On our last full day in Italy we traveled south to visit Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. We took a bus {it was about a 3 hour drive from Rome} and met our tour group early in the morning in a nearby square.
There happened to be an event at the square with all kinds of old timey Italian firetrucks and rescue vehicles.
I knew that Leo would be excited to see all of these vehicles so I sent a few pics his way. ;)
We left the City gates to find our bus.
Here we are - ready for adventures in Pompeii. :)
We made it! Pompeii was once a thriving city that was stopped in its tracks by a volcanic eruption. Can you see Vesuvius in the background in that second picture?
What an archeologic wonder!
Check out this amphitheater! So cool.
It is amazing how well preserved this spot is! The volcano occurred in 79AD.
Every day the streets were flooded with water to clean them so the city had stepping stones for pedestrians to cross without getting their shoes wet. Chariots going down the road could straddle the stone - you can still see their marks in the road.
They had elevated sidewalks and a complex system of one way and two way streets.
We stopped at a residence.
Here is what the courtyard looked like.
This picture is a bit hard to see because of the glare but these are some of the famous casts of victims who died in the eruption. While archeologists were excavating, they discovered some hollow spaces underfoot and filled the holes with plaster. From there they got these molds of a few Pompeiians who were caught in the disaster.
Look at these frescos that did survive. Wow!
The city was filled with brick work and symbols of fertility.
The streets had ancient water fountains.
The mosaics we ran across were unreal!
We stopped by this ancient wrestling gym. Roman would have loved seeing this art - the mosaics and frescos were wonderful.
There were a bunch of poppies blooming during our visit - it was so beautiful to see them in the ruins.
We lucked out with a perfect spring day to enjoy this site.
I love the blue skies and Vesuvius in the background.
The marketplace was so interesting, look at these measuring devices on the left - the city needed to make sure that people everyone was using the same standards when selling their wares.
We only saw a small portion of Pompeii - but we so glad that we added this side trip to our itinerary. It was amazing to see what life was like in an 'ordinary' Roman village so many years ago.
The next part of our tour was the famous volcano!
We stopped for a pizza lunch ...
... and drove the top of Vesuvius.
The bus dropped us off and we had a hour or so to make our way to the tippy top.
We told Roman that we found Prince's long lost Italian cousin! ;)
It was a beautiful view!
Check out those winding roads down to Naples! Our bus driver was top notch.
Here she is - the very top of Vesuvius. It was quite the hike - a very steep climb.
It was very hot but I still had my sweater on my shoulders to avoid a sunburn!
Here is Mr. Storm at the end of the trail.
It was also no joke hiking down from here - the views were beautiful but you had to be careful with your footing.
Can you spot the Island of Capri off in a distance?
Wasn't sure if this shine was for fallen hikers? Haha!
Here are the mountains and the bay of Naples as seen from the mountain.
Someday I would love to go back to Italy and explore more of this area - Naples, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. You just can't fit it all in with one visit!
We hopped back on our bus and returned to Rome. Hello again Roman Square with a giant obelisk.
We had another delicious Italian meal...
...and stopped for gelato.
Whew - what a day! What a trip - forever grateful for this opportunity!
