Italy: Pompei and Sorrento

This past weekend, Darren and I went to Italy!  Last weekend was a three-day weekend here in Switzerland because August 1st is Swiss National Day, which is like the Swiss version of the 4th of July.  We originally were going to stick around Switzerland to do some hiking and see some more beautiful mountains, but when we got close enough to the weekend to view the weather forecast, it showed nothing but rain.  We didn't want to be stuck at home for the last Swiss holiday before Christmas (yes, I'm not kidding you, there are no full days off between August 1st and Christmas), so Darren suggested at the last minute that we should go to Rome instead.  Rome was one of the last major cities left on our list of must-see places for our time in Europe, and we hadn't planned to visit it until September or October, but the free three-day weekend changed our minds.  We quickly organized our itinerary over a period of about two days and left Zurich on Thursday night!  

When we arrived in Rome late in the evening, we were introduced to the Italian version of transportation when the express train from the airport to Rome just showed up whenever it felt like it.  We just stayed the night at a Best Western near the train station and left Rome the next morning to see Pompei.  Though both our trains were delayed, we finally arrived in Pompei around 1 pm.  As most of us learned in some world history class, Pompei is an ancient Roman city that was devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  About 2,000 of the town's 20,000 residents weren't able to escape as the volcanic ash settled on the city; the town and the victims were buried and forgotten until they were rediscovered in the 18th century and excavations began. 

The train station was right at the entrance of the archaeological site, along with some stands to get food from.  We ate a sandwich from one of the stands for lunch before entering the park.  The Pompei site scored some big points with us because it had free luggage storage (we had our luggage with us since we were traveling on after Pompei) and there were water faucets everywhere around the site to fill up water bottles, in order to stay hydrated in the hot sun.

One unfortunate thing is that most sites in Italy apparently don't put up many signs to read at their famous sites.  Instead they want you to buy audio guides or pay for guided tours.  Well, we did a brilliant thing and instead downloaded the free Rick Steves audio guides that he has for Pompei and the major sites in Rome.  The commentary was cheesy at times, but we were able to learn all about these important sites for free!  We spent four hours at Pompei (it is quite large) while we listened to the audio commentary off and on.  We learned a lot and saw a bunch of fascinating things, but I had to limit my pictures to just the ones below.

My favorite part, the forum, which is like the main square

Old columns with Latin text

The remnants of the main temple for worship of the gods in the forum

The forum in Roman times was their main square where major government buildings, shops, and religious sites were located.  I really liked the forum at Pompei because the building ruins around it were just complete enough that I could really picture what it was like to live in Pompei in 79 AD.  In the video below, Darren was nice enough to give a quick tour of the forum for us to remember it.

Another great thing about Pompei was actually all the little details that you were able to understand about everyday life.  For example, the ancient Romans would frequently flood their streets to keep them clean, so the sidewalks were elevated to keep people's feet dry.  To get across the street, instead of stepping down onto the wet street, elevated stones were built into the road for people to walk across.  The gaps between the stones were wide enough for chariots to still get through (all Romans chariot axles were a standard size).  Additionally, the number of stones showed whether it was a one-way or two-way street.  Also, you can see below in one of the pictures that there are three tall vertical stones blocking the end of the road.  This meant that the area beyond the stones was for pedestrians only and chariots were not allowed to enter.  Ingenious, eh?  City areas all over the world still use similar barriers to control access to pedestrian areas.  Details like these really made me feel like I knew what it was like to live in a Roman city.

Three stones marking the crosswalk for pedestrians 

Walking across the street just as Romans did 2,000 years

The tall stones marking the beginning (actually, the ending; from this point of view, you're seeing the street) of a pedestrian area

Even many statues were preserved at Pompei

Everyone's favorite part of Pompei is seeing the people who didn't escape and were covered in volcanic ash.  Some of the volcano's victims were clearly trying to protect themselves from the ash that covered them, but their bodies were covered so quickly that their poses at the time they died were preserved.  Over centuries, their bodies decomposed, leaving bones and human-shaped holes in the hardened volcanic material.  Archaeologists discovered these imprints and cleverly filled them with plaster to preserve the shapes of the victims before digging out all the ash.  It's a bit sad to think about how these people died, but also cool that we can see their last moments from 2,000 years ago.  

One person hiding from the destruction

Another terrified resident who died in the eruption

A steam room in a public bath house, lots of great engineering went into this room

Most Romans didn't have a kitchen in their apartment so they ate out at "fast food" places like this one

See the deep ruts from the constant chariot traffic along this road?

The main amphitheater of Pompei

Darren at the smaller amphitheater

 A view of some of the town's outer walls

I really enjoyed going to Pompei and obviously the experience was so much better with a guided tour.  The Romans were great engineers, and were very orderly.  It also seems like life was pretty good for city-dwellers during those times.  

After visiting Pompei, we got back on the train and went south for another 30 minutes to reach the town of Sorrento.  This is the beginning of the region in Italy called the Amalfi Coast.  This region is a lot like Cinque Terre with its clear blue water, rocky shores, little towns built precariously on the sides of the cliffs, and brightly painted buildings in the towns.  The scenery was beautiful, as promised.  We spent the rest of the evening walking around the main streets of Sorrento, and we also went down to the shore to take in the scenery.  We went back to our room for the night, but enjoyed listening to an Italian opera singer serenade the diners at a restaurant just below us.  It was great!

The view from our balcony at our hotel in Sorrento

Our hotel room in Sorrento

The pizza place where we had dinner

Looking up at the buildings on the cliff from the shore

Me on the Sorrento shore with Mount Vesuvius in the background

Me and Darren at the Amalfi Coast

Darren from up above the Sorrento harbor

Our cute hotel

That's all I can fit in this post today, so more next time!