Pompeii

Taking the train to Pompeii

There was an accordian player on the train!

Porta Marina

The original town gate.  The sea came nearly to here before Vesuvius erupted and filled in the harbor.

The Forum

commercial, religious, and political center at the intersection of the city's 2 main streets

Vesuvius in the background -5 miles from the city

"Mentally draw a triangle up from the two remaining peaks to reconstruct the mountain before the eruption."

"Pompeiians had no idea that they were living under a volcano, as Vesuvius hadn't erupted for 1,200 years."Rick Steves Italy

Temple of Jupiter in the foreground

Basilica

1st century palace of justice

The columns were not ruined by the volcano but were left unfinished when it erupted.

Fast food joint

The holes in the counters held the pots for food

House of the Tragic Poet

Altars to the gods and to the family's ancestors

House of the Faun-Pompeii's largest home

Taking a break to do a feeding

House of the Vettii

a bachelor pad of two weathly merchant brothers

Pompeii's best-preserved home

"cats eye" stones embedded in the floor. 

"Imagine these glinting like little eyes as the brothers and their friends wandered around by oil lamp late at night..." Rick Steves Italy

inside the Forum Granary

Flour griders (donkeys or slaves pushed wooden bars that turned the stones that ground the grain)  and brick oven in the bakery and mill

The theater

The stage

a horse

The amphitheater

altar to the family's gods in the House of Menander

It is believed that the people who's skeletons are in the picture below tried to dig their way out through this hole after the eruption.  

Courtyard of the House of Menander

Gelato back in Naples.  It was our least favorite gelato we tried.  It probably wasn't the best place to get it but it was close to our airbnb.

Waiting to find out what platform our train would arrive on on our way to Rome

We noticed while we were waiting the a lot of the trains were delayed....for hours.  But our's wasn't delayed getting to the Naples train station or leaving Naples.  But we did get delayed on the way and sat on the tracks for a while. And unfortunately the AC in our car wasn't working well. We were about an hour late getting to Rome. We were planning to take a taxi from the train station to our airbnb but the lines were crazy long.  While we were waiting I heard someone in line talking about an earthquake. We found out from the greeter at our airbnb that there had been a 4.2 magnitude earthquake near Naples early that morning that had caused all the train delays while the tracks were checked for damage.  We'd had no idea!