Day 19 Positano to Rome via Pompeii

We left the seaside town of Positano early this morning as we wanted plenty of time to navigate our way out of the twisting roads that lead back to the rest of Italian civilization.  Nevertheless, we still found ourselves winding through some "goat paths" until we neared Naples.  Our agenda for the day was Pompeii.  We set our course for the city center.  Wouldn't you know that is exactly where our GPS took us.   So who knew there was a Pompeii that is not the city covered with volcanic ash.  After some thrashing about in the car we finally found the ancient city of Pompeii.    We toured the town which was once covered beneath a blanket volcanic debris.  We could see ruts in the paved stone streets which spoke to a heavy volume of ancient traffic.  If my memory serves we were told that there was a earthquake in 62AD which devastated the city which was mostly rebuilt by the time Vesuvius erupted in 79AD.  They must have really pissed off one of their gods to have two such horrific events happen so close together.  I can't think of someone they didn't build a temple for.  Those things sprang up like Starbucks.  The ruins were interesting but not quite what I imagined.  I was hoping to see more artifacts and a museum type setting.  What we saw were a lot of old ruins that if they did not tell you were buried at one time you would have thought it was just an old city.  The signage was poor which we suspect leads to supporting the guides that escort tours.  We used a recorded series messages that were oriented by numbers on a map.  I was glad we visited but was not overwhelmed by the experience.  We are now in our Hilton hotel at the airport where we will hop aboard our plane in the morning and conclude our adventure.  Ciao!

Chris - I hated to leave beautiful, sunny Amalfi Coast for dusty ruins...and with ruins,  I always have trouble "seeing" what "was." When we took the kids to Rome when they were young I bought an overlay book that showed you what it used to look like and then you turn the overlay page and it showed you how it looks today. I actually found that VERY helpful, so I did that again today. Armed with my audio receiver, my book, my glasses, my camera, my hat, a map, and my backpack (with suntan lotion, a granola bar, gum, candy and all the necessary trappings for an outing) ... I was off. Pompeii was different than what I thought, I thought I'd see "scenes and people frozen in time"... so I'm not your sharpest crayon. We did see a few people that they had displayed, but mostly ruins of houses, temples, theaters, etc. I thought the ruins were interesting and I was impressed by how big the area was. I was also impressed by how sophisticated their lives were. I "happen" to hear an English speaking tour guide tell the group that the women shopped at the Forum market and then came across the street to the delivery store and had it sent to their house...just like UPS! The other comical piece to me is they had stores that served fast food type of fare. The picture where I'm standing behind the big hollow bowls,  is a store that served food to be eaten immediately...their own McDonalds! I was glad I went, I really enjoyed seeing the ruins. I was REALLY happy it was only 75 degrees with a breeze, I can't imagine how hot it would be in the heat of summer!

If all goes well here are the pictures you're looking at: Paul in a part of the Forum, Me at "McDonalds," Modetum's Bakery, both of us at the Temple of Apollo, a human remains, the Amphitheater, the rutted street with their version of a speed bump (to slow chariots down) and a Weighing Table (a marble slab with cavities of various dimensions, used to measure the merchandise on sale at the Forum.)

Tomorrow - Stateside! I've loved out trip and learned a lot...one thing was two double dip gelatos in one day MAY be too many!! My most valuable player this trip had to be my black fleece jacket. I used it as a jacket, a pillow, a blanket, as long underwear, a sometimes pajama top, a hand warmer, a foot warmer, a "buddy pillow," an iPad support, etc. It was a terrific multi-tasker!