Page 9: Amalfi Coast and Pompeii 2010

Amalfi Coast and Pompeii

Amalfi Coast

Today we berth in Naples, but we decide to forego the city in favour of a tour of the Amalfi Coast and a visit to Pompeii and we're not sorry we made that decision. 

The view along the Amalfi Coast is spectacular.

The drive is hair-raising. There are 1,190 hair-pin bends within the 52 km drive. The road is very narrow and on one side there is a steep cliff and on the other, a rock face. Thank goodness our bus driver is experienced.  We marvel at how he navigates the narrow and twisty roads without having us plummet down hundreds of feet to our death.

This is a view of the road behind us which is now beside us because the road has twisted so sharply to the right. 

Although it's a little frightening, it's well worth it. It's so beautiful!

We stop at a little souvenir shop.  Here's Bill showing off again. The number 1 on his shirt doesn't mean he won a race it's a number that is assigned to everyone in our group so our guide will know that we are part of his/her group.  We wear these numbers every time we go on a tour organized by Princess.

We stop in Positano for a brief visit. Here is the Church of Santa Maria Assunta - very beautiful!

In the church, there is a wooden panel depicting the Virgin and her child. Legend says that pirates once tried to steal the panel, but when they tried to sail away a huge storm arose that prevented them from leaving. The pirates heard a cry from heaven "posa, posa", which means "put it back". The pirates put the panel back on the shore and the storm died down allowing them to leave - and that's where the town's name comes from - "Positano" which means "put it down".

Positano is a very charming town. We walk around and do a bit of shopping.

The natives are friendly and we meet all kinds of fun people along the way! These guys wanted to give Bill a hair cut!

We'd love to come back and spend more time on the Amalfi Coast, but we're on a cruise and only get to have a small taste of everything.  We're off to Pompeii now.

Pompeii 

I've been haunted by the idea of Pompeii since I was a little girl. I remember it was a week night and we were watching a movie on TV entitled "The Last Days of Pompeii" and I was enthralled by it - the ancient costumes and sets and of course, there was a love story involved too. I was on pins and needles with all the action culminating towards the massive eruption of Mount Vesuvius. All of a sudden, just when the action was getting really good, my Mom said: "OK it's time for bed now - you have school tomorrow". Ah shucks, there was no convincing her otherwise. You can bet I didn't get much sleep that night.  All I did was imagine what would have happened all these years ago.  I've been curious about what happened to the citizens of Pompeii, how they felt at that last moment and I guess I've romanticized Pompeii ever since! So today, I'm really excited to be here.

Pompeii is huge and amazingly well-preserved.

Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and the City of Pompeii was completely covered in ashes and forgotten over time until the mid 1700s when the excavation began.

It's unbelievable how good a shape everything is in. This is the stadium. It looks like it's ready to accommodate Pompeii's citizens for a day of gladiator fighting and watching Christians being thrown to the lions!

Our guide explains that the buried remains have been so well-preserved because of the lack of air and moisture and because they have not been exposed to the elements and natural erosion.

It's interesting to see the shops and houses lining the streets.

There are signs on the roads pointing to the most important places.  Guess where this is "pointing" to? 

Yes, of course, even then they had "bawdy houses" or brothels. Many men spent months at sea and so when they arrived on land they were looking for female "companionship".

There are murals in the bawdy house depicting the many different types of services offered.

It's very interesting to see how the city was laid out and the street engineered.  All the modern conveniences of the time were there to be had.

They were very clever even in those early days. Stepping stones were installed in the middle of the streets so people did not have to get their feet wet when they crossed the street on rainy days. The stones were just the right size so as to not impede chariots as they drove down the streets. They should have done the same in the cowboy days!

This is the agora where people would gather to hear news or to gossip.

Archaeologists excavating the site found the remains of people in the last position they were in when the eruption's gas and ash covered the city. The spaces where bodies laid were filled with plaster to get a perfect match of the bodies' positions and facial expressions.

Here is a child trying to cover its eyes from the falling ashes.

This person laid down on the ground to shelter himself from the falling ashes.

This is what the mighty Vesuvius looks like today.

Although what happened in Pompeii all these years ago is very sad, the site provides an excellent insight on how people lived in the first century AD.  My childhood curiosity about Pompeii has at last been quenched and its no longer a romantic notion in my mind. 

See  my next blog, Rome 2010.