April 19th-21st – Pompeii

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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 the road, we also found that Pompeii itself was decidedly rough around the edges and quite dirty - and everything was closed. We walked back to the campsite for dinner, showers and bed. The next morning dawned a bit wet so we hung around and chilled out until lunchtime and gave it time to clear up - which it did. We went down to the entrance and for the second time we pleasantly surprised to find that it was free that day. We found the whole site quite fascinating and a real glimpse into the ancient way of life of the Romans in this once opulent city frozen in time in 79 AD. The houses with their pillars and courtyards; the shops, bakery and brothel; the forum, temples and stadiums were all easily identifiable. They may not have been in working order but, like the Colosseum, you could easily imagine life going on 2000 years ago. We were still there about 6pm when most of the people were gone and it was starting to get a little creepy walking along via della Tombe past all the tombs. (I think Jac was more worried about being locked in!) There were a couple of areas that we wanted to see that were closed unfortunately, but I guess that was why it was free. Overall it was worth stopping to see and I’m glad we didn’t pass it by. Tomorrow we’re off to Sorrento - the long way around via the Amalfi Coast.

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Photos

Pompeii
The Temple of Apollo, built before the Romans arrived

Pompeii
Storage of some of the relics, and a plaster cast of one of the bodies unearthed

Pompeii
The Temple of Isis, the Greek influence in Pompeii

Pompeii
The Odeion theatre, originally with a wooden roof.

Pompeii
One of the five rooms of the brothel (comfy bed!)

Pompeii
One of the streets complete with chariot wheel ruts

Pompeii
The bakery with grinding wheels and oven