Pompeii Birthday

No time to mope about turning a year older, it was straight on the train to see Pompeii the day after walking around Sorrento.  My new sunhat turned out to be a great investment, though one water bottle is all you need for even a hot day, as you can refill it at lots of water fountains throughout the ancient city.

We bypassed the tour groups and the audioguide and bought the excellent guidebook at the bookshop near the ticket office, for some independence from the crowds.  It turned out to be a good idea as we passed quite a few people arguing about which house was which, and what they had or hadn't seen yet!

The Suburban Baths.  There are lots of public bath houses in Pompeii, but they say not all of them were operational at the time of the eruption as the town had experienced a series of earthquakes.

There's a grim fascination in knowing that these casts are of real people who died in 79 AD.  You can see their expressions and the outlines of their clothes, sometimes the bones are exposed.  The strange position of this cast is due to the high temperatures the body was exposed to, from the pyroclastic flow.

Allegedly Pompeiians were actually a bit taller than modern day Neapolitans.

A beautifully decorated bath house, with alcoves for storing belongings.

 The calderium.

I wished that there was a working thermopolia (ancient Roman hot food shop) as an alternative to the conventional on-site restaurant.  They look a bit like hobs for putting a wok on top?  This one below had a particularly beautiful countertop.

Mills for grinding flour...

Stepping stones would have been useful on days when the sewage system wasn't effective.

A beautiful big house with atrium.

The famous Villa of Mysteries.  

 Here is one of the last stops of the day, the big theatre.  I had a rest here while Dave climbed to the top. We finished our day back in Sant Agnello at Moonlight restaurant, where I had a Mediterranea pizza (tuna, olives, tomato, cheese) and Dave had one topped with french fries, cheese and sausage.  Really!

It was an intriguing visit, I'm now reading Mary Beard's book 'Pompeii' which talks through some of the myths and mysteries.  We're also hoping to go to the exhibition at the British Museum, as we missed some of the star exhibits while we were in Italy as they are on tour in London!