Day 43 - Naples and Pompeii

Well today we went on an adventure! Before we left Australia, Joshua asked us if we could also go to Pompeii on our holiday. We decided we couldnt do everything and didn't plan to go to Pompeii. We had seen all we wanted in Rome and we had a spare day. So we booked a tour to go to Naples and Pompeii.

So we got up early and made our way by bus into town. The bus was full with tourists from all different countries but the tour guide did speak mostly English! After a 3 hour drive (including a toilet and coffee stop- Italians love their coffee), we arrived in Naples. We passed the ancient fishing quarter of Santa Lucia and saw Castel dell'Ovo (a grand castle in the cove). We also drove through the historical centre to see Piazza del Plebiscito, the Royal Palace, the Opera House, Basilica of San Francesco and so many other places.

Once we left the city, we drove passed the fertile valley of Mount Vesuvius.  The volcano erupted in A.D. 79 blanketing the towns and 1000s of residents of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum. Pompeii was buried 10 feet deep in volcanic ash. Mt. Vesuvius had erupted before and continued to erupt about once a century until about A.D. 1037, at which point the volcano grew quiet for about 600 years. During this time, the area grew, and when the volcano erupted in 1631, it killed about 4000 people. During the rebuilding efforts, the ancient ruins of Pompeii were discovered in 1748. Today's population around Mt. Vesuvius is about 3 million, which is potentially catastrophic in the area but people continue to live there cause the soil is so fertile.
We then stopped in the newer city of Pompeii for lunch. This was included in the tour. We had a 3 course typical Italian meal-pasta, meat and potatoes and fruit. The food was absolutely delicious.

Once our tummy's were full, we took the bus to the ruins of Pompeii. Pompeii is now a significant archeological site that provides an amazing glimpse into the daily life of an average Roman town over two thousand years ago. We also got to see 4 human bodies and a dog that had been mummified. It wasnt the lava that killed the people of Pompeii but the thick layer of ash and the gases. The ash cooled and solidified into stone, creating the kind of positions we saw the bodies in. It was all very fascinating!

We had a 3 hour bus trip back with only one stop and then we made our way back to our hotel, ready to wash ourselves from the layer of dust we had all over us from the Pompeii Ruins.