Day 2 of the Napoli trip was our only full day. We decided to spend it at Ercolono, Vesuvio, and Pompei We first went to Ercolono, which is a town that was destroyed on the same day as Pompei when Vesuvio erupted. It was better preserved than Pompei (and some say it is a more accurate representation of Roman everyday life), but it was significantly smaller city. We arrived right at opening so we were literally the only people there for about an hour
Ercolono was destroyed during the same eruption as Pompei, but it was destroyed by huge amounts of falling debri and hot mud that covered it in over 5 meters of quickly drying mud.
 |
| All of the larger homes had a fountain in the middle of the courtyard |
 |
| One of the many still intact mosaics |
 |
| a private bathhouse |
 |
| It was very popular to eat lunch out. These counters served hot food out of the pots. |
It was pretty amazing to see the remenants of the colors that covered every wall. It was hard to image the Colosseum in Rome being painted but Ercolono really hit it home.
 |
| A plaque to Augustus Caesar |
 |
| Changing room for the bathhouse |
 |
| A roman bath |
 |
| Original benches for lounging around the bath |
After Ercolono, we took a bus up to Mount Vesuvius (Vesuvio). It was about a 20 minute hike from where the bus dropped us off to the top of Mount Vesuvius where we saw the volcano's crater. The volcano has been famous throughout history, as it has erupted multiple times the recent most being 1944. It is still active today.
 |
| bus on the way to vesuvius |
 |
| the big grey patch was where the last lava flow was when the volcano exploded in 1944 |
 |
| Vesuvius crater |
 |
| in front of the crater |
 |
| It wasn't very cold when we were up here, but there was snow! |
 |
| Stefan hitting me with a snowball |
 |
| The hut at the entrance to the park |
Our last stop of the day was Pompei. The city was so much bigger than we imagined. There was even a mini Colosseum, two outdoor amphitheaters and a swimming pool! We spent almost 3 hours there and we did not even get to cover all of it. It was amazing to see the sprawl of such an ancient city. It gave us a such an amazing idea of not only the layout, but of the every day happenings of what it would be like to live in that time period. Pompei was mainly destroyed due to huge amounts of volcanic ash suffocating the residences, and then being covered by mud rock and layers of ash. This all preserved the town almost exactly as it was in 79 A.D.
 |
| waiting to go inside the gate |
 |
| A huge basilica |
 |
| Columns still standing |
 |
| The forum |
 |
| Entrance to a sporting complex. Chariot races and the like were extremely popular |
 |
|
The larger of the 2 amphitheaters |
 |
| The temple of Isis |
Apparently Pompei was relatively tolerant, they have found multiple indicators of it being a city filled with multiple religions.
 |
| The athletic complex. In the middle there is a large swimming pool. |
 |
| mini Colosseum where gladiator games were held |
 |
| inside of the arena. It held up to 20,000 people, almost half of the cities population |
 |
| Remnants of statues |
Day 3 of Napoli consisted of the Architectural Museum and seeing a large piazza. The Architectural Museum houses many artifacts from Pompeii and has multiple other collections.
 |
| Replica of Pompei |
 |
| Actual painting of the layout of pompei |
 |
| really large statue...(David in Florence was even larger) |
 |
| Staircase entrance in the museum |
 |
| An extremely famous painting of Alexander the Great going into combat with Dairus. The Romans had immense respect for Greek culture and history |
 |
| The actual painting not restored |
Our last major monument before we left Napoli was a famous piazza Plebicito and a large Napoli meeting area.
And finally our last trip to the Gino's Sorbillo.
 |
| I ordered the Pasquale pizza in honor of Poppy |
 |
| Pasquale |
 |
| Stefan's pizza..tomato, mozzarella, spicy pepperoni, basil |
 |
| John's pizza marinara |
