April 16, 2019 – Naples, Italy
We arrived at 8 am today. Captain Mercer announced that the immigration officials wouldn’t be on board for at least 15 minutes and that it would take at least 30 minutes to clear us. Next announcement was when the officials finally came aboard. 8:35. Hammish finally announced that we were cleared at 9:10. He also said that the Captain gave us extra time in Naples. All aboard is now 6:30. It is amazing how things work.
We quickly got off the ship and headed to an ATM in town to get some Euros. We will be able to use the Euros at most of the stops we will make until we finally head home. Lots of traffic on the streets and lots of horns. We did find an ATM and were able to withdraw some Euros. We headed back to the port to meet out tour guide. Pick-up was 9:45.
Maria met us at about 9:35 and we waited for two other couples. We boarded out tour bus at 9:45 and made two more pickup stops on our way to Pompei. I remember Pompei from school and I knew it was Mt. Vesuvius that caused the sudden destruction of the city. Mt. Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD and completed covered a very prominent Roman City. Second only to Rome in size. The area was first settled around 800 BC
We didn’t arrive until 11 am because of the pickups and traffic. My main concern about this adventure was getting back on the ship. Now it looks like 6:30 pm is not even enough time.
We finally started the tour at 11:30 am and the site contained hundreds if not thousands of visitors. We considered breaking off of the group more than one time but glad we did hang in with the group.
I have seen ruins from the Roman times before but I was really impressed with the size of the city. It covers about 170 acres. Maria said that it had been covered with 4 – 6 meters of ash and was forgotten about until the 16 C. Serious excavation took place in the 19 C. What really is amazing is that life was captured as it ended. People were covered in ash and their bodies decomposed after about a year. What was left were the skeletal remains and a cavern of hardened ash around what was formerly their bodies. Archeologists could tunnel down, pour in plaster and then clear the debris around them. What remained was a plaster likeness of their bodies with the skeleton inside. These bodies could be viewed at the museum. Closed on Tuesday. I did look on the internet and found some images. Very impressive.
I took this photo to try to capture how big the area is. This is just one street of many, many streets. The stone structure in the lower part of the photo held water. There were many to be found.
Each water fountain had an image carved into it. This became a way to identify areas of the city for those that lived here.
Water was carried in lead pipes. There are some who believe that these pipes killed the Roman society by poisoning them with lead. Others think they didn’t live a long enough life to be affected by lead.
These signs were added by the excavation team.
This is a close up of the street. The narrow crevices are spaces between stones. The large one is a rut worn by the countless wagons that rolled down the road.
This is a photo of the spa. The spa was used after the work day ended. The work day began with the sun at 6am and ended at noon. Afternoon was spent at the spa.
The ceiling still shows intricate design and color.
This is where one would undress and then store clothes above the bench.
Water was heated and brought into the spa with pipes. The room with the water would feel like the sauna at today’s gym.
Directions to the brothel.
Above each room in the brothel.
A concrete bed insured kept customers didn’t take too much time.
This floor was the entrance to one of the wealthier residents.
This held rainwater that residents used before aqueducts were built.
Mt. Vesuvius
Items found in the city.
The city square.
We spent about two hours exploring and then went for lunch. With all of the delays it was 2:30. We walked over to the restaurant where we were to enjoy pizza and a drink and then on to Mt. Vesuvius. Unfortunately our guide said that they could not get us back to the ship on time because the road to and from Mt. Vesuvius was clogged with traffic. Disappointed, we left the restaurant and were taken back to the port area in Naples. We decided we would try lunch in town.
This place looked perfect. Trattoria Medina.
What can be better than a deep fried pizza?
We did a little shopping after lunch and returned to the ship about 5:15. After all of the fuss above ship departure time we arrived an hour early.…