Pompeii - A Remarkable Reminder of Nature’s Power

Day 14 - We were sad to leave Rome this morning, but excited to visit the Amalfi Coast! We took a train from Rome to Naples, and had a private driver, Roberto, who took us to Pompeii to meet our guide, Maria.

From Pompeii, we'll head to our base for this leg of the trip, Sorrento, about 45 minutes from Naples.

We were all, again, blown away (no pun intended) by what we found in Pompeii. The city remains are much more vast than any of us had expected to see. The archeological work to uncover this city, which was buried under 20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice in August, 79 AD, is staggering.

With Mount Vesuvius looming in the background, you can't help but picture what those three days of terror were like for the people that lived here.

See the remnants of the marble floors above? Those are original from the Forum area of Pompeii. Much of it is missing because, like other major sites from that era, much of the marble that was here has been pillaged to construct other things through the centuries. The Colosseum in Rome was covered in marble when it was built, and over 95% of it was taken to build new things (like St. Peter's Basilica and the Medici homes in Florence).

Life came to a standstill on the day of the eruption in 79 AD. At that time, Pompeii was a thriving port town full of merchants, families, gladiators, prostitutes, immigrants from many lands and Roman nobles who would spend time in the summers here. The population was around 11,000 at the time of the eruption.

The people here enjoyed many fine public buildings (like this large amphitheater and a second smaller one), and they were a number of luxurious private houses with lavish decorations, furnishings and works of art (which were the main attractions for the early excavators).

Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were entombed in the ash. Over time, they decayed, leaving voids that archaeologists found could be used as moulds to make plaster casts of unique, and often gruesome, figures in their final moments of life.

The image above is the cast of a 16-year old, pregnant prostitute, who died covering her face with her hand, no doubt trying to shield the inhalation of the toxic gasses that rained down with the pumice and ash.

As a local government nerd, I was impressed with their street signage, which clearly pointed the way to the prostitute road. You really couldn't lose your way! The signs were carved into walls, and also on the street paving stones. Once in the brothel, a "menu" of murals showed just what services were offered!

We also visited a well-preserved public bath house,

and saw many examples of bakeries and other cooking places.

The site is so vast, we barely scratched the surface in our two hour tour. What a remarkable experience...to visit an ancient city that was stopped in its tracks almost 2,000 years ago!

From Pompeii, we headed to Sorrento, to get our first views of the Amalfi Coast and get checked in to our hotel (view below is from our rooftop terrace)!

Transfers: From Rome Hotel to Train Station - Green Mobility

From Naples Train Station, to Pompeii and then to Sorrento - Sorrento Limo

Tours: Private Guided Tour of Pompeii (not sure of who this provider was)

Hotel: Rivoli Hotel, Sorrento