Bay of Naples/Pompei

After a long hard climb , we eventually arrived at the top :-

Vesuvius erupts at fairly regularly intervals & is probably due one soon. The last one was in1944 when 21 million cubic metres of larva was dischareged over 3 days destroying much of San Sebastian and Massa di Somma. There were a few rumblings and whisps of smoke while we were there. I certainly wouldn`t like to live in the vast residential area nearby. Properties are cheap but you cant get insurance for them.

Ken.

The most notorious eruption was in 79AD when Pompei and Herculeum were destroyed. The explosion blasted debris almost 6 miles high and buried Pompei under 10 ft of molten larva killing thousands of people. The path of the larva flow can still be seen where it solidified as things cooled off :-

Ken.

Pompei is a huge city , the perimeter walls covering some 2 miles.Excavations started in 1748 and are still ongoing with about a third of the city still buried & undiscovered.These are two of the main streets :-

Ken.

Many of the buildings are remarkably well preserved. This is the entrance to one of the ampitheatres :-

— and this is one of the communal meeting places :-

Ken.

Ken,
Good as ever. Did you get any of the interior of the House of Ill Repute? For some reason Pat distracted me at that point, I would like to see why.
Alan

 Yes. Coming up next (when Pat`s not watching !).

The people of Pompei indulged in sheer debauchery — much of which would have been illegal even in our “enlightened” age. Their drunken orgies often lasted for several days. At a feast ,when they`d gorged themselves with as much as they could take , they went to the “vomitarium” where there was a huge trough and a selection of peacock feathers specially prepared to stuff down their throats so that they could throw up & start all over again.It was also a city of several different nationalities and , just in case some of them couldn`t explain what they wanted , the brothels and even some of the public rooms had explicit drawing on the walls so that they could point to their desires :-

This is the only one I dare show — the rest can only be described as obscene !

Ken.

They believed that if they paid homage to their many false gods , they could do what they liked & get away with it and their city would last forever.
Little did they know what lay in store for them in 79 AD !
The molten ash was a very good preserver and even some petrified bodies remain :-

Ken.

Even more remarkable than Pompei is the city of Herculaneum a few miles away :-

The citizens of Herculaneum were thanking the Gods for sparing them from the devastation suffered by Pompei when 3 days later they were buried under a wave of molten volcanic mud. Because it was mud rather than larva, it oozed in gently and set less quickly , the city was preserved remarkably well.. the slurry seeped into the cellars , then up into the first floor, then the second and finally over the lot.

Ken.

Many buildings are still almost completely intact along with the interior decorations. In this pic you can see how the wooden beams were carbonised but still largely intact. :-

The intense heat coupled with the absence of oxygen also help to preserve everything. They even found half eaten food on the table , which helped to pinpoint the date of the disaster.

Ken.

Archeologist were also surprised at how sophisticated some of the features were. The complex plumbing and drainage systems of the Romans are well documented but at Herculaneum they also discovered many other “modern” features such as these sliding doors which remained entirely intact and in working order :-

Ken.

And here we are back at base — Sorrento. Its quite nice but highly overrated. Everything is very expensive & you can hardly call it a seaside resort as its perched on top of quite high cliffs :-

Ken.

Ken,
Now I see why Pat would not let me look, she says those that she looked at were a bit obscene.
Have you read the book “Pompeii” by Robert HARRIS (isbn 0-09-179493) – fiction, but enjoyable.
Did you try the ice cream parlours in Sorrento? We were there a week, but could not fully sample all the goods, mind did very well on the Lemonchello samples.

Alan

Thanks Alan. I`ll see if I can get that book from the library. We tried a few ice-cream parlours in Sorrento — very nice but again very expensive.
And yes the lemonchellos were good. The best thing about Sorrento were the fire flies at night. We stayed in a lovely old converted Abbey surrounded by its own vast orchards & walking through them on a night was like being in a fairy tale with millions of twinkles everywhere.

Ken.

The journey down the Amalfi coast is quite an experience :-

— with some hairy roads and lovely views :-

Ken.

Amalfi itself is a pretty little town straddling a hillside :-

Ken.

There`s not an awful lot to see in the town itself , but what there is is quite quaint :-

Ken.

While based at Sorrento its worth the pleasant cruise across to the Isle of Capri :-

There`s not an awful lot to do or see but again, what there is is quite pretty :-

Ken.

There`s a pleasant walk from the centre of town to an old church. Its worth a visit if just to admire the floor :-

I took that pic from somewhere up in the belfry but couldn`t quite get all the floor in.

Ken.

However , the highlight for me is the chair lift to the top. The views of the island are breathtaking :-

Ken.

And finally its back to Sorrento and goodnight and goodbye :-

Ken.

That chair lift looks a bit scary, at Alton Towers there is a big metal thing holding you in the seat, there doesn’t look much on this one!.

Well done Ken, another interesting travel log.

When and where is the next one?

Thanks Chris. Yes — I have noticed that safety doesn`t seem to be much of a priority in most places outside the U.K..
Next trip is to the Black Sea , based at the old town of Nessebar in Bulgaria and touring the likes of Odessa in the Ukraine,etc.. Also planned is a tour of the spectacular Swiss mountain railways but that will have to wait for the warmer weather.
Montenegro is also pencilled in for next year — and a return to the Far East (based in Tokyo).

Ken.