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Published: October 24th 2016
Amplitheatre
Pompeii, ItalyMediterranean Day 16 Oct 9
We have arrived at the port of Naples overnight. It's raining this morning, but it's the very first rain on the entire trip, so it's hard to complain. The showers are mostly over with by the time we disembark, but the roads and cobblestones are slippery.
We meet our guide Victorio on the peer. On the bus and on the way to Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius stands ominously on our left throughout the drive from Naples to Pompeii. It has rings of clouds around it which look like smoke.
I imagine that any reader of this missive knows something of the story of Pompeii. In 79 A.D., Vesuvius erupted catastrophically, first asphyxiating most of the living beings in the city by hot, poisonous gases and then burying the city in volcanic ash. The devastation was so total that the area was completely abandoned after the disaster and soon disappeared from human memory. The ruins were only discovered in 1748 when a canal was being built. Pompeii is like a time capsule of life at that time. Unlike most of the ruins we have seen, the building are substantially intact, at least the parts made of
stone and cement.
We are handed off to a special accredited Pompeii guide. We have only time for an hour on site, so the tour is whirl-wind. We enter the Pompeii excavations from the south. The first area we enter is the expansive amphitheatre, with room for 20,000 people. It was used for all manner of public events, including concerts and gladiatorial contests. It has been restored to working condition and has served as a venue for modern concerts.
We pass through vaulted doorways and enter the city. Pompeii is laid out basically in a grid pattern. We head north, then west. The roads upon which horses and chariots travelled are paved with large cobble stones. It would have been a bumpy ride. All streets have pedestrian sidewalks on both sides. At intersections, large square stones are placed for pedestrians to use as crosswalks, with gaps between them where the chariot wheels would pass. The number of ruts between stepping stones indicates whether a particular street was one-way or two-way.
As we walk, our guide talks about life in Pompeii. It was a bustling city that was a bit of tourist destination in its day. (More about
Baker's shop
Pompeii, Italy that later.) Right now we are in a market district, where most of the buildings we pass are shops. In some cases, researchers have been able to identify the specialty. We pass a bakery, for instance, with a brick oven visible in the back. The shop across the street sold olive oil; residue at the bottom of the vessels has been detected.
Our first stop on our walking tour is the reconstructed home of a wealthy citizen, known as the House of Meander. We step into a large main room (atrium) with a rectangular basin in the centre. Smaller rooms—kitchens, dining rooms, etc.—lead off to the sides. All rooms are richly decorated with murals and floor mosaics, most depicting mythological themes. Underground slaves' quarters and a second floor are currently not accessible. The far side of the atrium opens into a large open-air garden with a covered walkway all the way around. It is not hard to imagine a well-to-do family living here, moving from room to room just as we are doing.
Back outside, we venture into Pompeii's red-light district. Apparently, Pompeii was the Las Vegas of its time, somewhat of a travel destination. One of its
main attractions was sex. We follow phallic-shaped arrows on the sidewalks and walls to one of several brothels. Inside, the range of services available are illustrated in explicit wall murals. I guess all a man needed to do was point.
Our next stop is the baths. For Romans, the baths were the social centre of the city. The facilities in Pompeii are extensive, with separate entrances and rooms for men and women. The process went like this: You enter the changing room to disrobe, then enjoy a cold bath in the frigidarium, followed by a warm bath in the tepidarium and finally a hot bath and/or steam bath in the calidarium. Jets of cold air were available in the latter in case the heat became overwhelming.
In a small room off to the side is displayed one of Pompeii's famous plaster body casts. These are created by pouring liquid plaster into the hollow cavities left in the ash where the body of an entombed victim has decomposed. It is an eerie sight. A young woman is caught in the throes of death. She is trying to crawl away, probably coughing out her last breaths. It brings home that
real people, no different from you and me, lived and died here.
We proceed west along Pompeii's main street. We tarry at one of the many public fountains to admire the intricate carving. Finally we reach Pompeii's heart: the Forum, a broad, impressive square laid out in a north-south direction. To the north looms a seemingly very close Mount Vesuvius, wondering why people are back in the city it destroyed. To the west are the remains of the Temple of Apollo, the city's largest temple. It was badly damaged in an earthquake 17 years before Pompeii's destruction and was under renovation when disaster struck.
We leave by the Maritime Gate, so named because Pompeii in its heyday was right on the coast. Now it is several kilometres inland, thanks to Vesuvius' ejecta.
It's time for lunch. We have pizza, of course, since the pizza was reputedly invented in Naples. It is the classic margarita pizza, simple, fresh and completely delicious. Served with a pretty ordinary salad and a decent glass of red wine.
The second afternoon part of the tour is a visit to the Amalfi coast. This famous area is on the far side of
a mountain from Naples. Our bus zigs and zags along a narrow highway, climbing all the while until it reaches a small town called San Michele, which is the summit of our journey. We start our descent of the Amalfi coast, which is basically a long stretch of sheer cliffs with precipitous drops to the rocks and ocean below. As in Santorini, the houses and other building cling to the precipice seemingly out of sheer terror. Yet these cliffs are much higher. In many places, one can look out the window of the bus straight down to the ocean far below, dotted with the white trails of minuscule boats. It's an absolutely amazing scene, like the view from a plane. Off in the distance, shrouded in clouds, you can just make out the Isle of Capri. But it's hard to take photos because the bus is bouncing and twisting so much. In fact, the bouncing and constant turns makes some people on the bus sick.
After a good 15 minutes of heart-stopping switchback descent, we reach the actual town of Amalfi on the ocean, where we stop for a stroll. It is, of course, an extremely tourist-oriented place. It
has a beautiful little square in the centre, Piazza Duomo. And of course every piazza needs a church: the magnificent church Duomo di Sant' Andre with an imposing staircase of perhaps 100 steps. After browsing the stores, we stop for a gelato. Amalfi's lemons are world renowned, and Violet is smart enough to pick limoncello gelato, while my chocolate and nut addiction makes me pick chocolate-hazelnut. Wonderful. I think Italy makes the best ice cream products in the world. The weather here, by the way, is beautiful: blue skies with fluffy clouds.
Back on the bus for the long haul back. We actually continue on the same road we arrived on, since once it hits Amalfi it starts to climb over the mountain again. We see the same kinds of scenes we saw earlier but in reverse. The bus is so bouncy and the road so curved that, despite the beautiful vistas, we are all longing for the end of our journey.
When we reach the summit of the mountain, we are able to see Naples in all its glory stretched out below us. It is a sizeable city. When we finally return to the peer, it is
obvious that there was a good downpour of rain on this side on the mountain, although we didn't get a drop.
We dine solo for supper. Unbelievably, this is the last night of the cruise. There is a crew goodbye on the main stage. Champagne is served. This is followed by reprise entertainment from Kieran Powell and Petrina Johnson. Up next is one of the world's most legendary cities: Rome.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Amalfi
What a great photo