Monday, November 13, 2023
Waking up at 5:00 lets me see the sunrise over Napoli! We’re planning an early breakfast so we can leave the boat in time to take a taxi to Pompeii in time for our 10:30 tour. The first taxi driver wants two hundred euros! An older, more experienced man offers one hundred and thirty to take us there, wait for us, and bring us back! It’s a deal!
We arrive quite early and he takes us to the gorgeous cathedral where a mass is in progress and people are lined up to kneel before a special Virgin Mary. Later we learn that it is the anniversary of the Pope’s visit, so that explains the crowd. What a magnificent cathedral. I find it more spiritual that St. Peter’s Basilica!!
We walk back to our driver who takes us to the meeting place for our tour. After some orange juice it’s time to check in with Raphael, our funny archeologist tour guide. There are seventeen in our group, which is quite manageable and we all have headsets so we hear everything.
Ancient Pompeii was destroyed, as we all know, in the eruption of Mr. Vesuvius in 79 C.E. But I had no idea what a large city it was, or that there is a thriving modern city, as well. The eruption covered the city in huge boulders and ash and what was combustible all burned, so there is no furniture or clothing or much of anything left. The initial excavations were carried out before archeology, as a science, existed. In fact Pompeii is where archeology was born. As a result there were a lot of things done which would never be allowed today. Much information was lost; but there is so much that has been learned.
I hope I can show you pictures later; but in the mean time, here are some random notes of what I remember from the tour. Among the things they found were bread (which was over baked) and a man with money and a walnut in his pocket. We learned that the word “fornication” comes from the Latin work for arch, as lovers would agree to meet under the arch. We visited several very large houses with beautiful mosaics and one even had a garden with plants that are the same as would have been growing there. The floors were marble and the walls were all painted, some with large frescoes. One house backed up to the street of brothels and Raphael thought perhaps the owner had a hobby! The brothels had pictures, like McDonald’s so that you could just point to what you wanted if you didn’t speak the language. There were also pictures of dicks on walls and streets to point the way for visitors.
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| Fresh orange juice is available at the cafe across from the entrance. |
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| The ever-present, and delicious, olive oil and balsamic vinegar |
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| The site is so much larger than I expected. It was quite a vibrant city! |
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| The little white marble stones are called cats' eyes and helped to see the street at night. |
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| Stepping stones to cross the street when it was flooded |
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| Plastic covered to protect the decorations from tourists |
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| The archeologists added the numbers. |
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| Stalls along the shopping street |
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| This stall must have sold food. |
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| This one had a second floor, judging by the stairs. |
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One of the large, expensive homes, with a pool in the entrance and
gorgeous mosaic tile floors |
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| And beautiful wall decorations |
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| Another one's entrance hall |
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| Hollow column to carry water |
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| Don't feed the archeologists! |
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| Another beautiful home |
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| With a garden! |
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| So much data lost. |
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| Marble decorations were everywhere. |
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| The symbol of prosperity |
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| The bath house, so beautifully decorated |
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| The cold room |
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| And the steam room |
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| Stone bed in the brothel |
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| Choose your activity! |
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| Or perhaps this one! |
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| In case you're new in town and need directions |
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| The avenue to the theatre. |
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| Park on one side |
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| Theatre on the other |
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| Even the streets have helpful directional signs. |
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| Fountain |
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| So much to see |
We were told to stay away from the working archeologists because they’re not used to people and frighten easily. Also, don’t feed them!
There is a statue in the middle of the town square; but it is not original. Raphael can’t tell us anything about it as he doesn’t understand modern art!
There is an entire street made up of small vendors who mostly sold fast food. Most homes did not have kitchens so people are outside. One of the stores had a dick on the outside wall. It symbolized good fortune and that the store was prosperous. Other dicks were used to point the way to the street of brothels, for foreigners.
The water pipes were all lead and we’re told that three things brought about the fall of the Roman Empire: lead, Christianity, and a hundred years of peace!
