Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius.

September 24^th. Sorrento, Italy.

I was bone tired as I hit my bed last night. Well, it’s actually a pull out sofa bed in a little apartment we have rented for the week downtown Sorrento, just minutes from the main square. I had left the patio door wide open to enjoy the cool sea breeze gently cooling down the room. Bang! I am awakened sharply by cracks of thunder. The patio door slams shut rudely. I jump up to close up the room but the wind howls and shakes the flimsy door.

I dig in the dark for a pair of earplugs I carry but never use and crawl back under the covers and back to sleep.

The morning dawns cloudy and cool but the sun is trying to peak through. We check the weather channel and decide it is not going to rain any further and leave our rain jackets behind as we head off for an early morning start to a full day exploring the ruins of ancient Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that buried the city 2000 years ago.

 

The bus winds along the coast high above the Bay of Naples, town after town dotted along the bay, so dense you can’t tell where one starts and the other begins. We pass Piano del Sorrento, Meta and finally arrive in Pompeii. Pompeii was once a bustling commercial and trading centre. It was not built on opulence as some of its European counterparts, but on commerce. The ruins tell the story of a busy centre, practical, organized, efficient. Footprints of shops with small homes above, carefully planned streets – some built for pedestrian only traffic, some to accommodate carriages and carts. Streets and squares were carefully planned to accommodate the life within. Streets that sloped to carry water and sewer down and out, with the lack of a sewage system. Only the occasion villa that housed the privileged along with an impressive theatre which would humble most we see today.

Pompeii has roots in both Roman and Greek cultures, and evidence of both are throughout the structures.  Sitting in the shadow of the towering Mount Vesuvius, the people were oblivious to its menace. It was believed Vesuvius was too tall and too large to be a volcano. When it began spewing streams of gases and ash skyward in the year 79 ad, the people did not understand the danger and by the time they started to flea the city, it was too late. The entire city was buried under meters of ash. Polini the Younger, nephew of the then ruler wrote his observations of that day…. Ash and debris spewed 7 kms high into the sky. Then a cloud of ash and smoke that resembled the shape of the Mediterranean Pine descended over the area. Many were killed, not by the ash, but by the toxic gases that were emitted. Pompeii was devastated, abandoned. Now the ruins are carefully being reconstructed by archeologists, rich in history and telling the story of life 2000 years ago.

  

 
 


It seems The Red Light District was big in ancient Pompeii. Engraved signs in the cobblestone lead the way. These paintings on the wall of the brothel depict the 'menu' of services available.

As we make our way through the ruins the sunny sky begins to cloud over, thunder begins to rumble in the distance, then closer. With no shelter we huddle against bare stone walls as the sky opens and we are drenched by torrential downpour. Soaked to the bone, we hurry toward the exits and make our way to the Tiberius, a nearby restaurant where we try to warm up and dry off a bit, debating our next move…. Call it quits or continue on to Mt Vesuvius.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, the rain has stopped the sun peaks through the crowds and we head to the volcano, still classified as an active volcano but dormant since that fateful day 2000 years ago. The bus takes us to the 1000 metre mark and the rest is up to us. The remaining 350 metres in height is a steeply sloping zig-zag trail that takes us to the top. Here we can walk around the gaping giant crater, see the rivers of lava rock evidencing the dramatic events centuries ago. A massive funnel, the crater drops inside the ring of lava, wisps of cloud wafting up from the gaping hole remind us of the steam and smoke of that day ions ago.

 

It was a good day, a long day, an educational day. We walked the streets and ruins of ancient Italy and peered down into the heart of a massive volcano.  An unbelievable experience.  And that was just Day 1….   Come With Me.

 

 

 

 

View over Bay of Naples from the top of Vesuvius.

Mt Vesuvius. Dormant since AD 79.