The Almalfi Coast - Pompeii excavations

"Just across the bay from Sorrento, Naples on a clear day will give your heart a bit of a flutter. Rising behind it from the morning mist like a sentinel is the mighty Mr. Vesuvius, perpetrator of one of the world's most infamous cataclysms." 


Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Sorrento, Italy
Arrive: 9:00 am
Sunrise: 5:31 am • Sunset: 8:31 pm
Forecast: Sunny; 79ºF / 26ºC

Heading to breakfast we were able to take a look out the port side windows at the Amalfi Coast:

 And starboard was the beautiful city Sorrento:

The "tender service" was actually the ship's life boats! Glad to know they received regular use and maintenance. Is this like it on every cruise line? I thought it was genius. ha!

This area is known for its lemon juice bottled up in lovely little vials. Some of the lemons were as big as  as melons! Lemons as big as melons (say that 10 times fast).

Vespas still everywhere:

The Excavations of Pompeii:

first glimpse of postmortem stuff

"Follow Matilda!"

 "Hook-ups" for your horse and buggy - ancient parking meters.

renovated?

This is the woman that always took notes. She was spoiled.. but I still made friends with her! haha
Her husband is in the stripes. 

 Artwork from the walls still remains:

People who died after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. I can't remember how they could tell..
perhaps because of how they were laid to rest. 

same as previous picture

mosaic tiles

up to a private room

Stepping Stones to keep hems dry when the streets would be rivers instead of roads

Oh how we loved Matilda!

Inside of an ancient form of a 'spa'

ancient lockers (there is a bench beneath this where you'd sit and wait to be called into the steam rooms)

died in the eruption, and he was a slave as you could tell by the rope around his waist

Someone more wealthy, as you can see the robes he was wearing.
These people are real, and actually encased in ash and volcanic properties.

The floors were elevated to allow boiling hot water to run beneath the floors,
heating and steaming the rooms from below

 Entering the brothel, or "hospitality" district of Pompeii. It was the only area in the city where the roads were curved so you couldn't see the end of the street. Bad news.

waiting to get in to the brothel... it was the only way out and they were only letting 6 slow people through at a time.

It was a warm day.. add that to the awkwardness of walking through
somewhere so 'naughty' and you have lots of impatient people.
It was a hot day, too.

I chose the blurry picture to share. This is what was taking so long for the people to walk through, so I made it worth my while and got some pictures. But for your sake, here is the blurry version. ha!

looks like a bad way to go.. 

this person in the upright fetal position is a real person, preserved by the ash; died in the eruption

this is where all the uncovered artifacts are housed

an unfinished column, before receiving the white plaster

Pompeii upon our exit

Mt. Vesuvius 

So much blue, blue water. No high or low tide, either! Pretty certain we love the Mediterranean Sea, or as the Italians say, the "Terranean Sea."