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- forum_tourists.jpg
We got to Pompeii simply enough - it's just a site on the edge of greater Naples, now; another stop in the "Circum Vesuvius" train line you catch in central Naples, a walk from the port. It was free that day, but the tourist crowd was tolerable enough; of course, it's a huge site - a whole city.
- stepping_stones.jpg
The tourists, indeed, were just enough of a crowd to give you a feel of how the city might have looked with a busy population on the streets. Note the stepping stones useful here to avoid the sewage and rainfall that would run down the street.
- chariot_ruts.jpg
My grandmother's diary - she, of course, toured a somewhat smaller site 100 years ago, and with the requisite personal guide - mentions the "chariot ruts" in the street and I couldn't imagine how they could still be visible - but they were clearly CUT into the stone streets to keep the chariots (actually, mostly wagons of course - chariots were the tanks of their day) moving smoothly.
- snackbar_out.jpg
We were just lamenting that there would be no way to get a coffee in an archaeological site, when we came upon the snackbar. Which they had built up against a real wall of an actual ancient, well, snackbar.
- snackbar_in.jpg
Inside, however, it looked more like a 7-11; the cappuchino was, as always in Italy, excellent by our standards.
- venus_mural.jpg
As you may have heard, so much is so amazingly intact, entombed in volcanic ash for 18 centuries. Many of the wall-murals are still on the walls. This Venus on the half-shell predates Botticelli by well over 1000 years.
- arena_stairs.jpg
But even after you have seen block after block after BLOCK of houses and shops, you are staggered by the arena.
- arena_connie.jpg
You can just walk inside the way they did and stand the middle. You could still play football there. We stopped for a picnic lunch. It was mostly this empty; what a change after Rome!
- theatre_smedley3.jpg
The two theatres, one for music, one drama (here) are even more intact; Connie and Smedley Smurf sat in seats J-8 and J-9
- theatre_from_seat.jpg
As you can see from the white stone, they had to restore a LITTLE of it - because they plan to stage plays here for the first time in two millenia.
- dark_alley.jpg
We walked back from that far end of the site, through even more city - complete with what must have been very dark alleys.
- street_sign.jpg
I wondered, after Rome and trouble finding our way about in Naples, if this was the last age when Italians bothered to put up street signs.
- water_drainpipe.jpg
And for those of you reading at work, yes, you can spot the clay drainpipes. Maybe not VCT, but they've lasted well enough!
- pompeii_departure.jpg
And so, good-bye to Naples, Vesuvius that still looms menacingly over it - my grandmother's sister watched small eruptions when they climbed the summit - and Pompeii, where I'd like to return with a week to really see it, and the museum of its artifacts.
We got to Pompeii simply enough - it's just a site on the edge of greater Naples, now; another stop in the "Circum Vesuvius" train line you catch in central Naples, a walk from the port. It was free that day, but the tourist crowd was tolerable enough; of course, it's a huge site - a whole city. 
The tourists, indeed, were just enough of a crowd to give you a feel of how the city might have looked with a busy population on the streets. Note the stepping stones useful here to avoid the sewage and rainfall that would run down the street. 
My grandmother's diary - she, of course, toured a somewhat smaller site 100 years ago, and with the requisite personal guide - mentions the "chariot ruts" in the street and I couldn't imagine how they could still be visible - but they were clearly CUT into the stone streets to keep the chariots (actually, mostly wagons of course - chariots were the tanks of their day) moving smoothly. 
We were just lamenting that there would be no way to get a coffee in an archaeological site, when we came upon the snackbar. Which they had built up against a real wall of an actual ancient, well, snackbar. 
Inside, however, it looked more like a 7-11; the cappuchino was, as always in Italy, excellent by our standards. 
As you may have heard, so much is so amazingly intact, entombed in volcanic ash for 18 centuries. Many of the wall-murals are still on the walls. This Venus on the half-shell predates Botticelli by well over 1000 years. 
But even after you have seen block after block after BLOCK of houses and shops, you are staggered by the arena. 
You can just walk inside the way they did and stand the middle. You could still play football there. We stopped for a picnic lunch. It was mostly this empty; what a change after Rome! 
The two theatres, one for music, one drama (here) are even more intact; Connie and Smedley Smurf sat in seats J-8 and J-9 
As you can see from the white stone, they had to restore a LITTLE of it - because they plan to stage plays here for the first time in two millenia. 
We walked back from that far end of the site, through even more city - complete with what must have been very dark alleys. 
I wondered, after Rome and trouble finding our way about in Naples, if this was the last age when Italians bothered to put up street signs. 
And for those of you reading at work, yes, you can spot the clay drainpipes. Maybe not VCT, but they've lasted well enough! 
And so, good-bye to Naples, Vesuvius that still looms menacingly over it - my grandmother's sister watched small eruptions when they climbed the summit - and Pompeii, where I'd like to return with a week to really see it, and the museum of its artifacts.