Pompeii

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Geo: 40.7492, 14.5007

Cafe Caracciolo for breakfast, then caught the 10.45am train from Meta to Pompeii - standing room only. We planned to spend no more than a few hours at the historical site, but fellow Brits on the train advised it was easily an eight hour trip so looks like it could be a long, hot day. We hired ourselves an audio guide, with a free map and started our tour at the baths, outside the city walls. Then in through one of seven entrances in to the ancient Roman city that was destroyed when Mount Versuvius erupted in 79AD. The site is much bigger than we'd expected and very well preserved considering it had been completely buried in volcano ash (which preserved everything). The streets are laid out in a well organised grid with huge rounded stones forming cobbled streets. There are three amphi-theatres; one for the gladiators, one for plays and the other smaller one for poetry and music recitals, all intact. There was an area for the law courts and council chambers, various temples and many villas that would have been owned by the rich with wall art, pillars and statues. Important people lived next door to their poorer neighbours whose houses were small and dingy.

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