Pompeii

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This morning, we checked out of our hotel in Sorrento and made the relatively quick bus ride to the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Our guide for the Pompeii tour was the wife of Mariano, our guide from the previous day!

It was amazing to see how well preserved these ruins actually are. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., destroying the city, killing tens of thousands of people, and burying the entire thing under ash and rock (but not lava). That is why archeologists were able to uncover the city in such great condition. We saw a courtyard for gladiators, a small amphitheater (which could hold up to 1500 people, since they were much smaller than we are today), and several houses. The streets were difficult to walk on, but were interesting to look at because there were visible tracks worn into the stone from chariot wheels. It was amazing to visit the house of Cornelium, a politician of the city, and to see the excellent condition of the frescoes on the walls which were painted about 2,000 years ago. We also visited the "Red Light District" of the city. We walked through the most prominent brothel in the area, viewing a painted "menu" of what was offered there. Let's just say I think more than one person on the tour was blushing when they exited the building. I decided not to take any pictures of that particular artwork! Finally, we ended up in the main square of the town. There were wonderful ruins on view there, including the head of a statue of Zeus that still remained from those days. The view of Mount Vesuvius in the background was both awesome and scary, as it is still an active volcano and could erupt again at any time. Our guide told us that, prior to the eruption of 79 A.D., Vesuvius was as much as twice as large. The entire top of the mountain was blown off in that eruption!

After lunch, we boarded the bus and began the longest bus ride of the trip - 5 or 6 hours to Florence (Firenze in Italian). Upon arrival in Florence, we rode to the top of a hill overlooking the city and took pictures of the landscape along with a replica of Michaelangelo's famous statue of David. We then checked in at our hotel and walked a block or so up the road for our group dinner at a nearby restaurant. Upon returning to the hotel, I did my first load of "laundry" (shirts) in the sink of my bathroom and hung it up around my room to dry. I also tried to get online with my laptop because the hotel had wireless internet, but I was unsuccessful. Oh well...off to bed and try again tomorrow!

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