A walk back in time...
During a holiday to Italy, I took a day excursion; climbing to the top of Vesuvius, before heading into Pompeii to see the destruction caused by the volcano.
The walk upto Vesuvius was hot and slow, but standing at the top, looking into the crater and seeing the lava flows cutting through the side of the mountain was amazing. Its so humbling; it makes you feel really tiny to see cities in the distance that would be devastated by another eruption,and here I was, standing on top of this volcano that has the potential to do so much damage.
At the start of the walk, a couple of Euros bought us the loan of a walking stick to help us get to the top – much needed!! Once we got to the top, there were guides giving a bit of history about the volcano and about the eruptions – they really knew their stuff and were so enthusiastic!
The journey down was much easier, and then we were straight onto a whistlestop lunch of pizza (what else?!) before we got to Pompeii. Our guide, Bene, was completely mad but brilliant. He knew the answer to EVERY question anyone could ask and he showed us round Pompeii like it was his own house – he knew it so well and you could see that he really loved it!
Pompeii is a place that you hear about, but until you actually go there, you can’t imagine how it feels to see this snap shot of time from 79AD, when Vesuvius erupted and flattened the entire city.
There were grooves cut into the cobbled streets where the chariots travelled up and down, bright frescoes on some of the walls, mosaics on some of the floors. On the floor of the entrance to “The House of the Tragic Poet” is a mosaic with a picture of a dog and the words “Cave Canem” – an ancient “Beware of the dog” sign – amazing!!
Inside the public baths, I got a real feel for what it must have been like all of those hundreds of years agao – there is even a massage table on display which was preserved by the ash of the eruption.
There are a couple of huge buildings where excavated artifacts are kept and its so strange to see pots and tools but the most amazing thing is the plaster casts of the people and animals. During the excavation, plaster would be poured into the hollows where people had died and the hardened ash and pyroclastic material had left a hollow in the shape of the person or animal that has died. You have to see it to believe it; its really quite haunting.
There are places that you must see in your lifetime, and this really is one of them!!
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