Hi from Naples again! Today we ventured onto the bus at approximately quarter to nine this morning for a short drive to the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We first went to Pompeii where we met our guide Joanna who was extremely helpful throughout the day. Entering through one of the seven gates of Pompeii, we walked to the small theatre which was used mostly for musical and political events in the ancient times. A few photos later and we were back onto the roads of Pompeii only to find ourselves walking past many commercial structures such as thermopoleums which were restaraunts somewhat like the modern day McDonalds and KFC. We continued along the streets around many corners to the Lupanare which was a favourite for many of us and it put the “secret room” from the Museum of Naples into context with well preserved frescoes and a friendly wild dog. The next stop was the Forum which was an amazing area with many temples such as the temple of Jupiter and the many different markets food markets. The wool markets were interesting as we saw two of Fiorelli’s plaster casts of the dead bodies found in Pompeii. We continued our tour of the city with Joanna giving us great information and descriptions of every place. We visited the Forum Baths which were spectacularly preserved with mosaics of great detail and large marble baths which were beautiful to see. One particular structure favoured was the House of the Faun which was amazing to see as we’d previously seen a lot of the mosaics and frescoes at the Museum of Naples. We exited the site through the Marine Gate next to the Forum and on our way we walked through the Basilica which was the political building of Pompeii. After an hour for lunch and bartering our way through the markets on the site, we made our way back onto the bus to Herculaneum or Ercolano as the Italians call it. Joanna guided us yet again and she explained to us all the differences between the destruction of the two sites and how the actual cities varied in ancient times. In Herculaneum, we walked through the streets to learn about the drainage systems that are much different to what we see today. The way in which the typical house was designed was a little strange for our tastes as we were told that the kitchen always housed a toilet due to the need for constant water and pipes going into the sewerage systems in the streets. We also visited the bath house in Herculaneum which was separated into two buildings, the male section and the female section. They were mostly identical although the female section was more well preserved with the mosaics on the floor and most of us thought it was particularly more beautiful than the male section. We visited a lot of houses in Herculaneum which was great to see and especially was important to see for the comparison of the ancient cities. In Herculaneum there were many more two storey buildings because of the carbonised wood. After our guides, we left the ancient site and we came back to the hotel to leave again for dinner. We went to a restaraunt near the port of Naples and we had a three course meal of Mushroom Risotto, Roast Chicken and a yummy chocolate cake. Back on the bus again with many singsongs and the whole bus joining in.
Brittany