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Published: August 21st 2010
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Fresco
The fresco on the walls on the Triclinium (dining room) in the Villa of the Mysteries Over breakfast at the hotel we discussed what each of us knew and was expecting from our day trip to Pompeii. We all knew that it was an ancient city that had been destroyed by the ash that decended on it following the erruption of Mount Vesuvious and that most of the population had suffocated before they could escape. We also knew that preservation work allowed us to see the town as it was before the devastation. During the excavation and restoration work, air pockets had been discovered in the ash within which bodies had disintegrated, so the archeologists had been able to pump plaster into the pockets to create a cast of the people who had died there.
(We also knew the story about how Dr Who had caused it all in order to protect the world from the invasion of the Pyrovilles!)
We took the Circumvesuviana train to Pomeii just in time for the midday sun and spent an amazing afternoon looking for history and shade.
In 62 AD (yes yes almost 2000 years ago) Pompeii was struck by an earthquake. Over the next 17 years the city worked on rebuilding itself but on 24th August
79 AD when Vesuvius erupted the city and 2,000 of it's 20,000 population was lost. Over 1500 years later it was found again but restoration work did not commence until 1748. Work has continued and around two thirds of the town have been excavated and are available to the public.
We strolled through what would have been the streets of Pompeii and in and out of what would have been the houses of it's citizens. We came to the market area and cordoned off but visible was room after room of pots, tools and other wares excavated from the buildings around the town. There were also two plaster casts of people who had lost their lives when the ash descended, encased in glass boxes for preservation. The first was seated in a prayer position, the second lying face down, knees pulled in, covering her eyes with her arm.
A short walk later we reached the city walls, beyond which were it's burial tombs. They did not look indiferent to the houses we had seen earlier, many walls stubbed and without roofs. Nat spotted some lizards darting in and out of the ruins but as the heat was oppressive
we continued on to some of the more intact buildings.
Along the paths there were welcome water taps where we filled our bottles, splashed our faces and washed our feet. Having wet feet meant that more of the dark ash sand stuck to them making us a very dirty crew... more of that later.
The Villa Of The Mysteries was my favourite. Along the paths to this point, we had only found a few of the highlights from the guide book - it was too hot to keep stopping and checking the map so we would think that we were about arrive at a particular relic, only to have missed it and be at the next. We missed The House Of The Surgeon where medical implements had been excavated and Villa of Diomedes then arrived at the Villa Of The Mysteries. This was one of the 100+ holiday retreats outside the city walls which the more wealthy citizens would have used as a getaway. It was closer to the sea (and Vesuvius) than any other place we had access to. Nat found the triclinum (dining room) lined with an amazing fresco that would have had couches along the
walls and a central table. He also found the wine press and he and Han took a few steps down into the wine cellar. The roofs and gardens had been restored which gave a real feel for the building.
A long walk around the boundary of the site gave us a view of the agricultural retoration. Many vines, plants and trees have been planted and cultivated on the site to mirror the type and formation of the originals based on plaster casts taken during the excavation of plant roots.
We wanted to see the ampitheatre and when we arrived there we were not dissapointed, but it had been a very long few hours and we were tired, thirsty and dirty from the dust so we headed back to the exit. Nat got his second wind then and thought archeology was great so we zigzagged through more ruins rather than taking the direct path.
Life 2000 years ago was not that differently stuctured than it is now. We saw evidence of community, public houses and social centres, sports, judiciary, medicine, trading, entertainment - everything that that contributes to a modern city.
Once back at the start point
Nat had Gelato #5 from the Porta Marina snack bar at the entrance to Pompeii - a straciatella and vinighia. Hannah paid for it so he argued that it means it does not get deducted from the gelato budget and I think she was too tired to win the argument. Maybe he should buy her one back tomorrow.
We were the dirtiest three people on the train back to Naples, having wandered around sweating in a dusty ash town for hours. Once back at the hotel I cleaned all our sandles in the bidet and we cleaned ourselves up.
Dinner again was poor service but excelent food. Pizza (Nat) and pasta (me + Han) was the best ever. I had the chef seafood special which consisted of clams, muscles, scallops and prawn with pasta tubes in a sefood broth whil Hannah had the richest bolognese sauce.
Full and worn out now. Son and sister fast asleep.
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