March 4: Naples and Pompeii



On the way to Naples



Last night was beyond awful. Our roommates were an odd artist girl named "Echo" from LA who ground her teeth and moaned in her sleep, and a Brazilian boy named Marco who snored so loud I was honestly afraid he might choke himself and die. I have NEVER in my life heard someone make noise like that, and that includes all my uncles put together sleeping off their beer and steak at deer camp. It was indescribably and strange-he came in around 2am but didn't start snoring till 4. Unfortunately, I got no sleep after that. I got up extra-early at 6 and got ready, then went to meet at the tour office at 7:15. On the tour there were English, French, Spanish and Japanese speakers. Our guide had a very heavy accent, but she spoke 4 languages (There was a separate Japanese guide). We drove to Naples/Napoli, past some very pretty mountain scenery. The city was pretty from a distance-crescent shaped on a slope around a bay with the island of Capri and some others visible through the mist. Up close, though, I don't think I particularly liked it. It was all high-rises and was way too crowded and dirty. The bus picked up our local guide, 85-year old Franco who spoke 5 languages.

Bay of Naples

Naples

I was happy to be on the way to Pompeii. First though, we stopped at a cameo factory to see the pretty jewellery made. I almost got something there for Erin, but I figured she should probably pick it herself because there was just way too much for me to choose from for her. We then drove to Pompeii in the shadow of Vesuvius. It just looks sinister to me. We went to a restaurant and were served decently good spaghetti, fish soup and a main course of pork and potato and cheese casserole-y slices with clementines and orange slices for dessert. It was a huge meal and very good. I had a lovely conversation with a South African couple next to me. They wanted to know all about Wisconsin after watching the Packers in the Super Bowl.



First view of Pompeii



Walking up to Pompeii, I'll admit I wasn't immediately thrilled. I could only see the wall and greenery at first, which were not at all exciting, but then we climbed up to the city and wow! It was so amazing! I guess I hadn't realized just how perfectly preserved the buildings all are, even though I've studied the city in school before. It was really like a true working city, just caught still in time. The mosaics and frescoes were still colorful and amazing, in spite of the centuries since they'd been created. I'm so glad I was there with a guide who knew what he was doing (Franco has been doing this for over 50 years). Without, I would have been lost and clueless. He showed us wine shops and a bakery where loaves of bread had been found buried in the oven. He pointed out the lead pipes that were the city's plumbing and the dents worn into the drinking fountains by long-dead hands. He took us to the city's biggest brothel where explicit frescoes are still perfectly preserved, and showed us the men and women's separate bath houses. Then he said, "Now we a-go to see the petrified people, yes?" and we saw the poor citizens of Pompeii in their death poses. I learned that the forms were created by the original excavator of the city in the 1800s when he noticed people-shaped cavities in the deep ash he was removing, where all the organic matter had decomposed and only bones were left in the negative-space. So, he filled in the holes with plaster and now we can see the forms of the doomed people running from the ash cloud. The saddest were a prostrate pregnant woman, a curled up dog, and two young slaves who had been stuck in leather straps in the fish market.

From most places in the city, you can see Vesuvius in the distance, looking dark and foreboding. At the end of the tour we walked through the ruins of a temple to Juno, who was supposed to protect the city. Boy, did she fail. I really, really enjoyed my visit to Pompeii. It was by far the best part of my trip to Italy.

Wine shop in Pompeii

Storeroom of a house

Fresco in a middle-class living room

Ruins

Stepping stones in the streets, and Vesuvius in the distance

Franco demonstrating a drinking fountain

Pompeii's central forum

Poor doggie

Pregnant victim

"Beware of Dog"

Bakery, with grinding stone in the fore-ground

Fish market slave, chained so he couldn't run

Forum

The drive back was uneventful. It got dark fast so I listened to my music till we finally got back to Rome at 8:30. I ate peanut butter sandwiches for supper. Hopefully tonight will be better. We have a new roommate (yay!) so I'm looking forward to a last night of decent sleep in Rome before heading back to London.