Day Tripper

Ristorante Anfiteatro, May 4, 2015, 12:30 p.m.

We have stopped for lunch on our day trip to Naples and Pompeii, so I'm just going to record a few observations while I have a moment.

Early mornings are difficult for us, but we managed to be in the lobby by 6:30 for the pick-up by the Grey Line people. On the bus ride here, the most exciting thing was seeing the rebuilt monestary at Monte Cassino. Amazing sight!  There it sits, high on a hill all by its lonesome, looking down on the valley below. I have seen so many pictures of the battle that imaging the Allied forces and their painful decision to bomb that treasure came easily to me.

Monte Cassino

Naples

On the Bus in Pompeii, 4:24 p.m.

Wow!  Pompeii is amazing!  

But back to my story. We arrived in Naples at about 10:30 or so, stopping at the bay to take some pix. I'm sorry to have to say it, but Naples is ugly. According to Claudia, our guide, the official unemployment rate is 43%, although she wonders how there can be so many cars in a town with that kind of poverty. But it looks impoverished. In fact, I could swear some buildings still had holes from Allied shelling in 1943. 

Our drive through Naples did not take long and soon we were cruising by Vesuvious, looking exactly like its many photos. It surprised me a bit to see how close some of the little housing communities were to the bottom of the mountain--is this really where you want to live?  With over one million people in Naples, it is unlikely everyone could get away in the event of a massive blow-out of the volcano. 

Our trip came with lunch at a restaurant in the actual city of Pompeii. I'm not sure where people of Pompeii must live, as the only buildings I've seen here are associated with the tourist industry, which, by the way, makes up the majority of GDP in this area. 

After lunch, it was a quick ride to the site of the ruins. Just as I liked the Roman Forum, I enjoyed the ruins of Pompeii. The crowds weren't bad; in fact, they helped enhance the feeling of a living city. When I imagined myself as a Roman woman before the eruption of 79 a.d., I saw myself in my Job's Daughters robe. I would have fit right in. 

Among the ruins we saw several temples to the Roman gods as well as little shops, the house of somebody prosperous, the Forum with its temple and its alter, and, most importantly, a brothel. The brothel had frescoes still visible on the walls that seemed like some kind of instruction manual. I guess if you're new to the process.....

A word here about dead bodies. The ruins of Pompeii have been under the process of excavation since the late 1700s. Of course, lots of the former residents have been uncovered. When the ash enveloped these poor souls, it caught them in whatever position they happened to be in. When the flesh melted away, a perfect cavatity was formed around the bones. Archaeologists pour plaster into the cavatity, thus creating an eerie re-creation of the deceased. We saw one recently excavated citizen being toted from the dig site back to the little museum area where the excavated items are examined and housed. And not just people have been found--check out my pic of the dog!

Heidi ande the Pompeii pop-up book 

Now we have left Pompeii and are driving back toward Naples. According to Claudia, there are no rules of the road here in Naples--it is survival of the fittest. I feel certain that my darling Anita would quickly adapt to that system. 

Tomorrow we say Arrivederci Roma.  That means late night packing of all the treasures acquired here. Among the many memories I will take with me are the sight of the ugliest faux gladiators in the world, Maddie's absolute fascination with the Forum, our little cafe on the corner that we visited at least once a day, amazing Pompeii, Heidi wearing her beautiful Murano glass bracelet, and both my daughters calling all police cars bee-doughs (based on the sound the sirens make). In spite of all that Rome has to offer, though, I still miss Berlin and the loved ones there. 

On to Paris....