Mon. June 25th. Pompeii, Herculeaum, and Vesuvius

Today we met our local driver/guide Salvatore for our tour.    There were suppose to be eight of us on the tour, but one couple never showed up, so we were a little less crowded in the van, but we were late in getting started.    We drove up as high as possible on Vesuvius, and walked along a crushed lava path a short distance up the mountain.  We did not have enough time to go to the top.  Unlike Etna, which is always belching smoke, and occasionally lava, Vesuvius appears to be dormant.   But every hundred years it erupts, and the eruptions are more violent then Etna, which is always letting off steam.   The last major eruption was in 1944, in the middle of World War II, shortly after the allies had capture Naples. The following photos show Katie walking up the trail on Vesuvius, a lava flow, and the city of Naples from Pompeii.

The following photos show the streets of Pompeii, with the first showing Vesuvius above the city. In some locations you can see ruts in the streets made by Roman chariots.   Pompeii was a huge city, and it would take eight hours to really see it all.  It was destroyed in 79 AD.

The next photo shows the bakery, where the flour was ground and the oven was used to bake the bread; followed by two photos from the Roman bath.

 

The small faun statue was in a massive house, that was nick named the house of the faun.  The tile floor shows a dog, and the next photo shows the remains of a wall painting.

These are some of the amphorae or pots for food, oil, and drink storage that have been found in Pompeii, and a statue.

Finally, we saw a column with a sundial on the top and some of the human remains.

After Pompeii we went to Herculeaum, a wealthy town on the side of Vesuvius.  Where Pompeii was buried in ash, Herculeaum  was buried in mud, which preserved it better.   The section that has been uncovered is much smaller then Pompeii.  You can see in the following photos how well everything was preserved.  The photo in the center shows an ancient fast food place.  Food and drink were prepared in the pots and people, men, stopped in for a bite to eat.  These little places are in many places at both sites.

 

  We returned to the ship, had dinner, and turned in early.

Tue June 26th–Rome

 

We were picked up at 8:00am by Lucca, our driver/guide for the tour of Rome.   There were eight of us on the tour.   After the hour drive to Rome, our first stop was to see this wonderful Basilica, with an elephant in front of it.   In Rome, this church is not even a major tourist site, but in most other cities, it would be a major site.

We then went to the Pantheon, which was the first massive free standing dome ever mad.  There is a hole in the center of the dome, with a wonderful ray of light showing against the wall.

The next pictures show Lucca telling us about Rome, the “wedding cake” monument, and Nancy and Katie at the Trevie fountain after making wishes.

We saw the site of the forum, the Spanish steps, and then went to this great local pizza place, where they have 15 to 20 long slices of pizza, you tell them how much you want, they cut it off and you pay by the weight.   Yummmy!!!

We then went to the coliseum, which is incredible.  It would rival a major stadium today.   It had a wooden floor, with three stories below it for animals, changing areas, supplies.  The seats went up probably eight stories all around the sides.

We then went to the Vatican.  The Vatican is a separate state, with its own police,money, and stamps.  We were met by our guide Massimo  We first toured some of the museum, which is the largest in the world.  We took pictures of the great celling in one of the corridors, and then this wonderful circular staircase, one loop is up, and one down.

 

This picture show Massimo telling us all about the Sistine Chapel before we go in.   He spoke perfect English, and is an works in art restoration, so he was the perfect guide.

We then went to Saint Peter’s, the largest Catholic Cathedral in the world.

We saw this sculpture by Michelangelo and where the Pope stands to bless the crowds.

It was one of the best days touring ever.  Incredible guides who were able to slip us in and out of places fast.  We saw in one day what would take most people three days.  

Katie continues to spend time with her friends on the ship.   They spend the evenings chilling….

Sun June 24th–Sicily

 

We arrived in Sicily at 8:00am, and found our driver/guide.  We had booked a tour with a company called Share A Shore Excursion in Italy for a tour of Mount Etna and Taormina.    Eight of us were booked for the tour, but one couple cancelled out recently, so there were six of us in a nice nine passenger van.  Our driver/guide was Antonio, who told us about the region and life in Sicily.

We first drove up the mountain to Etna.    Near the top of the road, we passed this house that was buried by the lava.   We stopped at a little restaurant/store.  It was owned by a family, and their previous store was 40 feet below the current one, under 40 feet of lava from a 1983 eruption.   They took these pictures during the destruction of the store.  We then walked around a side crater, before we headed down to Taormina.

Taormina is the beautiful sea side town.  The guide picked up a present for us, and we sat above the beach eating the largest and best cannoli's we have ever had.   The cannoli was invented in Sicily.  We then went to the main area of town, a 6-8 block long pedestrian street filled with shops, restaurants, and art galleries.    We walked most of the way to the end, where we saw the Greek Theatre.   The Greeks first built this theater, at this site, with a wonderful view of Etna behind it.    The Romans rebuilt it and the current version dates back to the second centaury AD.  The movie screen and band stand are not original, we assume the Romans has a smaller screen, but they were having a concert that evening.

During our excursion, we found these great cars, that are called Twizzy and are smaller then a smart car.   They are two seaters, but the second seat is behind the first, with you legs stretched out beside the driver, like a motorcycle.  We ended our stay in town with some gelato, which we have been having almost daily.    Finally, back on board the ship, we had our last formal night dinner and then went too the show with a great Scottish Comedian.

We are in a van, on rhe way to Rome.   We are lauching this blog on short notice, so sorry for the errors.