Pompeii, Italy

We got up this morning and prepared for our day at Pompeii. We walked out to the car but not before stopping at Il Tartufo Pasticceria & Caffe for a pastry breakfast.

We are about 4 miles from Pompeii but traffic, both volume and ferocity, means it’s a slow trip before we find a parking lot near a grocery store and walk back to the entrance. We have tickets already, so it’s straight in for us. We’re in not long after 10 am, and begin our 3 hours in the heat around this unshaded archeological marvel.

It's hot! Hotter than hell. And there is no escaping it here. These ruins, caused by Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption in AD 79 took the roofs off a majority of buildings, giving you very few opportunities to hide from the sun.

You enter and the first site you see is the Quadriportico, a grassed courtyard leading to the Teatro Piccolo. We walked up Via Stabiana and took a left on Via dell’Abbondanza and stopped into all the open rooms we could, including a Roman Kitchen, Terme Stabiane, and the House of the Wild Boar, with it’s beautiful, intact floor mosaics. The street leads to the southern end of the Forum. On approach you see the Centaur Statue, but once you get into the open Forum you get this sweeping view of Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background to the north. The mountain still looms ominously over the tragic site, that has become a modern marvel.

B, M & L, Via Stabiana, Pompeii, Italy

House of the Wild Boar, Pompeii, Italy

Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, Italy

The heat has already become too much and we seek refuge and rehydrate in a general store before the rest of the self-guided tour.

North through the Forum takes us up to Casa del Poeta Tragico, where we saw the well preserved and likely oldest, “Beware of the Dog” sign, in the shape of another black and white floor tiling. A brief step North-west on Via della Fortuna took us to Casa del Fauno, with its exquisite courtyard and gardens. A quick stop in Casa di Marco Lucrezio and Casa del Larario di Achille for some pictures of some of the artwork was had before we walked down to Orto dei Fuggiaschi, where the preserved ashen bodies of some of Vesuvius’ victims lie on display. This is really eerie, yet well and truly fascinating at the same time, that these remains have stood the test of time for 2000 years. At this point we were done. It had been 3 hours and although there was a lot of Pompeii to see, we called time and left, but not before stopping into the 2-storey Casa del Criptoportico, which had some wonderful frescos on the wall and mosaics in almost perfect condition. Having left without looking at the map I was disappointed to later find out that at Fuggiaschi, we were so close to the Palestra Grande and Anfiteatro, which we definitely should have seen. Regardless, it had been a magnificent stop on this trip and something I’ll remember for a long time. I hope the boys get the significance. I assume they will, as it was them who wanted to come to Pompeii specifically.

Casa del Poeta Tragico, Pompeii, Italy

Orto dei Fuggiaschi, Pompeii, Italy

B, M, L & D, Casa del Larario di Achille, Pompeii, Italy

Before we got back to the car, we went into the grocery store behind the parking lot to buy lunch, which we took back to the apartment.

The day took it out of all of us, and I started to get a migraine. Fortunately, we now have parking at the apartment, so after a quick unload, we had lunch and went into siesta mode. I was just a relief to be out of the heat more than anything.

While resting, A decided that the evening we would drive down to Sorrento for dinner. At 5pm we made the, what turned out to be, the adventurous trip an hour south (though only 28 kilometers). The drive was a winding road through a couple of mountain tunnels, but the most amazing part was the devil may care attitude of the crazy moped riders. They just were constantly overtaking us, weaving in and out of traffic, crossing double yellow lines to oncoming traffic all the way to Sorrento. It was so distressing to watch people fly by us in the craziest of moves, that in the end it became a joke in the car. Better us than them. The last few kilometers down the mountain gave a panoramic ocean view, and while traffic was congested, the view became calming. We had a parking station placed in Google Maps, that turned out to be a valet service and that is where we parked. We walked over a bridge to see to the Valle dei Mulini, the flour mills that have been abandoned since the 1940’s. Now overgrown, the buildings seem creepy, stuck down in the valley away, but so close to this bustling city. We walk down towards the water, through the lively entertainment district – restaurants and stores as far as the eye can see. It’s lovely to see the ocean, though weird to me that is below some rather high cliffs, not easily accessible like most other coastal places I’ve been. Via Padre Reginaldo Giuliani was a street lined with outdoor dining restaurants, where we found Ristorante Sorrento and sat outside and had a marvelous dinner. Pizza and pasta, as always, and a great meal in a great spot. We wandered the streets of Sorrento, stopping at stores and the obligatory gelato. Close to 10pm we got back in the car and made the calmer ride back to Torre Annunziata.

L, M & B, Sorrento, Italy

A huge day today, with one more before we head home. It’s always disappointing when a trip comes to an end, but this has been such a blast.