Mama Mia! What a great day we had here! As soon as we got off our ship at 8 am we met our driver, Ciro, who drove us through Naples to Pompeii. There we met our tour guide, Suzi. Pompeii was destroyed and buried when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. It killed 2000 people but also managed to freeze an entire society at one instant of time under 23 feet of ashes. The discovery and excavation of Pompeii began in 1748. Some buildings have been carefully restored and you can see frescoes on many walls. Tons of ash and cinders destroyed any roof or canopy.
The roads in Pompeii are lined with sidewalks a foot or more above the street level. Stepping stones are placed to allow pedestrians to cross in wet weather but spaces were still left to allow wheels and horses to get by easily. We could still see deep ruts where chariot wheels have worn away the pavement.
They even had fast food restaurants! There were 27 in Pompeii. This is the counter and serving window of one. Business owners often lived behind the store or above on an upper floor.
The people of Pompeii lived rather well. The community bath was an important place and much visiting and business was conducted here. You can see the frescoes on the wall.
We also saw the brothel (complete with a picture menu). Here is one of the beds, made of rock.
Suzi talking to us in the theater.
We could see Mount Vesuvius in the background.
After our 2 hour tour Ciro drove us down the Amalfi coast. WOW! Pictures only give a hint of how beautiful it was.
There were many hairpin curves. I was really glad someone else was doing the driving. There was too much to see to try to drive at the same time.
We stopped along the way to eat pizza where it started. And of course I had to have gelato. Amaretto today - yum!
This was a very full but very enjoyable day. This is the pretty sunset from my balcony. We really enjoyed our balcony on this cruise. It was always so pretty watching us go in and out of port each day.
Tomorrow we get to rest and enjoy our ship and then it is off to Greece. Arrivederci!
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