Pompei!

Grant Hotel Europa has amazing full door shutter coverage of the glass doors to a tiny balcony.  Since we arrived in the dark, we had no idea they wouldn’t let light in to wake us.  Our plan was to get up around 8 and be on the train to Pompei by 9.  The treno termini is only about two blocks away.  In reality, we were up at 9:20 just in time to grab a little breakfast before the closed and determined that we would be flexible.  According to our travel expert, Rick Steves, we should plan on about three hours in Pompei.  We had also pretty much crossed off the hike up Vesuvio unless we had lots of time after the ancient city.  That turned out to be a great decision!

 
Mt. Vesuvius- 4200ft elevation.  The people in this area live with the understanding that danger is imminent from the volcano!  I cannot imagine but I guess you kind of forget about it and go on with life.  

You hear about the train systems in Europe and so far, they are exactly what we’ve heard.  Access to the next city is so simple!  Even in London, on a Friday afternoon, the highway to Lutton Airport, which is northwest of the city, the traffic was so light.  For those in Atlanta driving north 75 Friday afternoons…  Inside the city is a different story when it comes to traffic but the freeway need is not demanding.  

The train to Pompei was about 40 minutes standing most of the time.  There were two little fold down seats at the door access which we used occasionally.  The view out the right side was the coast; when it was visible, it was spectacular!  From the Pompei station, the walk was about 20 minutes through a neighborhood.  These are some of our most favorite places!  To see where and how local people live, is so much fun!  Even in London, life seems so much more simple than our commuting, suburban lifestyle.  Though the cab driver said life was very fast paced in London for him.     

This photo fit our family adventurous life so well! 

I’m stalling talking about Pompei because it might just be too difficult to describe.  The feeling of walking into a city that is 2500 years old and somewhat standing is beyond comprehension.  Some of the architecture remaining so clearly defines what was happening in the location and some of it not so clear.  For some reason, Carter and I were both fascinated with staircases that would have lead to upstairs rooms.  The heavy arches used to be topped with water tanks in order to create more water pressure than just the normal aqueduct flow.  Imagine the bustling city of about 2000 people going about their daily lives!  Envisioning the elite getting around with the help of servants and the common person just going about their day.  At the top of the city wall tower, imagine the guards overlooking the city where people hustle about.  I kind of imagine that just like today, some people hustle and some people take their time.  God created us all so uniquely in that way.  The city was standing a little more than 35 years after Jesus death and resurrection.  It was originally developed by the Osci, Italic people, somewhere between 900-700BC during the Iron Age.  The settlement was close to the river Sarno and on the coast so it became an important trade center.  Multiple groups, the Greek, Etruscan and Samnites expanded the city.   In the third century BC Rome conquered Pompei and evidently lots of changes were made architecturally.  In 62 or 63 AD, the city suffered major damage from an earthquake.  The remains of the city show a lot of rebuilding was in process when it was buried in ash.  Some things that look as though they were damaged were actually not completed construction at the time.  A nearby city, I’ll find the name later, was destroyed by the lava from the Volcano.  In Pompei, many people were able to escape because they were in the path of the ash.  The other city just to the North was buried under lava flowing down the hill at 100mph.   

 

Ultimately, we ended up spending about 6 hours in the city.  The last part was the Pompei colosseum and gladiator training grounds/barracks.  These were in such good condition.  I’m note sure they were buried or just long forgotten and never touched until excavation began in the mid 1700s.  I felt a little guilty about praying for rain when we did get doused a few times!  The rain and clouded did make for a better option in our opinion than roasting in the sunshine.  Outside the gate, Carter purchased the sweatshirt souvenir that he wanted and we all had gelato!  Back in Naples we exited the train one stop North of our hotel and walked for the best Pizza John had found with many reviews.  Di Matteo serves fried pizza which is a new concept to me.  Only one of us opted for that.  Not too bad but I’ll stick with the old fashioned and what better place to have it than its origin – central and southern Italy in the 900sAD.  This restaurant is in the old town of Naples which we had hoped to see.  We did get a great experience there at night walking the old streets, seeing the old church and really all the buildings.  I have never experience such a busy place!  People are packed into the street and then have to squeeze to the sides to allow cars and motor bikes to pass through.  Literally, the motor vehicles are completely surrounded by people that slightly part to allow movement of the car.  It’s like water flowing around a rock in a stream!  Returning to the hotel, the host said to us, “Good choice!,” when he saw our pizza box from Di Matteo.  That’s the goal to really experience something local. 

GraceLin wanted me to share the line at Mickey D’s.

So many poppi in bloom here!

OLD TOWN Naples:  

Thank you Carter for asking to see Pompei!  It is a destination neither John nor I would have thought of but so very worth the visit.   The city is not updated at all in the area we experienced, the streets are crowded and dirty.  Despite that, we had a great experience!!