From Rome to Pompeii and back again.

I'm going to skip the trip from Salt Lake City to Rome and the first day in Rome because we are trying to forget that part. We had a terrible trip over and Marvin got sick. So on a happier note.

On the second day we drove from Rome to Pompeii. It was so beautiful and green.

I wasn't really excited to go to Pompeii but much to my surprise it was very interesting! It turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. Pompeii was huge - not the little village that I have always imagined getting covered in lava. One of our first glimpses of Pompeii -an apartment building.

It was a very rich commercial city of about 15,000. We were told that the people who were living in Pompeii at the time Vesuvius erupted didn't know that Mt. Vesuvius was a volcano. Kind of like living on a major fault line in Utah. :)

All the streets in the city went downhill from the center of the town for drainage improvements that helped reduce malaria. Everyone bathed everyday to help reduce disease.
They called this the super market. A series of stores.
This is the bakery where they found the loaves of bread. Well burnt.

We were told that this was their fast food store. Hot and cold food offered right on the street.

This was a typical patrician's home. They wanted things to be beautiful. In there homes were many statues and murals. They had garden areas in the middle of their homes.



This is a mural on one of the living rooms.
Courtyard in the middle of a residence.

Very large amphitheatre. The theater was free for all citizens. The politicians paid to keep the voters happy. At least that is what they told us.



The streets are lined with stone and every few yards they have stepping stones that are about six inches higher bridge like so you won't get your shoes wet.
Pompeii is only about 3/4 excavated they are busy working on it. The covering of everything when the volcano erupted was so abrupt that everything is frozen in time. Bread in the oven, sales clerk trying to escape with the cash, gladiators hiding in a closed off room.

This is the gladiator area where they trained and lived. It is where they found a lot of their remains in the little room at the bottom left of picture.



The Temple block was particularly memorable. Temple to Diana (Roman name) or Artemis (Greek name)
We are in Temple square with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.
Here they used a lot of marble.
Steps into temple.
The Altar for sacrifices.

Marvin standing by a statue in the temple square.




From Pompeii we drove to Sorrento. We'll talk about that next week. Just let me say we would move to Sorrento in a minute. Fantastic!