It was easy to tell we were in the right place – there were plenty of tourists milling around. Unlike most of the stops along the way there was a much broader cultural representation here – not just Americans this time. But it still meant Lucy and I had to push our way through throngs of slow moving people. And avoiding the same old beggars.
Dianne had given us her Pompei guidebook, and I had been a smarty with my Lonely Planet to work out an itinerary starting from the less-used Porta Nucola entrance at the eastern end of the complex. Thus, we only had to wait half an hour to get in.
Since this was (yet another?) of my must-see-in-my-lifetime spots I took plenty of photos during our visit, and I think they capture the place better than my words can. But, I’ll give both a try!
We started on the outskirts of the city, on an old residential street. The arches running along the building are for busts of the wealthy merchant owners so everyone will know how fancy and cool they are:
From there we headed towards the main street, Via dell’Abbondanza, and made our way westwards. We were aiming to get to the Basilica and Grand Forum at the other end, but there were plenty of interesting artefacts along the way. This is one of the frescoes:
By now we had seen amazing clusters of shops and villas. There were wonderful garden courtyards and lots of mysteriously empty buildings. Lucy was having a love affair with columns, so we got plenty of shots of those as well:
Unfortunately, we had somehow forgotten to bring food along to keep our energy up – and the heat and distance was taking its toll. Because once you leave the complex you cannot return, we found ourselves moving at some sort of observantly speedy pace to try and see as much as we could before we had to escape to eat. Fortunately, we stumbled across Pompei’s one and only 'food' outlet just before the Western exit and bought microwaved pizza and an awful hotdog for the price of a three course meal being sold just 500 metres away.
Anyway, having covered a massive distance in our hungriness, we had crossed from the merchant and entertainment sector to the political and religious quarter. This is where the most breathtaking buildings would have been, and provided some of the best views. My favourite vista has to be standing beside the Basilica, looking across the Forum to the Temples of Apollo and Jupiter and seeing guilty old Mt Vesuvius sitting behind:
At this stage, we’d spent five hours negotiating endless cobbled streets, seemingly identical street corners and a guidebook that didn’t match the current signposting. It was incredibly hard work, and I couldn't believe it when we kept passing woman after glamorous woman exploring in high heels!! Anyway, we decided against the northern section, and two very tired and unglamorous women headed back east to see one more thing. The Valley of the Fugitives strikes me as the whole point of the site:
It was really moving to see the human dimension of the devastation, and I thank goodness for the archaeology student who suggested to his superiors they pour plaster into the spaces left by bodies decayed over the hundreds of years since the volcano did its thing. I was struck silent by the testimony these figures offer, and it was a fitting last stop on our exploration.
Overall, Pompei was exciting and mysterious. I want to go back and see the things we missed in the northern half - such as the brothel frescoes, the Villa of the Mysteries and the House of the Great Altar. If (when?) I go back I will ignore the Lonely Planet and join everybody else at the main entrance. This is closer to the Forum etc, and I think makes a much better starting point than where we began – not least because the signposts assume everyone starts there.
Also, I’d pack a Moro bar or two.
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