July 24th Pompeii

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Our chappie on reception had told us to get into the city when it opened at 9am before the coach tours from Naples & Rome piled in. We went to the gates which are just across the road & there were about 200 people waiting to get in. I asked a cafe owner what was happening – 'problem inside, open at 11'. So back to Billy, then back to the gates where we then queued for 40 minutes in the heat but thankfully in the shade to buy the tickets. After a while you'd have thought the entire population of Japan had arrived – thousands & thousands of them! Again, all armed with selfie sticks, umbrellas, Hello Kitty gear & posing for photos with two fingers up or making a heart shape with their hands - odd race.



The place is pretty spectacular & covers a huge area but after a while it became 'just more ruins', oh & the main amphitheatre was closed for building works or something. The queues for the main internal sights were enormous too & yet the building most worthy of a visit in my opinion – Villa dei Misteri - was deserted, probably due to the fact it was a good 15 minute walk to get there! We saw the stony remains of bodies being looked after in the workshops which was a peculiar experience too – weird that these people would stay rather than run away like thousands did....



We spent a couple of hours in there but Cathy had worn the wrong shoes ie flip-flops & top so was struggling with the stone roads & heat respectively so back we came for a leisurely afternoon, a walk to the supermarket & a swim in the little pool.

So, well worthy of a visit & only a tenner to get in, but would I go again? No thank you though I suspect it would be miles better in the close season...





Tomorrow we head for Montecassino to stay & to find Cathy's great Uncle who perished there. We have the details of where the grave will be from the War Graves Commission website so the day has the chance of being a little harrowing....

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