Pompeii

Photo: Pompeii Bodies

Day 32: Rome to Naples

An early start again in Rome to catch the train to Naples. Everything went so smoothly in Rome we were at the station with an hour and a half to spare. Better to be early than late. Once in Naples we found the hotel fairly quickly, checked in, then set of to Pompeii on the Circumvesuviana, the train that runs south to Sorrento around the Bay of Naples.

Pompeii was amazing. It was so much bigger than I was expecting. It’s hard to imagine a city of this size in 76AD. The site is over 50 hectares – which makes it bigger than Vatican City. Near the end of our visit we hadn’t found the bodies in glass cases that we knew were there somewhere. Carol asked a guide where they were, and he sent us along and around and over there. When we got along and around and over there he was there. He offered to show us where they were. We followed. He took us under a rope indicating no entry, around a few corners and showed us a horse skeleton and a pile of human bones. After a photo or two he continued on to a remote corner of the site where there were about 10 complete preserved bodies. On one of them you could still see bone. All of this private tour cost 5 euro. They seemed to be pretty strict about how the guides worked (unlike Rome where it seemed to be a bit of a scam) so I’m guessing he shouldn’t have done what he did – but I’m glad he did.

After Pompeii we continued down the line to Sorrento, where we wandered for a while, found some amazing lookouts and had dinner. I’m really starting to enjoy the Italian life. Great fresh, cheap  food eaten in street restaurants with so much atmosphere. Even the waiters have been entertaining in many places.

Finally back to Naples, with a bit of a dash from the station to the hotel. No sign of any danger, but better safe than sorry. I’m not sure if this place deserves the reputation it’s got, but I don’t really want to find out.