Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius

Today we go to Pompeii. The train ride is about half an hour. Pompeii, founded in 600 B.C., was a thriving city of 20,000 until it was stopped in its tracks on August 24 A.D. 79, when Mount Vesuvius erupted. The city was buried under 30 feet of volcanic ash. Pompeii offers the best look anywhere at what life in Rome must have been like around 2,000 years ago. Then, in 1599, Pompeii was accidentally rediscovered. For the archaeologists who excavated it centuries later, it was a windfall, teaching them volumes about daily Roman life. Excavations started in 1748. Although the roofs collapsed from the weight of the ash, the walls remained intact. It was interesting to see architecture from Roman times. There were fast-food joints, bakeries, and a brothel. There were a couple of glass cases of two Pompeians eerily captured in their last moments. They were quickly suffocated by a superheated avalanche of ash and gas. Their bodies were encased in volcanic debris. Archaeologists found hollow spaces underfoot, created when the victims' bodies decomposed. The holes were filled with plaster and molds were created of Pompeiians caught in the disaster. Very interesting. The brothels had the beds intact, but they were stone. I don't know if the beds were made of stone 2,000 years ago. I sat on one and it would have been very uncomfortable to sleep on, let alone brotheling. The bakery had its oven intact, and it looks just like a forno pizza oven. There was even a bath house where people went to exercise and relax. Everything we have, they had. Society is stupid today though. For example, the water in the steam baths was channeled down the walls so hot water didn't drip on heads. Steam rooms don't have that today. I don't know if it's because modern society got lazy, cheap, or if we are just stupid. We are now on the bus to Mount Vesuvius to see what stopped Pompeii in its tracks. It you put a bus driver from here in a Formula One race car, he'd probably do alright. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. The views are spectacular on our way up to Mount Vesuvius. And on our left ladies and gentlemen - the river of lava. Oh no, two buses are going to pass. They are almost touching. I better stop typing now because I'm getting sick. We arrived at the semi-top and we hiked 20 more minutes to the top. We were above the clouds, so didn't see much, but at times we saw the crater of the mountain when the clouds cleared away momentarily. We didn't stay up very long because it was windy and colder - the Italians were wearing toques and winter coats. Sooo funny. I wonder how they'd like Canada. We stopped for bruschetta and a glass of wine at our mid-point down. The bruschetta was flavourful, but I didn't care for the wine, so Arrigo drank my wine. By the time we got down to the train station, it was raining. It's a good thing we have those cheap umbrellas from Florence. Arrigo found an umbrella left behind outside St. Peter's Basilica. We needed more money so found a bank and bought some groceries to make a little picnic for our trip along the Amalfi Coast and Positano tomorrow. Two full days left and then we go home to cold St. Albert.