Pompeii - November 30, 2014

Sunday, November 30 was our day in Pompeii. Today’s tour was very interesting. First we made our way to a tour office to catch our bus after breakfast again at the same little patisserie next door – I still don’t understand the appeal of your daily caffeine in 2 mouthfuls. Pompeii is about 2 1/2 hours from Rome. We had to stop in Naples to drop off some of our group for their tour to Capri and to pick up our guide for Pompeii. Then it was finally on to Pompeii. 

No matter where you look in Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius is always there, watching. I did not ever realize that Herculaneum and Pompeii were destroyed in 2 different ways. Herculaneum was buried under the pyroclastic (or lava) flow while Pompeii was buried under a layer of pumice and ash – the people there suffocated – an agonizing death which you can see from the few casts (plaster of Paris body outlines) that are on display.

Pompeii was discovered by accident as the foundations for another building were being dug and only a small portion of it has been excavated, but enough to make you realize that it was a very large, busy Roman port town until that fateful August day in 79 CE. 

Pompeii has always fascinated me. As a matter of fact, I recall doing an award winning speech in Grade 8 about the day that Mt Vesuvius exploded. Mt Vesuvius remains 1 of 3 active volcanoes in Italy and surprisingly, the slopes of the mountain are built up by human habitations about 1/3 up the sides of the mountain – not someplace that I would chose to live.

The Coliseum - November 29, 2014

One word sums up today – wow!!!!! Between the Forum and the Coliseum and the history behind them we were totally blown away. We started our day by going to a small neighbourhood patisserie and bar for breakfast. I had expresso for the first time –whoa, talk about getting your daily caffeine in 2 mouthfuls. The pastries were delicious though.

We were a group of approximately 20 for this tour. Our guide was Francezco and he was very good. We all had headsets, so we were able to hear him very well throughout the tour. We started at the Forum. We saw the spot where Julius Caesar was murdered as well as the spot where he was cremated and buried.

 We also saw the Circus Maximus which is where Marcus Aurelius (of Gladiator fame) fought as a gladiator. Apparently the final fight with the emperor, Commudus never happened. Marcus Aurelius was co-consul with the emperor for several years. 

After climbing the Palentine Hill which is one of the 7 hills of Rome we headed for the Coliseum. The line-ups just to get a ticket to go in were incredible (it is off-season). Fortunately, our tour was called “Skip the Line” and that is exactly what we did. Unfortunately, within the Coliseum we had to have one of their guides and their headset system which was nowhere near as good as the first one.

The Coliseum was built on the site of Nero’s lake (the Forum was also built on land that Nero had appropriated for his own use). He used the entire valley as his own personal space – several acres in the centre of Rome.

The tour was amazing. We started out on the main floor which really no longer exists, however you can see how the spectators sat and the lower level where the animals, gladiators and sets were kept. Gladiators were rarely killed in their fights because if a gladiator was killed, his owner had the pay the owner of the dead gladiator twice his worth.

After the main floor, we went to the lower level to see up close and personal where the animals and gladiators stayed during the games. Slaves used an amazing pulley system to lift the animals to the first floor and open the doors to set them out. 

The Coliseum was used until the 6^th century and then was abandoned and became the primary quarry for building materials in the city. The walls now look like Swiss cheese because people dug holes to try to get to the metal clamps that held the travertine blocks together. This quarrying was what led to the collapse of the south side. An amazing piece of history!

Safe Arrival

We have arrived safe and sound in the Eternal City after 26 hours of travelling. All of our flights were on time, both leaving and arriving and we arrived with all of our luggage.

On our way to the loft where we are staying, we saw an ancient Roman aqueduct, the Coliseum and St John’s Basilica. It is amazing to see these old structures in the heart of a modern, bustling city. I simply cannot imagine seeing the same kind of ancient structure in the middle of London – it just doesn’t compute.

Driving in Rome is even scarier than it was in Greece. 130 km/hr, 5 feet off the bumper of the car in front. There is also liberal use of the horn as well as well as shaking of fists and yelling. Fortunately, we speak no Italian and our driver spoke no English, so we have no idea what he was saying, but we are quite sure that it was not polite!!

Graham spent most of the 40 minutes from the airport to the loft with his eyes closed - he says that it was the longest thrill ride of his life.

Tomorrow it is off to the Coliseum and the Forum.

On Our Way

It is currently 6:40 in the morning in London, England and (1:40 am at home). we are finally sitting in the British Airways Lounge waiting for our 12:40 flight to Rome. I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep on the plane before we ran into turbulence strong enough to wake me. Graham unfortunately, got no sleep. We are, however more than half way to Rome and the excitement is really starting to build. Will let you all know that we reached Rome safely.

Kusadasi

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to each and everyone of you. The internet on board ship was very, very, very slow - I purchased 250 minutes and that just enabled me to get the post on Santorini done. I refused to buy any more minutes, so you have had to wait and for those of you who were disappointed, I am sorry.

To make matters worse, my home computer died and that has just added time to this process. I will try to get the posts updated first and then I will try to get the pictures organizes and posted.

Today (October 3) was our first stop in Kusadasi. We will be returning here next week, so we chose to take a day off today and just sleep in (we all know how Graham likes to sleep in) and relax around the ship. Graham spent his day relaxing and sleeping while I spent my day in the spa.I won a spot prize in the casino last night which included 20% off 1 service in the spa. I choses to book a hot stone massage - pure delight. The rest of my day was spent relaxing and reading.