Thursday Aug. 12th, 2010-Naples

Many of the port cities have a tourist attraction of some sort. After porting in Naples, we took a bus to Pompeii. I was a little disappointed because I am fascinated by how they manuever our monster size ship around in these super tiny ports. We always dock super early in the morning and I had every intention of getting up and watching the process this morning. But, Michele wears me out! So I slept in until like 6:45 or some really decadent time like that.

At any rate, this little town just outside of the ruins of Pompeii had a cameo factory and this man was actually sitting there carving cameos! It was fascinating and we really enjoyed learning about the entire process. Michele had seen it before but we were both intrigued by the detail and the craftsmanship that goes in to each one.

I guess I have been in Bowling Green too long because I thought Pompeii was just a flat wasteland of petrified bodies and ashen relics. Imagine my surprise at the beauty and color that has survived! While we accept the date for the destruction of Pompeii at 79 AD, it is amazing to think that the city was around as early as the 8th century BC!

As we walked up the path to enter Pompeii, this is the site we saw. Certainly not a flat, colorless wasteland!

This pomegranite tree is a regrowth from original vegetation. No one has planted in Pompeii since 79 AD. Archeologist have determine that the seeds were preserved in the eruption and after excavation began, the vegetation began to regrow! The ashes actually work as fertilizer and increase the beauty of the oleanders, vines, and pomegranite trees.

Not only was our tour guide, Caesar, knowledgeable, he was very cute and sweet too! I wish I would have recorded his every word though-the entire day went by much too fast!

As in Rome, Pompeii had a forum. Here is the remnants of pillars, the senate house portico, and other government buildings.

I was fascinated by the marble, brick, and Roman asphalt that were all present.

Here are some amazing frescos. There are in the stalls at the market. The pictures depict what was being sold in each stall, some show different types of bread and rolls, some show different cheeses, and there is even one with pictures of chickens and meat!

The sun was so bright that it was difficult to get a good picture of this mosaic. It is in the front entry way of a home and it is of a mean looking dog. In Latin, it says "Caw Caniam" (or something close to that) which means--"Take Care of Dog" or "Beware of Dog". Dogs were kept chained in the front entry way of the homes for protection, of course when Vesuvius erupted, releasing them wasn't part of the owner's plans.

Here's the reason that the dogs were still chained up and we have such astonishing castes of them now. Vesuvius was an active volcano, the residents were used to living in its shadow and acustomed to its frequent belches. When the 79 AD eruption began, the rich people evacuated. But they left their servants and dogs behind to protect their possessions. Most of the human remains are those of poor people, servants, and (like this guy above) thieves who were still in possession of ill gotten loot when they died.

There were narrow little streets that had been excavated and restored. We could imagine the lives that had dwelled in this beautiful setting.

Of course, this roof has been restored, no roofs survived the eruption. But this is a pretty accurate representation of the roof that had originally been over the front entry to this middle class home.

The depression in the floor with the two spool like objects in it is a cistern. Rain was allowed into the home from the roof opening, it gathered in this pool and the cistern below the floor to provide water storage for the home. (BTW-the above pic is a Where's Waldo. I am not too hard to find though).

A bed room in the same home.

The gardens were open to the air but enclosed within the walls of the home to protect them and to provide santuary for the family. This is a well preserved colorful mosaic fountain complete with small statuary that is part of the same home as the pics above!

This is a replica of the Dancing Faun statue that was recovered at this site. It stands outside the House of the Faun; built during the 2nd century BC and one of the largest and most impressive private residences in Pompeii.
In the House of the Faun a lot of amazing art work was recovered. Most of which is now in the National Museum. One of the most famous pieces was a floor mosaic called "The Alexander Mosaic". It was removed piece by piece and a replica was place here for tourist to take really bad pictures of.

Here it is as it is found in the National Museum. Dating from about 100 BC it depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. It is an unusually detailed piece for a private residence (about 1.5 million tiles) and extremely detailed (Alexander's breastplate has a Medusa on it)-so the assumption is the person who commissioned it was pretty rich!

Gardens at the House of the Faun.

People walked up on the raised "side walks".

I tried really hard to figure out a way I could get this wheat grinder home with me. Michele said no. Party Pooper

She said I couldn't take the pizza oven either but at least she insisted that I have my picture taken with it! Pizza in Pompeii--how surreal is that!

This is literally a lunch counter. Like a little street side cafe. The holes in the counter are lined with clay pots used to keep the food warm. To the left of the picture is a doorway to a room that served as the kitchen and prep area. The more things change, the more they stay the same!

From this angle you can see the bricks from the walls and where the door way once was. It hasn't been excavated because the walls would fall down.

The rock is in the middle of the road because water ran down the roads and if you needed to cross, you didn't want to get wet so you stepped on the rock. The grooves you see are made from CHARIOT WHEELS!! The rocks were placed so that the chariot could straddle them and continue down the road unimpeded. This was one of the moments when I felt like I could just reach out and touch the past.

Michele had washer drama before we left and had to go order a new washer to be delivered and installed while she was away. We were both very grateful for modern machinery when we saw Pompeii's laundry mat! Can you believe this, an almost 3000 year old laundry mat!? We might not think of the fact that they had to get their clothes clean too-but they sure did. Michele's new machine is much prettier! ;)

Water still runs from lead pipes into the original public cisterns. Yes Michele was mortified when I put it in my water bottle! She was even more so when I took a drink--don't worry it was nasty tasting and when I thought for 2 seconds about how stupid it was-I dumped it out and didn't use my bottle again until I washed it super good! For the record; just the thought of what might have happened to me made me queasy for about an hour

A shot looking back as we exited Pompeii. After we left the grounds we got to do a little shopping. I got lava rock little cute turtles and lady bugs for a few of our friends. "We were back on board by 1 or 1:30, salad bar lunch, worked out-I finally found a workout bike I like. Then, after showering at the gym (like always), I washed my bottle and got more crack water. We went and did laundry. It was fun to find the laundry mat-the ship is like a treasure hunt. Michele and I took turns babysitting the laundry while the other went adventuring to find fun things to eat. We ate at the laundry mat while we set sail. I went up on deck as we left Naples. Have I mentioned how much I love my friend?"