Naples, Italy

Naples was our last port.  Pompeii is about a 30 minute train ride away.  

It was super easy to get to on our own. This city is thought to have been founded in the 6th century BC.

 The people of Pompeii used to wash their streets each evening, so they built these stepping stones so people could cross the street and not get their feet wet.  

 Mount Vesuvius in the background.  

We learned when it blew, ash was hurled into the sky 12 miles high!

 The artifacts they found intact from the excavation were amazing!

 They found bodies entombed in ash.  The bodies were decayed inside the ash, so they filled it in with plaster.  This is exactly how they found the bodies.  

 Another body.  It looks like he was praying!

 Of course there were Roman baths.  This is the "locker room" to the baths.  Elaborate!!

 This city was much larger than I had imagined.  

At the time of Vesuvius' eruption (79 AD), 22,000 people lived in Pompeii.  

20,000 people escaped and 2,000 stayed behind. 

This is a bakery.  

Most people in Pompeii ate out.  Their kitchens were very small.  Around every corner, you would see these marble bars with terra cotta pots.  These were "fast food joints."  The pots held soup or wine.  

 The boys were on some super hero mission the entire time we were in Pompeii.  They didn't even speak to us.  They talked about their mission the whole time!

 Old mosaic tile floor.  

 Grooves from the chariot's wheels.  

 Pompeii was so huge that the crowds were really dispersed.  

It was fun exploring little streets and alleys all by ourselves!  

Thankfully, we had a Rick Steve's guidebook to show us what we were looking at!

We were so excited to head back into Naples for some pizza.  

 We had three pizzas, one spaghetti, and a bottle of water and it was only 27 Euro.  CHEAP!

 After a late lunch, we decided to walk back to the boat.  We thought we would walk through Naples.  Unfortunately, this was the nastiest city I have ever seen!!!  We sped through!

 The buildings were not kept up.  

Trash was everywhere!!! 

 Graffiti was literally on every surface!

 Fry burger????

We jumped back on the boat and sat at the back deck to look at the city.  It is much prettier far away!  Pompeii was amazing....Naples-I could do without!