Pompeii

  On Christas Eve we visited Pompeii - it was definitely our favorite trip in Italy so far.  We were really suprised at how large Pompeii is, it's a whole city that still has 25% of it to yet be discovered.  80% of what you can see is original, 20% has been restored such as roofs, parts of pillars etc.  It is pretty amazing considering Pompeii was founded in 600BC by the Greeks, the Romans took control of the city later on.  

Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79AD covering Pompeii in 10m of thick volvanic ash and volcanic rocks (pumice).  20 000 people escaped the city, 2000 people perished under the ash.  After the volcano erupted and the ash covered the city it was preserved really well until it was discovered in the 18th century.

The guide told us that the shops had a sliding door system, you can still see the channel in the floor at the front of the shops so it's easy to tell which buildings were shops and which were houses.  The shops sold snacks such as olives, cheese and bread as well as wine and olive oil in big jugs or pots that were built into the shop counters.  They had restaurants and about 50 bars as well houses of prostitution.  One of the brothels is so well preserved that you can still see the "menu" above the stone beds.

When the ash covered Pompeii the people and animals that were trapped under the ash were extremely well preserved.  Their bodies left a cavity in the ground that was then filled up with plaster still leaving the bones inside.  Most of the skeletons are covering or protecting their faces from the ash.  Many pots, cups, statues, fountains, wells and frescos have been uncovered.

We went into a Roman Bath that had three rooms, the first one was a cool room with room temperature water, the second room was a warm steam room and the third was a hot room up to 40oC with a small marble pool to refresh.  It was beautiful.

They even had stepping stones to get across the street when there was heavy rain so that their feet didn't get wet.  We also drove through Naples and saw the island of Capri.   Drew and Hannah