There's something appropriate about visiting ancient Pompeii and being baked by searing heat. Although the day was a modest 38 degrees, the actual temperature amongst the hundreds of acres of stone paved ruins was a torturous 45 to 50 degrees. There were times when Karol and I felt dizzy and unstable. Clever Karol brought a long a special cooling scarf that she soaked in water and wore like an Egyptian.
We arrived in the modern town of Pompeii the day before. Our host was also an accredited Pompeian tour guide which she explained had taken her 3 years of study to achieve. Marina was a vivacious, passionate woman from the cold depths of Siberia who had the ability to enthuse breathlessly on any subject for an indefinite amount of time. We tried to keep up with her as we set off that morning, weaving and ducking through the crowds as she navigated us past long queues with greetings here and there to other guides who were herding up their flocks. Meanwhile she poured out a steady stream of amazing facts about that ancient crazy place.
She explained that Pompeii was a huge and over crowded city of the Roman world, run by the elite and propped up by ever suffering slaves wrangled in from the colonies. They lived in squalor while their masters lived in houses adorned by frescoes, gardens and ornaments representing the many gods that they had adopted, also from the colonies. Each house had a central roof opening to allow the light in as windows were real dangerous to have.
There was no sewerage or plumbing system so the refuse was thrown into the street at night. The roads were pretty funky so a clever engineer was able to construct a series of aqueducts to transport water to rich houses and corner public fountains. At night water was allowed to run into the street to wash away the nasties. Large stepping stones were arranged so the good folk could cross the street without browning up their togas. Cleverly they allowed the chariots to navigate both ways as well.
The public laundries were also fed by this water. There was a special ingredient here as soap had not been invented. Camel urine was imported and mixed in with water and ground soda rocks from the nearby rivers. The large stone laundry vats had slaves stomping on the soaking garments by foot. This was a horrible job and led to massive skin deterioration and early death. It really sucked to be a slave.
17 years before Vesuvius spilled her molten guts the 20,000 or so inhabits were battered by a savage earthquake that destroyed much of the city. So the population on the day of the eruption was a mere 8,000. The gods work in mysterious ways apparently. What rained down upon Pompeii was pretty much fire and brimstone. Super hot molten ash and pumice annihilated the city under meters of hell, not to mention a nasty cloud of poisonous gas. It wasn't until the 16th Century that it was rediscovered. Today there is still 20% under ground.
Here are some pics from our visit and later on that afternoon enjoying parts of the modern Pompeii and it's refreshments.
Next Stop Amalfi
We arrived in the modern town of Pompeii the day before. Our host was also an accredited Pompeian tour guide which she explained had taken her 3 years of study to achieve. Marina was a vivacious, passionate woman from the cold depths of Siberia who had the ability to enthuse breathlessly on any subject for an indefinite amount of time. We tried to keep up with her as we set off that morning, weaving and ducking through the crowds as she navigated us past long queues with greetings here and there to other guides who were herding up their flocks. Meanwhile she poured out a steady stream of amazing facts about that ancient crazy place.
She explained that Pompeii was a huge and over crowded city of the Roman world, run by the elite and propped up by ever suffering slaves wrangled in from the colonies. They lived in squalor while their masters lived in houses adorned by frescoes, gardens and ornaments representing the many gods that they had adopted, also from the colonies. Each house had a central roof opening to allow the light in as windows were real dangerous to have.
There was no sewerage or plumbing system so the refuse was thrown into the street at night. The roads were pretty funky so a clever engineer was able to construct a series of aqueducts to transport water to rich houses and corner public fountains. At night water was allowed to run into the street to wash away the nasties. Large stepping stones were arranged so the good folk could cross the street without browning up their togas. Cleverly they allowed the chariots to navigate both ways as well.
The public laundries were also fed by this water. There was a special ingredient here as soap had not been invented. Camel urine was imported and mixed in with water and ground soda rocks from the nearby rivers. The large stone laundry vats had slaves stomping on the soaking garments by foot. This was a horrible job and led to massive skin deterioration and early death. It really sucked to be a slave.
17 years before Vesuvius spilled her molten guts the 20,000 or so inhabits were battered by a savage earthquake that destroyed much of the city. So the population on the day of the eruption was a mere 8,000. The gods work in mysterious ways apparently. What rained down upon Pompeii was pretty much fire and brimstone. Super hot molten ash and pumice annihilated the city under meters of hell, not to mention a nasty cloud of poisonous gas. It wasn't until the 16th Century that it was rediscovered. Today there is still 20% under ground.
Here are some pics from our visit and later on that afternoon enjoying parts of the modern Pompeii and it's refreshments.
Next Stop Amalfi
