Pompei - Vesuvius and the Ruins

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Trip so far
Matthew Feben After rising early and making the small walk to Termini Station i was on my was to Pompei. I guy i met at the Yellow in Rome decided to make the journey also so it was nice to have a bit of company. After 2 hours we changed trains in Napoli then after a short half hour trip we were in Pompei.

The town was a little smaller than i had imagined but the main street that lead from the station to the main square was quite beautiful. The was an amazing church that was in the main square but after Rome i was all churched out and didnt end up making the trip inside it. After getting a bite to eat we went to check into out hostel.....it is closed from 10am-3pm so the lazy Italians can have their siesta. It was a really nice hostel with a large open courtyards only 30 seconds walk to the main square. That night I headed out for tea with Max (guy from rome) and 3 canadian guys who were in the room before getting an early night.

That next morning I was up and out of the hostel early and made the 1 hour bsu ride to Mt Vesuvius with Max and the Canadians. The bus took us to 1000m high on the mountain and from there it was about a 30-45min steep hike to the summit and crater of the giant volcano. The crater we walked to was the one created by the 1944 eurption, we had seen photos of the crated from the famous eruption that had burried the city of Pompei in 79AD. It was enourmous!! Must have been quite a show. It was a little weird standing at the summit of a Volcano but it did give some great views of the surrounding area. After a short walk around the top and a lunch break we made the trip back to Pompei.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to find a laundromat as i was on my very last pair of clean threads....i eventually came to realise that there was none to be found and was forced to pay some lady at a laudry service 25 euro to do it for me....not impressed.

The next day I took a walk to the ancient ruins of Pompei...after seeing what had caused the destruction fo the city the days before it was time to see the remains of what it destroyed. The ruins were soooo much larger than i had expected. It was literally the remains of an entire city that has been uncovered. It is took much to see in one days but most of it is very similar anyway...lots of houses and stuff. I made my way to the auditorium (very much like a small colosseum). I also went and saw the paster casts of the two bodies that were discovered in the town baths which was a little weird as they we preserved in the exact positions in which they had died.

That afternoon i spent an hour or two laying in the park waiting for siesta to be over so i could go back to the hostel. After a short sleep I went across the road to watch the Chapions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan - shit result!!

This morning i was up early and on my way to Florence.

Speak soon
Matt

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Comments

[ros & ian]

Rome and Pompeii
Matt, your photos and comments are terrific - thanks. Perhaps a travel book when you get home?

[kaye]

hey matt, fantastic to keep updated with your travels. Sounds like you are having a fantastic time. You must be catching up with mum, dad and tim soon. Say hi to them for us and keep enjoying your wonderful holiday. stay safe and well all our luv - kaye michael, loren, ben and renae.xxx