Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The Ruins of Ancient Pompei

Tue July 3rd was to be a busy day. We had a guided tour of Pompei lined up for the morning and a "special" guided climb around the rim of Vesuvius, Italy's most famous active volcano on tap for the afternoon.

The ruins of Pompei were a 30 minute walk from the hotel and we arrived to meet our guide in time for the 8:30 opening of the site. Our Guide, Michaele, a professor according to his name tag, grew up in Pompei and had been guiding ruins tours for 35 years. He really knew his stuff. I was in awe of the ancient Romans and how they lived with much of what we would consider modern day comforts, running water, central heating and fabulous leisure time activities, such as theatre, sports and of course Roman Baths.

They have excavated 2/3rds of the City of Pompei, so the place is huge. It would take several days to see the entire site. We hit the high points in our 2 1/2 hour tour.

I have many pictures of Ancient Pompei which will go here.

At the end of the tour we had some free time to wander the site before our excursion to Mount Vesuvio. Given 35 degree temperatures and no shade, I opted to wander my way out to the gelato stand. My favourite, limone, is an Italian standard, given the abundant lemons, and is an extremely refreshing treat.

No comments:

Post a Comment