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Published: September 7th 2017
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Steep road up from the old sea port
Very steep going into the city from the port. The sea has really changed places, much farther out than in the days of Pompeii. Geo: 40.6263, 14.3757
Writing this on Wednesday...
Enjoyed my class again today, great teachers, very kind, accommodating, and helpful. They never make you feel less than adept even though you are! After class a few of us went to the grocery and had them make us sandwiches to go for our trip to Pompeii, I went back to my apt to pack my backpack as it had rained the night before and in the morning it was down pouring... So packed a raincoat, umbrella, and all the necessities for a day trip. Turned out I won't be carrying a backpack anytime soon as it really bothered my back having it on for 7 hours or so. I believe there were 11 of us from the school that met up at the trAin station, made the 1/2 hour journey and our guide Michael met us at the station at the other end. He was not informed that our tickets had Ben included so didn't have enough money for us to all get in! He was a bit flustered by all of this as some people were a bit upset also... He made some phone calls understood the situation and said we would be
reimbursed at the school in the morning, so we all paid our entry fee and we were reimbursed today, I guess they are a new tour company hired by the school and didn't understand everything...
We'll, Pompeii was amazing! The guide was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions, everyone was really impressed with the area as it is not just a bunch of ruins scattered here and there, but you are walking down the very streets they did, 2,000 years ago, the buildings don't have roofs on them but the bottom half of their walls, the basic structure is there, much better preserved than I expected. The situation with views is a big wow factor, Mt. Vesuvius towering in the background on one side and the hills surrounding it on the other side really makes for some wonderful vistas. Hopefully, my photos will give you some idea of how impressive it is.
After our 2 hour tour, the guide left us and some of us wanted to stay and explore further as it was obvious we had only scratched the surface. Unfortunately, we did not get a map on entry (if you come make sure you do, it's included..) so
we had no idea what we were looking at until a nice group gave us an extra they had. We found 2 amphitheaters and there is a coliseum, these are at the far end of the city so we had a long jaunt after an already long day but it was worth it, we were among the last to leave, saying "the next time" we should get there first thing in the morning before the hordes arrive and the heat to do a proper exploration with the help of an audio guide.
Found our way back to the train station and caught the 7:15 back to Sorrento, it was a very long day and tiring but we'll worth it! If anyone is wondering if Pompeii is worth a visit I say a definite yes! It is October though and it's still hot so cannot imagine coming in the summer, southern Italy, in my limited experience, would be best before or after summer... Now for some photos, hopefully, they will download as my internet is a bit iffy right now.
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wendy2007
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Panoramic view from inside the basilica, this was where the judges met and cases tried...