Friday 17/02/2023.
Pompeii Day! We eventually got into bed at 3 a.m., setting our alarms for the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. After dressing, we headed down to the restaurant for breakfast, choosing the exciting dish of toast with cherry and berry jam and two tangerines. We took two tangerines each for snacks later in the day. Cat had woken with a horrendous migraine – she started suffering them chronically when the Great Pandemic of 2020 started – and stress is one of the triggers. To say our trip had been stressful would be an understatement.
Finally in Pompeii
Despite the countless documentaries about Pompeii we’ve watched, nothing prepares you for it. It’s enormous. You need an entire day and maybe more. The map has two routes – a two hour exploration or a 4 hour exploration. We arrived at 10:50 a.m. and left at closing, which was 5:50 p.m. and we didn’t get to see everything. But to be fair, we spent a bit of time climbing the orange trees in the car park to gather some fruit. It was boiling there – 20 degrees c in February! It cost us €20 per person for entry as we opted for a guideless tour. A guided tour cost €39, but we were too excited to concentrate, so bought a €10 guidebook instead, that way, we’d have information, but not feel like we were being restrained.
Expectations vs Reality
We expected it to be a vast open space with no roofs, but it was so much more. The first area we reached were the suburban baths. They’re still quite intact with the original mosaic floors frozen in time as though they’ve been freshly laid. The restoration work that has been done in Pompeii is truly incredible. There’s frescos on the wall, some faded and peeling, others remaining brightly coloured, proudly displaying their artwork. You could almost believe the eruption had never happened. The changing rooms still have their roof, albeit with chunks of ornate plaster missing from the ceiling. An accessible walkway runs through the baths, lined in red carpet, protecting the floor whilst allowing visitors of all abilities to enjoy it.
Heading for Ruins
We entered through the Porta Marina into the Temple of Venus. Not much remains of this. The Basilica was filled with crumbling columns, reminiscent of ancient Greece. This was where the courthouse was. The Santuario di Apollo was bordered by similar fallen columns. A statue of a centaur guarded some of the ruins.
We passed through the Forum with the impressive Temple of Jupiter standing tall at the far end, its portico a definite highlight. The Forum was the market space of ancient Pompeii, and also the religious centre with the various temples flanking it. It was the social heart of the city, with the open space often used for parades, speeches or gladiatorial matches. It was also one of the last places in the city to be buried beneath the volcanic ash. People flocked there in life, and flocked there to escape death.
Stars of Pompeii
Behind the Temple of Jupiter, is the Chora Café, where we befriended a stray dog and two cats who were wandering the ruins. We spent a while with them, photographing them. One was tabby and white and the other was black like in Naples. Pompeii Phoenix and Pompeii Storm.
The pavements are really high with stepping stones between them – the Pompeii zebra crossings. Some of the streets have ruts from decades of carriages rumbling through them centuries ago. We prowled the streets, hopping across the ancient stone pedestrian crossings. During its lifetime, the streets would have been full of excrement from the animals, so the stones prevented people from stepping in it.
Wanderlust
At first, we wandered aimlessly, going wherever took our fancy, passing the macellum, or market. Twelve stunted column bases in the centre are all that remain of the central structure. Modestus’s bakery fascinated us, as the grinding stones are still standing and most of the kiln still remains. The House of the Faun and the House of the Ancient Hunt are beautiful, the latter’s bright colours luring you in from the street. The Alexander mural from the House of the Faun depicts horses and riders heading into battle.
Amongst the beautiful buildings, two carefully marked rectangles in the ground house three skeletons, lying where they fell. Storage areas hold broken urns and pots that have been recovered during excavations.
A Curse on Both their Houses
Eventually, we used our map to find specific areas. There are still frescos on the walls and courtyard gardens with plants living in them. The inside walls of the House of Vetti are painted in bright reds and yellows and even black, with images of people and animals perfectly preserved. One of our favourites was the Triclinium (room of Issione and the dining room where people would eat and rest on kline, or beds) which is painted red with black edges.
The House of Dioscuri is one of the best examples, the bright yellow catching the winter sun. The mosaic floors display various geometric patterns, images of gladiators fighting, dolphins in the House of Menander, and a dog in the House of the Tragic Poet. We got lost for an hour trying to find the Garden of Fugitives where there were casts from people trying to escape the volcano. There were many bakeries, taverns, and shops with their counters and ovens mostly intact. From Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius lurks ominously in the background yet looks so far away.
Viewing Platform
We climbed the Mercury tower to photograph the sheer expanse that is Pompeii. It’s located between the Porto Ercolano and Porto Vesuvio and opened two months before we arrived. You can also see the border where the past meets the present. We passed the Porta Ercolano e cinta muraria but decided not to go all the way to the Villa of Mysteries as we wanted to explore more of the city.
We went back through the Forum and visited the large theatre. There, we befriended a grey tabby cat. We’ve probably photographed more cats on this trip than any other. We explored the gladiator barracks and the odeion then visited the outside of the amphitheatre and Grand Palace. We toured the streets, searching for the brothel like many customers before us, centuries ago, but by the time we located it, it was 5 p.m. and it had closed at 4:30 p.m. Seems a bit early, for a nighttime profession.
Painful Reminder
We failed to find the stone penises that point the way, so it was no wonder we couldn’t find the building. While we were searching for more plaster casts, Cat was looking at the map and didn’t see the large pedestrian crossing boulder in front of her. She tripped over it, landing headfirst in the gutter and losing a large section of skin off her shin, which bled through her tights. A few years later, she still bears the scar.
The gift shop was closed when we left, which wasn’t surprising as we nearly got locked in, but it was disappointing. We’d originally planned to spend two days exploring Pompeii, but we still have Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum and the Amalfi Coast to visit, so we’ll have to come back, especially as excavations are still continuing, so there’ll be even more for us to see.
Cave Dwellers
Cat contacted the host of our next stay and this one was genuine. His name was Chiro. He and his family lived in the mountains and we were renting the cave home beneath their house. The house was hard to find so he arranged to meet us on a windy road outside a restaurant. Feeling like criminals about to meet, we drove to the restaurant and spotted his car outside. We wound down our window and greeted him in Italian.
We followed his car through narrow twisty roads into the mountains, hoping he was leading us to our cave and not to our deaths. Surviving Naples only to wind up murdered in the mountains surrounding Pompeii would be a sour end to a birthday that had started so badly. We parked then followed him down steps to a huge balcony overlooking the lights of Pompeii.
The cave was stunning and this is our home until the end of the trip. It was cold but there were plenty of blankets. We’d always wanted to stay in a cave and this was perfect. The bathroom was in an alcove next door with a rock shower and there was a separate kitchen full of food and a fridge. Absolutely would stay there again.
Read Day 2.
Read Day 4.