Italy 2004 - Naples, Pompeii and More of Rome

Travel Diary

Day 7: Pompeii

Steve wrote:

We left an early wake-up call, had some fruit we purchased from a local market and went downstairs to be picked up at 7:00 AM for an all-day trip to Naples and Pompeii. The van made a couple more stops to pick up some others and went to the Green Line offices to meet our guide and get on the bus. Our guide was Antonella, who was quite charming. We sat behind the old couple from the Vatican Tour, who we nicknamed Edith (after Edith Bunker) and Charlie (he reminded me of my Uncle Charlie, but not in a good way). Edith answered every question with a story and Charlie couldn't understand why he couldn't get any baseball scores. Don't these people care about Major League Baseball?

Although mostly Americans, there were several Japanese tourists as well, so Antonella shared the mic with a Japanese guide. Upon arriving in Naples, we were joined by Franco, who narrated in English and German for the two German speaking women on the tour.

Rosemary wrote:

Naples: At last, a city whose traffic is worse than Los Angeles. This time-consuming side trip could just as well have been skipped. We also had the traditional souvenir stop at a cameo shop. Nice, but very, very pricey.

Steve wrote:

We went on to the “new city” of Pompeii, erected since the last eruption of Vesuvius in 1944 - for the 7th time. It's like people who build homes in the flood plain, get wiped out in a flood and rebuild in the same spot. We stopped for lunch at a decent, but not great, restaurant where a major disappointment among my fellow travelers was that dessert was an orange. Pardon me, but I just paid about $140 for this trip and dessert is an orange? No chocolate mousse, no cake, no gelato - an orange? Unfortunately, this was not the worst part of lunch, especially for us. Rosemary "rolled”" her ankle and it started swelling immediately.

Rosemary wrote:

I called for ice, and spent the rest of lunch time with my foot elevated. The ankle was painful and swollen, but after the long bus trip I would not miss Pompeii, so I limped through the three-hour tour. It was disappointing not to be able to hop over the stones and dart spontaneously into nooks and passageways. But there was still plenty to see.

Steve wrote:

I wasn’t sure that Rosemary was going to make it, especially when we had to climb steps to get in and immediately had to climb an uneven pathway with large rounded stones (the originals, by the way) to get into the city. But Rosemary was determined and leaned on me for leverage to get up and down steps, curbs, etc.

Pompeii was destroyed when Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. The city was covered in ash and other volcanic matter and not rediscovered until the 1700's by early archeologists. It has been a working "dig" ever since. What has been uncovered are the remains of a thriving city, with homes, shops, public baths and even a brothel. There are the "usual" piazzas with columns, statues, etc. and some art still visible on the floors and walls. Franco led us through the city in about two hours, but it could take days to examine everything. We might not have gotten everything or every potential picture out of the tour because of Rosemary’s injury, but it was still a unique experience.

The trip back to Rome was uneventful and by the time we got back to our hotel, it was almost 9:00 PM. Surprisingly, the swelling in Rosemary’s ankle actually seemed to go down and she was able to walk carefully without much pain. As it was late, we had dinner and then went back to the hotel. The laundry we had sent out yesterday was in our room, but missing two pairs of pants. We notified the front desk and hoped that they would show up the next day. As it was nearly 11:00 PM, we went to bed. No scheduled plans for tomorrow, but there are a few things we’d like to see before leaving.

Day 8: Rome

Steve wrote:

We slept until about 9:00 AM and got a call that our pants had been found. Rosemary’s ankle was somewhat better, so the day started pretty well.

After breakfast, we tried to keep our walking down to a minimum, so we took a cab to the National Museum. More amazing sculptures, some in better shape than others, ranging from the 1st century AD, some mosaics and frescoes that had survived and a history of Roman money from before the birth of Christ.

We had lunch at "Ciao Bella" on the Via Veneto - great pasta dishes, a little pricey but, hey, we're on vacation.

We tried to visit the Cappuccin crypt down the street, but it was closed for repairs until 2005. Instead, we took a cab out to the catacombs, ancient burial sites. The tour was led by Father Owen, a Catholic priest from England. We saw how the earth was dug out to a depth of about 100 feet, saw the spots where the bodies had lain and evidence of tablets describing the deceased and his family, including the remains of a woman from about the 3rd century.

Rosemary wrote:

It was cold and damp in the catacombs - very refreshing after the summer heat above ground.

There was no good way to get a taxi back into town, so we decided to take the bus. You can't buy a bus ticket from the driver (who is enclosed in what looks like a bulletproof case), but must have one before entering the bus (and then validate it in a little machine inside the bus). Tickets are sold at newsstands, tobacco shops, etc. We managed to get one from the gift shop just as they were closing. The buses are designed for standing, not sitting, and are driven just as terrifyingly as taxis.

Steve wrote:

We caught the first bus which took us far enough back into town where we could catch a cab back to the hotel to shower before dinner. Speaking of which, what’s up with the Italian showers? There’s no partition, no curtain, just a handheld shower head in an open tub. It’s literally impossible for an adult to take a shower without flooding the entire bathroom.

But I digress. We were going to try this seemingly fancy restaurant around the corner at Piazza di Popoli, but right across the street on the steps of the church was an outdoor concert of gospel music. We listened to one song and couldn’t take it. Decided to cruise the neighborhood and saw a couple of restaurants down a side street/alley. Stopped at one of them for a really great meal.

We bought some gelato on the way home and stopped in the Piazza to eat it. By this time, the gospel concert had broken up. We had seen the building of a large stage, lighting riggings and speakers in the Piazza but had not been able to find out what it was for. We spoke to one of the stage hands, who said that they were working on a >operatic concert for Wednesday. I would guess that the Piazza would hold 10-15,000 people, so this was a pretty big deal. Too bad we’ll miss it.

Naples is a densely-packed city with terrible traffic problems.

From Naples, we can see Mt. Vesuvius.

Castel dell'Ovo (viewed through the bus window) is a 12th-century fortress.

The city of Pompeii was covered in hot ashes from the volcano Vesuvius
in the year 79. Excavations began in the mid-1700s and continue today.
The city was further damaged by bombing in World War II and an earthquake in 1980.

Frescoes decorate the interior walls of many houses.

Many homeless dogs live among the ruins, surviving on handouts from tourists and water that collects in the old fountains

This sculpture stands in front of the of "House of the Faun".

Bodies decomposed inside the hardened ash and left hollows which could be filled with plaster to reveal the appearance of the victims at the time of their death.

Stepping stones built into the streets allowed pedestrians to cross when the streets flooded.

Floor mosaics were popular.

The red brick sections are modern restorations.

From the entrance to the ancient city, we can see the modern city of Pompeii.

Ceiling art in the public bathhouse at Pompeii.

A dog of Pompeii snoozes on the marble tub at the baths.

Rome: The Arch of Constantine commemorated the victory of Constantine over the army of Maxentius in 312. It is 21 meters (69 feet) high and 26 meters (85 feet) wide.

Vatican: The "Holy Door" is kept shut by being bricked up on the other side. It is opened for special Jubilee celebrations, and is scheduled to remain closed until 2025.

St. Peter's Cathedral: The mummfied bodies of several popes are on view.

A mosaic of ancient Rome in the National Museum.