Mt. Vesuvius towers over the skyscrapers of Naples and is the only active volcano in mainland Europe. If it were to erupt, many lives would be lost along with their homes. The Italian government has tried to persuade residence to move away from the vicinity of the volcano with a relocation incentive of 30,000 Euros, but these incentives have not been successful. An eruption would be catastrophic for the 600,000 people residing within seven kilometers of the volcano. The last eruption occurred in 1944 and the current lull, the longest in the past 500 years, has scientists worried. Grace and I decided to conquer this giant and climbed the 860 meter trail to the summit. The mere 860 meters wouldn’t be difficult if Grace’s flip flop had not broke. The few threads that were holding her ... read more
September 1st 2009
We had to get up really really early to make the 3 hour drive to Pompei so I didn't do anything the night before. The drive there was really boring, it was similar to driving to IU, nothing really to look at, but once we got there it was amazing. It was so hot as usual, I did not expect it to be this hot at all! Once we got into Pompei it was so weird to see houses and building from over a thousand years ago and to imagine what it was like to live in that time. Everything used to be marble which just amazes me. We were able to see an old house and how they were set up and there was a stray dog sleeping in front of one of the gates ... read more
May 16th 2009
For our last day in Rome, we decided to get some more culture and enjoy the Borghese Park. We had to wake up early in order to make it our shcheduled reservation time for the Borghese Galleria in the Park. *You have to have reservation to enter the museum and they only admit 200 people five times daily. We opted for the earliest time, so there would be less vistors. The Galleria was simply amazing, they organize each room, so you are bombared with so much art, that you don't have time to take it all in. I was amazed by the room that was artibuted to the Trojan war. The ceiling art that was the Judgement of Paris was a piece she had read about and always wanted to see. As we continued through the ... read more
April 26th 2009
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. ... read more
April 21st 2009
Soon after leaving Rome it started to rain and rained off and on most of the way down the coast, but by the time we reached Naples it had backed right off. We got to Pompeii and encountered some of the roughest and most poorly maintained roads ever and they seemed to suit the neighbourhood. Dorothy was also confused as to the campsite location and had us driving the backroads, so we put in the GPS coordinates from the book but they turned out to be wrong as well. We were just about to flag Pompeii altogether when we spotted the entrance and decided we may as well stay and checked in. We went for a wander to try and find some dinner and found that the entrance to the Pompeii excavations were only 100m down ... read more
