Pompeii

The next morning after bandaging up our feet we boarded the Circumvesuviana train which circumnavigates Mt. Vesuvius and connects the small towns in the Bay of Naples including Pompeii.

Immediately upon entering Pompeii it is hard not to be impressed with the size of the city. Blocks upon blocks of buildings are intact and preserved as though only build 100 years ago. Floors are covered by geometric mosaics and abut walls with brilliant pastel frescoes illustrating scenes from ancient Roman life. The various public baths were some of the best preserved ruins that we saw during the entire trip still containing most of the original mosaic art present when buried two thousand years ago. Many of the frescoes surrounding the walls of house courtyards appeared as vivid today as they must have been in the past.






The picture shown on the left served as one of the old laundry buildings of Pompeii.
The square basin was used to wash clothes with hot water. Through the door pictured on the left was a courtyard where they where wet clothes were hung out to dry. Despite it functioning as a business it was as brilliantly decorated as many of the other houses.


The city of Pompeii was laid out in blocks with streets delineating each block. Sidewalks on the side of the street allowed foot traffic while the stone paved roads allowed animal, wheeled vehicles, and sewage/rain passageway. These stepping stones cut across each of the four sides of an intersection allowing pedestrians to cross the street without soiling their feet. Grooves in the pavement attest to the carriages or wheels passing over the stones over hundreds of years. Vesuvius is visible from most parts of the city, a constant reminder of the reason Pompeii exists today.


The final bath that we walked through contained the only plaster cast of a few of the victims of Pompeii. There are dozens of others, but the city is so large we were unable to find them. All for the better. It was pretty spooky to see the facial expressions and contorted bodies of these guys at the end of their life.