We walked into history on Monday as we went to Pompeii an
ancient Roman city that was buried under 6 meters of volcanic ash when Mount
Vesuvius erupted on Aug 24, 79 BC. Our guide Monica was exceptional. She had a degree in archeology, shared her
knowledge with enthusiasm and humour and made sure we saw the highlights of the
site. She was quick to remind us that
Pompeii was active 150 years before the Colosseum was built.
At the time Pompeii was buried it was a sea port and now it
is miles from the ocean. As hard as it is to believe, Pompeii was actually
forgotten for 1700 years until it was discovered by accident in 1748 by a poor
man digging for a well and he came upon an artifact. Excavation went on for 200 years till 1948 and still
1/3 of the site is still buried.
We walked those ancient streets where you can see the ruts
created by chariot wheels. We perused a
bath house and the red light district, where you can still see the fresco's
above the doors in the brothel showing the services offered by each
prostitute.
One could stay all day and
roam the site and still not see it all.
It was an amazing morning.
We concluded our visit to Pompeii with a pizza lunch
a bit
of shopping and then back to Sorrento where we had a chance to wander around,
taste lemonchello, a local lemon liquor and other local products.
Then back
to the hotel where some of us went for a swim in the salt water pool. It was a fabulous day.
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