Perfectly Preserved Pompeii

Naples Harbour

On the way to Pompeii...can't find my Pompeii photos...you'll have to see it for yourself!

I have held a fascination for a place called Pompeii from the first time I heard of its existence way back in primary school, so even though we only had two full days in Rome,  I determined I wanted to incorporate it into my visit. Stacey came up with the brilliant idea of staying an extra day, getting up before dawn to transfer our bags to the Pop Inn Hostel, and catch the shuttle bus from there. Keeley decided she would come too and spend her last full day in Italy with Stacey and me.

We hopped on the metro and arrived at the hostel at 6.35am. Stacey and Keeley went up to leave luggage and I went off to get coffee. Stacey told me we had missed the shuttle, so I waited outside the coffee shop for them to join me as I thought we were walking to the office, but apparently she was only joking.  I managed to choke on my coffee and spewed it all over my new scarf. I bought an extra one to put in my thermos flask but when I opened it, it was half full of vodka! I didn’t even remember filling it in Brasov. We’ve had 4 flights since then where I have declared it empty when asked by security, as I honestly thought it was. I was so surprised to find vodka in it when I opened it to fill with coffee!

We were successfully transferred to the bus where I got in the front seat next to a guy who came from San Salvador but lived in China. I managed to fall sound asleep quite quickly but not before seeing two accidents- a car and a motorbike- what a mess! And then a collision between two trams! One of them had come off much worse than the other!

I woke up just before Cassino where the Benedictine monks have an abbey on the mountain called Montecassino. It was considered to be a centre of learning with a library of 15,000 manuscripts and books being kept in its library. It was completely destroyed in World War 2 where 60,000 allied soldiers lost their lives and 20,000 Germans. I must check these figures for their veracity. We stopped here and had a cup of coffee.

Through San Vittoria along the path of the Via Appia (Appian Way) which the Romans built centuries ago- 540 kilometres of road all the way to Brindisi. On to Caserta which has the distinction of possessing the second largest castle in Europe after Versailles.  When we reached Napoli (Naples) the capital of Campania province world renowned  for its culinary inventions most famously pizza, we stopped on the harbour side to take some photos before driving on to the coral and cameo  making factory where we saw cameos being hand made. I didn’t know they were made from different sorts of shells and different parts of the same shell. Very interesting. Lots of cameos to buy, but sadly they were really expensive but you can understand why when you see the amount of work that goes into making them. I finally chose a cameo for Elizabeth’s birthday as I know she loves them. There were even some blue ones of flowers that I liked and a green pair of earrings which were very tempting. We finally arrived at the new town of Pompeii. We headed to the Ristorante Santuario where we were served a huge plate of spaghetti Bolognese followed by a combination meat dish with bubble and squeak, and fresh fruit salad all washed down with a bottle of moscato. A delicious lunch and much, much better than what I had been expecting. Then back on the bus for the (very short) trip to old Pompeii.

I was completely blown away by the sheer size of the city, the excellent preservation of most of the buildings, the engineering skills possessed by the Romans 2000 years ago. It was sewered and drained and had running water through lead pipes and water spouts where you could see where people had put their hands on the rock to bend over to have a drink. Our guide, Nino was excellent and very funny as well as well-informed. Ask me anything about Pompeii that you would like to know!

There was a huge theatre that is till used for night concerts and plays, two temples ( one was actually under construction when Vesuvius erupted) and a whole city of shops, villas, bordellos, the court house, town hall, forum, main roads, and even one way streets! 20,000 people lived ere in 79 AD . 15,000 were evacuated but the rest perished, asphyxiated by the sulphuric gases and covered up with metres of ash, to remain  undisturbed for the next 1700 years! The eruption of Vesuvius and the disappearance of Pompeii passed into folklore as a mythical story like the disappearance of Atlantis. It wasn’t until a well was being dug in the 1700’s that Pompeii was found to be more than just legend and parts of it started to be excavated. Even today, there is another third of the city which still remains covered in ash.

After sharing a gelati, we climbed aboard for the long trip home. We stopped midway for a toilet break and we bought some sprite and pringles and like naughty schoolgirls sat up the back drinking the vodka I had accidentally brought and being shushed by people who wanted to sleep! What fun!

Back at the hostel, we checked in and were allocated to the themed Africa Room with one big bed. Stacey had convinced Keeley to spend her last night with us as it was going to be too hard (and expensive) to get out to her airport hotel and back to the airport the next morning. Stacey asked Baby for restaurant recommendations and we decided on Trattoria Dell’Omo- a mumma and poppa place around the corner.

The poppa was at least 80, the mumma was in the kitchen cooking the best Italian food we’ve had- scrambled egg soup for entrée, which was really delicious, then fresh gnocci (Keeley), tortellini (Stacey) and mushroom fettuccine for me. Desserts were all gone but we were brought a complimentary custard and chocolate to share. We all had a great night as Antonio (the son) finished serving us and sat down to eat with friends. It was such a friendly atmosphere we didn’t leave till almost midnight! I showered and crashed immediately, and I don’t think Stacey and Keeley managed to stay awake much longer than I.  We all had a great sleep and woke up to get Keeley on the 8 am bus. We just made it!

Stacey and I sang (and danced) Goodbye, Farewell from The Sound of Music as Keeley looked down and laughed, but we were struggling to hold back our tears until Keeley was out of sight. We found a little café and had a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast (and butter) and salad, orange juice and coffee for 7 euro.

After packing up our bags, we couldn’t find the luggage scales which Stacey had insisted they had out last night weighing Keeley’s bags. After texting Keeley who said she left them on the bed, and calling Baby to find them, I finally found them at the bottom of my backpack where they had been the whole time. Keeley and Stacey must have both dreamt they had been weighing bags!

Back to travelling by train which we haven’t done since the night train to Brasov which seems like months ago! First train to La Spezia, then change to the little local train to Riomaggiore for a week’s stay in La Baio di Rio.