We arrived in Rome (Civitavecchia) at 5:30am in the pouring rain. We originally planned to take a train directly into Rome and get the lay of the land, preparing for our extended stay in three weeks. The weather was so bad, we opted to remain on the ship. There was clearing around mid-afternoon, but another storm front was rapidly moving in. We didn't feel it was worth the hassle to run the risk. When we return on October 10th, we'll have a hotel room about a block from the Vatican, so we won't miss anything. It was nice to relax a little after our long day in Florence & Pisa. As bad luck would have it and pitty our fellow passengers returning from their tours, it started raining again around 3pm and soaked everyone reboarding. It wasn't a short walk from the terminal to the ship - most were sprinting...much the same as when the food stations open! Rough weather was forecast for our overnight sail to Naples. We were looking forward to a little rocking & rolling, but the sea flattened as the storm front moved on...all we can do now is hope!
Naples - our second visit here. Three years ago we toured the Amalfi coast & Sorrento, which was absolutely stunning. It's like driving hiway #1 along the coast in California, but if you can imagine, MUCH more beautiful. During that particular visit, we drove past the Pompeii ruins, a village totally devasted when Mt. Vesuvius erupted - this trip, we intended to spend the majority of our time there. We arrived on a Saturday morning and were off the ship by 8:15 heading toward the ruins, about a 30-minute drive from the terminal. On the way out, our guide shared some info with us and I tried to take notes, but her English was so broken it was very challenging. I've since verified my statistics here - she was correct about half the time, either that or my interpretation was half wrong!
A violent earthquake struck in 62 AD and shook the entire area surrounding Mt. Vesuvuis. Reconstruction work in Pompeii started immediately, however, they took a long time to be completed due to the extent of the damage and the seismic swarm that followed. Then, 17 years later in 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii under ash and lava. Our guide said 15,000 people lost their lives - we heard another tour guide say 18,000 - we've heard several different estimates, and even the broshures are uncertain. The city was rediscovered toward the end of the 16th century but explorations didn't begin until 1748. Amazingly, these excavations & restorations have continued systematically and are very active to this day. They've restored 49 acres so far, and estimate they have another 17 to go.
We left our tour group shortly after we arrived. Typically in a group setting like yesterday, you'll spend an inordinate amount of time in a circle discussing one particular aspect or display. While interesting, it chews up overall tour time and you don't get to see as much. That's how the tour started yesterday and once we knew where our meeting place was to be and at what time for the return to the ship, we advised the leader (as a courtesy) and set off on our own. We covered several acres, and some advice for first-time visitors: you can see several houses, the church, and the main square, and the collesium of Pomeii within an hour. Once you've seen them, the rest is really much the same. Of special interest and not to be missed, is the red light district. That's where the bigs crowds seem to congregate, and it's actually quite comical. A series of very tiny rooms, each has a mosaic over the doorway depicting the various 'positions' or 'acts' being offered. Kinda like a McDonald's menu...you simply choose the room or 'menu item' based on a picture and number. I believe there are/were a total of six menu items or 'positions' being offered - quite creative, even back in those days! Hmmm...room #4 looked very innovative - not familiar with that one! The beds of course, were concrete as were the 'pillows'. Surely their was some level of padding offered too! To our grandkids reading and at this point...GO ASK YOUR PARENTS!
They've done a truly amazing job with the excavations and restsorations. Such a tragic event. There's one particular chamber that houses the castings of 13 (I believe) men, woman and children - we elected not to go down, but some of our passengers said it's the real deal - people frozen in time by the lava flow. The locals say Vesuvius is certain to erupt again someday, and will claim hundreds of thousands of lives. The city of Naples sits at its base, which by the way, is one of the oldest in the world. They say there's evidence of habitation dating as far back as the 9th century B.C. We'll be back here in about 3 weeks to explore the city itself, and will have more info & pictures at that point.
Until then, today's a welcomed sea day as we sail toward Crete, Greece. Plans call for Bloody Mary's and Rummy games at the aft pool beginning in a couple hours. Beyond that, there's another Mariner function at noon, some wine tasting at 2pm, a nap at 3:30 and if we wake, dinner at 5:30! Cheers!
Naples - our second visit here. Three years ago we toured the Amalfi coast & Sorrento, which was absolutely stunning. It's like driving hiway #1 along the coast in California, but if you can imagine, MUCH more beautiful. During that particular visit, we drove past the Pompeii ruins, a village totally devasted when Mt. Vesuvius erupted - this trip, we intended to spend the majority of our time there. We arrived on a Saturday morning and were off the ship by 8:15 heading toward the ruins, about a 30-minute drive from the terminal. On the way out, our guide shared some info with us and I tried to take notes, but her English was so broken it was very challenging. I've since verified my statistics here - she was correct about half the time, either that or my interpretation was half wrong!
A violent earthquake struck in 62 AD and shook the entire area surrounding Mt. Vesuvuis. Reconstruction work in Pompeii started immediately, however, they took a long time to be completed due to the extent of the damage and the seismic swarm that followed. Then, 17 years later in 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii under ash and lava. Our guide said 15,000 people lost their lives - we heard another tour guide say 18,000 - we've heard several different estimates, and even the broshures are uncertain. The city was rediscovered toward the end of the 16th century but explorations didn't begin until 1748. Amazingly, these excavations & restorations have continued systematically and are very active to this day. They've restored 49 acres so far, and estimate they have another 17 to go.
We left our tour group shortly after we arrived. Typically in a group setting like yesterday, you'll spend an inordinate amount of time in a circle discussing one particular aspect or display. While interesting, it chews up overall tour time and you don't get to see as much. That's how the tour started yesterday and once we knew where our meeting place was to be and at what time for the return to the ship, we advised the leader (as a courtesy) and set off on our own. We covered several acres, and some advice for first-time visitors: you can see several houses, the church, and the main square, and the collesium of Pomeii within an hour. Once you've seen them, the rest is really much the same. Of special interest and not to be missed, is the red light district. That's where the bigs crowds seem to congregate, and it's actually quite comical. A series of very tiny rooms, each has a mosaic over the doorway depicting the various 'positions' or 'acts' being offered. Kinda like a McDonald's menu...you simply choose the room or 'menu item' based on a picture and number. I believe there are/were a total of six menu items or 'positions' being offered - quite creative, even back in those days! Hmmm...room #4 looked very innovative - not familiar with that one! The beds of course, were concrete as were the 'pillows'. Surely their was some level of padding offered too! To our grandkids reading and at this point...GO ASK YOUR PARENTS!
They've done a truly amazing job with the excavations and restsorations. Such a tragic event. There's one particular chamber that houses the castings of 13 (I believe) men, woman and children - we elected not to go down, but some of our passengers said it's the real deal - people frozen in time by the lava flow. The locals say Vesuvius is certain to erupt again someday, and will claim hundreds of thousands of lives. The city of Naples sits at its base, which by the way, is one of the oldest in the world. They say there's evidence of habitation dating as far back as the 9th century B.C. We'll be back here in about 3 weeks to explore the city itself, and will have more info & pictures at that point.
Until then, today's a welcomed sea day as we sail toward Crete, Greece. Plans call for Bloody Mary's and Rummy games at the aft pool beginning in a couple hours. Beyond that, there's another Mariner function at noon, some wine tasting at 2pm, a nap at 3:30 and if we wake, dinner at 5:30! Cheers!
1 comment:
Loving the blog, as always! So glad you two are enjoying your trip. Love you both! (PS - we sent you an important email!)
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