Pompeii and Herculaneum

Today was the big day, visiting the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum. We did one right after the other with a late lunch so as to get there before crowds and before the heat of the afternoon.

This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The two sites are very different from each other. Pompeii has more of the city exposed since it was easier to excavate. It was a trading town and is the source of a lot of knowledge about life in a typical Roman town and source of most of the artifacts in the archeological museum in Naples. Pompeii was severely damaged by an earthquake 17 years before the eruption, so we can see its reconstruction under the newer Empire style. Herculaneum was destroyed by mud before the lava flow and so was more difficult to excavate. It was discovered earlier and was looted of much of the treasures. It was a resort town and since it was not damaged in the earthquake, still retains much of the older Republic style of buildings. Because of the mud flow, we are able to see remaining charred wood beams and doors that were destroyed in Pompeii. We also see second stories on houses, since they did not collapse under the weight of ash.

In Pompeii we visited the baths, some shops, the large and small theaters and of course the Forum. They had several cast bodies on display, including a dog. 

The site of Herculaneum is currently totally surrounded by the modern town. Here we see that the Forum has a different form, being more like a Greek agora. The second story of several buildings are still visible. We are able to visit two types of houses. One is typical of a house kept by someone who is not a permanent resident (either a summer home or owned as a status symbol). The second house is a more typical Roman house of the time for a permanent resident of the town. 

V provided so much information, including small details about daily life that it really gave us a sense of how someone might have lived 2000 years ago. Truly a remarkable place. 

Lunch today is at a restaurant in the new town of Pompeii, Il Principe. The restaurant was beautifully decorated with reproductions of Pompeiian frescos as well as some busts made of pasta, cork and plastic fruit, and books. A little quirky to say the least! (They also had a feng shui flute hanging from one corner of the restaurant.) The meal started with bruschetta, croquettes and salad, with spaghetti siciliano (eggplant in tomato sauce), followed by fresh fruit. 

Tonight's dinner is at Caruso restaurant, which has photos of the great tenor all over the walls, as well as caricatures drawn by Caruso in one of the rooms. Dinner is tomato soup (really amazingly good!) or cheese ravioli (wow!) and swordfish with cabbage and potatoes. Dessert is profiteroles (yum!). I ended up with a group of the Canadians who were plastered. Manu had the restaurant bring us glasses of limoncello, my first of the trip! We laughed at silly things on our way back to the hotel.