Pompeii

The name Pompeii is instantly recognizable. The Roman city buried by volcanic ash has been the subject of a multitude of movies, books, and TV shows, and is renowned for the wonderfully preserved art that was recovered from beneath the ash. So when we were visiting Naples and the Amalfi coast, we made sure to include a visit to Pompeii in our plans.

There are several ways to visit the archaeological site, which is about 25km southeast of Naples. Because we were limited on time, we opted for an organized tour to get the benefit of a guide. We were picked up by a bus in the morning at Fontana di Monteoliveto, near our AirBnB. We were hoping for an intimate experience, when we booked a "small group tour," but unfortunately got the complete opposite. The bus was a huge coach and there were dozens of people on-board. When we arrived at Pompeii, we realized that our tour was one of many run by the same company, and there were busloads of people all funneled to a central location. Our final tour group had about 45 people. The tour only lasted two hours, a fraction of the time necessary to see the entire site. That said, we did see most of the highlights and got some interesting back story and dialogue from our guide, Eliza, that we would have missed out on if we were on our own. Eliza didn't disappoint, and we were happy she was as snarky and expressive as most of our guides in Italy.

Eliza taught us quite a bit about the ancient Pompeii sex industry. Apparently, there were a ton of brothels in the city, more than there were bakeries. Pompeii was a port town so there were lots of sailors to... satisfy. The brothels marked their location with penis shaped markings on the roads that led from the port straight to their businesses. Some of these are still visible today on the streets. Female sex slaves were cheap and cost about as much as 1/2 a glass of wine at the time. Most of these women did not live into their 20s.

In lighter news, we also learned that there were tons of fast food restaurants in Pompeii. Vendors would put food like meat and vegetables on top of bread and this served as a plate for people to take food to go. It also served as a precursor to pizza. Bread was stamped with the logo to mark the restaurant for advertising purposes.

While there is still some art on site, many of the most significant findings from Pompeii, like statues, mosacis, and frescoes were taken to museums. We were able to see a lot of these pieces at the National Archeology Museum in Naples, which helps to contextualize the ruins.

Our first few steps into the site. Blue sky, cool day, great for a hike through an archaeological site!

Preserved pavers.

Road and buildings in the center of Pompeii.

Vesuvius looming in the background.

Exceptionally preserved Roman road through Pompeii.

Being history dorks.

This was likely an oven at one of the many bakeries in town.

Road with stepping stones. Wagon wheels fit within the grooves and people could walk over the road which was covered in filth and waste.

Crowded but not too bad, especially compared to the Amalfi Coast and Rome.

Some original frescoes exist throughout the site.

Plaster mold of a person buried in volcanic ash. There are several preserved silhouettes in Pompeii.

Inside a bathhouse. Some original paint was preserved.

Geometric patterns in the bathhouse.

Frescoes from a brothel. Our guide told us the art was to help you pick what you wanted.

More brothel art.

Well preserved mosaic tile walkway.

Vesuvius over the Forum.

Augustus really got around...

Old columns.

Another plaster silhouette of a person covering his face.

Hanging out in the Forum.

Janice and Peter in the Forum.

Vesuvius is still an active volcano.

It's really hard to get the scale of this place, it's a huge site!

We definitely recommend you go to Pompeii. How you visit really depends on how much you are interested in Roman history and how much time you have. Since we're both fairly interested, we wish we had made a more intimate arrangement with a private guide. The tour we took was fine if you're just interested in the highlights and don't mind being shuffled around in a herd. There are also add on trips you could arrange from Pompeii. Christina and David E. tried to go up Mount Vesuvius for the views, but a cold front came through the evening before and the winds were very high on the summit. Supposedly some tourists were knocked over and they closed the path. Can't have a 90 year old woman falling into the volcano, now can we?