We saw the large and small theater, but not the coliseum which was outside of town, much like our football stadium because there are so may people there during the games. We learned that if you order a gladiator killed at the end of his unsuccessful match, you have to pay his trainer for all the time and money that was spent on his training. Usually only the emperor could afford to do this. We also learned that there were female gladiators and that they fought with their breasts exposed.
We visited the gym which had a large open area for sports and a cold room and a sauna, with hot steam that recirculated the water as the steam condensed. Much business was conducted here. Raphael says the you are honest if you are naked!
The number 17 is bad luck because if you write it in Roman numerals (XVII) and invert it is translates to I have lived, or I am dead!
People used to wash their clothes in urine because the ammonia removes stains. The emperor who began construction of the Coliseum also created public restrooms to collect urine and even taxed it. Today his name means public toilet!
After our tour, Ginger asked Raphael where the mosaic of Alexander the Great was located and he took us right to it! Then it was time to go meet our driver and return to Napoli fir real Napolitano pizza. Re commends a place that is right by the dock and we share two pizzas, a Margarita and another with olives and artichokes. And we finally have our Aperol Spritzes. Can’t leave Italy with trying it!
It’s a short walk back to the ship and we go through security and passport control. Nick didn’t bring his passport but they accept his driver’s license. Whew! And I learn that even though the fine print says you can’t bring alcohol back on the boat, it really means that you can bring it back, you just have to turn it over to the crew until it’s time to go home! Glad to know that for the next time we go exploring!
Back on board we go up to our cabin and think about tomorrow. And this evening! There is a performer who does just Billy Joel and Elton John songs and that’s intriguing! And maybe we’ll find something else, too, after dinner. We’ll be docking in Florence tomorrow with a possibility of visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa, too. We’ll see. The best news is that our steward, Fred G., brings me some squishy foam to put on top of my mattress so it doesn’t feel quite so much like a rock. Now if I could just get the computer garbage to cooperate, I’d be a happy camper!
Nick goes to take advantage of the spa package he purchased and Ginger and I relax and chat, then it's time to begin the evening's entertainment, beginning with a drink. Most of the lounges are noisy and crowded but we find a relatively quiet one and Nick goes to order our drinks. They are out of drambuie, so no rusty nails for Ginger and me. But we've got Black Russians and that's good too. Then Nick goes to make reservations at the Savor, where we ate last night.
Finally the beeper goes off and we are escorted to a table further from the kitchen than last night. That's nice! And dinner is overall much better than last night. I start with Thai spring rolls and Mediterranean grilled vegetables (I've been so vegetable deprived!) and they are very good. My entree is roasted pork in a pear sauce with asparagus and sweet potato mash. That was quite delicious! And we do a round robin with three desserts! There's cherries jubilee, After Eight mint chocolate mousse and Boston cream pie. Take a bite and pass it on! The pie drops out pretty quickly as it doesn't begin to match the deliciousness of the other two. It's certainly not a big loss! We didn't really need dessert at all!! Nick and Ginger finish their coffee and tea, respectively, and we go looking for the Billy Joel guy.
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| It should be here somewhere! |
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| Aperol Spritz |
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| The real thing! |
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| Back home to our Peter Max ship |
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| Sweet treats waiting in our cabin! |
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| And canapés! |
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| WE ate nearly every bite! |
They've put him in such a small venue that you can't see or hear him without dragging up more chairs, but we get in trouble for that, along with half a dozen other people, and he's not that good anyway! We go off again, but not before Ginger tells the manager who moved us how disappointed she is with the ship. I think she's heard it before!
We wind up in the big Breakaway Theater for a magician named Iain Shaw who is mostly a comedian who does magic tricks. He's amusing and we have good seats. His show is over around ten thirty and we're all pretty beat so we call it a night. Tomorrow it's Florence and Pisa!
(Sure hope I can figure out why my phone won't airdrop to Ginger's computer!! The photos are really mounting up and I wish people could see them!)
