Conversations with Myself

(If you have missed the re-caps of our Italy Vacation you can quickly go check Vacation Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4)

On the 4th December 2013 the plan was to visit Pompeii ruins and mount Vesuvius. Pompeii ruins was about 6 minutes drive from our hotel. We drove smoothly up until we got to the ruins entrance gate.  We turned back at the gates because  we had to pay 10€ for parking. We decided to take the car to the hotel and walk to the ruins. That’s when our problems began. We could not find our way to the hotel.  Yes that 6minutes drive, we just could not find our way. We ended up somewhere in the farms of Pompeii.

The area was not far from the hotel but it was not easy to find the road back. It is a one way road and the GPS kept taking us through to the on-coming vehicles. I guess this road used to be a two way and somehow it was converted to one way or perhaps the GPS was just playing games on us. Just when we were about to give up the search and go pay 10€   for parking and embark on the ruins visit, the car electronics just went crazy, “one or more tyres low pressure”. Before we could understand what was happening, another message “one or more tyres punctured”. We stopped and we found that it was huge sharp broken piece of glass that sliced through the Michelin tyre. 

Others were playing while others were hard at work.

 

By the time we finished changing the tyre, it was 11:20 am and we decided to change plans. We cancelled all the plans for the day and went to fix the car.  We could not drive a 1000 plus km back to France with a thin spare wheel.  We began another search, looking for tyre fitment centre. By the time we found one, it was almost lunch time and the Italians just like the French value their lunch time. The centre was closed till 2:00 pm. The guys came back from lunch and by the time the car was ready it was way late. We decided to go site seeing without any particular place in mind. This took us to a not so good area. If it was in SA I would say we ended up in eKasi.

The next morning we woke up very early and by 7:30am we were ready to traverse the breadth and the length of the ruins of Pompeii, once a great city of the Roman empire.

  

On the 24 August 79 A.D. Pompeians woke up to a normal day in the city.  Only to be interrupted by a roaring sound from the Versuvius mountain. The mountain summit erupted, spewing a cloud of hot dark ashes that buried anything along its path. The history has it that, the city was buried under about 7 meters and everything living had no chance of survival. Cullo was so thrilled to see what he learnt in a history class. The amazing thing was to learn that as early as the first century, the city was so well organised that they had the paved streets, organised judicial system, organised and accountable government system. 

For the first time in 1860 the buried city was discovered by pouring liquid plaster onto the ashes.  The ashes were removed carefully and the end results was the Pompeii ruins that we see today.

What amazes me about the city was that in 79A.D. almost all roads were paved. They also installed lead pipes under the pavement that supplied water to the richest citizens. The poor were not completely left out. They too had access to water though not in their homes, but from public baths and fountains. The picture below shows the pedestrian crossing system  that was use in ancient Pompeii.

About two thousand years later, we still have people living without running water and paved roads.  We still design and build roads without pedestrian crossing, we still plan our cities without thinking about public facilities for recreation and sanitation. Crazy!  There is a lot to learn in Pompeii.

The pavement was uneven for a stroller.  I let Cullo take a look around while me and Muli were playing and site seeing at a very slow pace.

     

Playing hide and seek at the Pompeii forum, what used to the political, economical and religious centre of the city. 

Another part of Pompeii forum.

 

Cullo and Muli walking at the ruins of The Temple of Appolo. Like most ancient cities, Pompei was no different, its citizens worshiped a number of deities and this temple, built in  3rd century BC, was dedicated to Appollo.  

  

After walking for almost half a day appreciating the history of what was once a great city and marvelling at the catastrophe that befell the Pompeians, we were so tired and we decided to sit down and rest. Muli was still energetic and she was just running around. To her is was just pure fun to play in “houses” without doors and roofs. To preserve the history some areas are barricaded and access is prohibited. As we sat down and chatting, a family of four passed by and when they heard us conversing in English they stopped by and engaged us in a talk. They were from USA.  At the end they offered to take us some pics.  We appreciated their kindness and SMILED.

 

What you see below was once a very important part of the Pompei city. This was a bakery. The cylindrical feature was a mill, powered by horses, it was used to produce flour. Very basic compared to mills we have today, but the guys that owned them were the tycoons of the the city.

 

It was very interesting  to do this tour.  Walking on the ruins and seeing walls of once a thriving city still standing intact gave me goose bumps.  Thinking about the people who were buried in hot ashes is just too sad.  Pompeii remains to be one of the most intact ancient city.

Tips:

• Don’t expect to see much of the ruins when you are pushing a stroller.  The pavement is uneven.  A medium duty stroller can be much better.
• Don’t be like us and avoid extra cost by all means.  Sometimes paying a little extra can save you a day.  (Avoiding to pay 10 Euros and ending up having to pay much much more). 
• This place can be very interesting if you do some research prior to visit.
• The place was just empty.  Try to visit in low touring seasons if you can.
• I don’t even need to mention the comfortable shoes. 

Hope you enjoyed our Italy Vacation Recap posts.  I have not gone too much into details about the travelling, accommodations and tourists place booking logistics.  The posts  just turned out to be long when I include that kind of info.  I like emails, so send some my way if you need some more info.

Take care,
Nez