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Published On: May 23, 2007 06:19 PM
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Published On: May 23, 2007 06:19 PM
Asatour Pompei
Y'know what's frustrating? My computer keeps
insisting that I'm spelling Pompei wrong. In spite of the fact that I just left
there and can absolutely without a doubt confirm that they spell it with one
"i," my Powerbook continues to maintain that the spelling should more resemble
"Hawaii." It doesn't. (I did, however, notice that it had been correct in its
spelling of "pizzeria," odd as it may be to change the "a" in "pizza" into an
"e," so I'll have to go back and change that in the Rome
entry.)
Anyway, this morning I visited the ruins of ancient Pompei. I have to say it's one of the favorite places I've been on this tour, and although there's not really anything else to do in Pompei, it's definitely worth an overnight stop (Stay at the Hotel Diana. It's right across the street from the train station, a lovely building with friendly, helpful English-speaking staff and breakfast included. It's a short walk to the cathedral or the ruins from there, and you'll be glad you dropped off your luggage so close and didn't get suckered into a taxi. Oh yeah, and it's the first hotel I've found in Italy with the air conditioning on AND controllable in your room).
I intended to visit the ruins yesterday afternoon, after a short nap in my hotel room. Alas, my nap wasn't short enough, and I woke up at almost six PM. When I arrived at the ruins, I was encouraged to return the next day. No big deal; and this way I would have more time. I had a nice three-course dinner (salmone, fettucini alla cotta e prosciutto, and bistecca), and headed back to my hotel.
This morning I went ahead and checked out of my room, and then asked if I could leave my bags there. This was no problem at all (I didn't think it would be), so I grabbed my camera and headed to the ruins.
Let me just mention in passing that for the second time on my trip I was incredibly lucky. The other day when I went to the Colosseum, I was told that admission was free this week due to a cultural event -- there was an exhibit of artwork featuring Eros inside. Today I again dodged admission fees -- this time 11 Euros -- because for reasons unknown to me yesterday and today entrance to the Pompei ruins was free. Anyway, enough about my thrift-luck; on to discussing how amazing it was.
What an amazing place. I can't really convey to you the awe inspired by walking through this ancient city. As I walked, I used my imagination, not only to try to imagine what it was like for those Pompeians who awakened and tried to flee, but also what it would have been like to live there on a daily basis. The city of Pompei had been there for hundreds of years, you see, and all in all their ration of good to bad days was very satisfactory. They only had one really bad day.
But you all know the story, right? Mt. Vesuvius erupted, smothering the city in ash and lava. Many tried to flee, but few survived. Some took shelter in their basements, and suffocated there. The culprit still stands in the distance, sleeping.
How easy it seemed, walking those streets, to imagine the terror of the residents. I can't even try to suggest that I understood or felt anything close to the uncertainty that such an event would inspire, because their lives were truly being destroyed. Foremost, I think, would be drive to survive; under that, however, would be the certain knowledge that even if you did survive, your life as you knew it was now over. It's not like there was insurance, or any way to reclaim what had been yours. Survival meant truly having to start over, from scratch, with nothing.
But like I said, that was only a small part of my imaginative wanderings that day. I also tried to imagine what it would be like to set eyes on your new home there for the first time, or to be a child growing up in a home there. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to attend a funeral in their Necropolis, or to look on the features of a departed friend or relative in a statue there.
The citizens of Pompei had a good life. There was a Theater and an amphitheater, and plenty of room for everyone (apparently 20,000 people lived there at the time of its destruction). Sadly, on one very bad day, that ended for them.
Anyway, that's it for Pompei. You should go there, and see the modern city and the ancient one. Visit their square, dine at their restaurants, and buy crap from the souvenir vendors. I'm on my way to PIsa now, and it's going to be a long day on the trains.
Ciao for now.
Postscript: I bought a guidebook in Pompei in English, and found that for some reason they spell it on the English ones with two "i's," although everywhere else it's just one "i." I have no idea why we have to rewrite the names of places into English (see also Firenze/Florence and Roma/Rome). Perhaps I'll rant more about it later.
Anyway, this morning I visited the ruins of ancient Pompei. I have to say it's one of the favorite places I've been on this tour, and although there's not really anything else to do in Pompei, it's definitely worth an overnight stop (Stay at the Hotel Diana. It's right across the street from the train station, a lovely building with friendly, helpful English-speaking staff and breakfast included. It's a short walk to the cathedral or the ruins from there, and you'll be glad you dropped off your luggage so close and didn't get suckered into a taxi. Oh yeah, and it's the first hotel I've found in Italy with the air conditioning on AND controllable in your room).
I intended to visit the ruins yesterday afternoon, after a short nap in my hotel room. Alas, my nap wasn't short enough, and I woke up at almost six PM. When I arrived at the ruins, I was encouraged to return the next day. No big deal; and this way I would have more time. I had a nice three-course dinner (salmone, fettucini alla cotta e prosciutto, and bistecca), and headed back to my hotel.
This morning I went ahead and checked out of my room, and then asked if I could leave my bags there. This was no problem at all (I didn't think it would be), so I grabbed my camera and headed to the ruins.
Let me just mention in passing that for the second time on my trip I was incredibly lucky. The other day when I went to the Colosseum, I was told that admission was free this week due to a cultural event -- there was an exhibit of artwork featuring Eros inside. Today I again dodged admission fees -- this time 11 Euros -- because for reasons unknown to me yesterday and today entrance to the Pompei ruins was free. Anyway, enough about my thrift-luck; on to discussing how amazing it was.
What an amazing place. I can't really convey to you the awe inspired by walking through this ancient city. As I walked, I used my imagination, not only to try to imagine what it was like for those Pompeians who awakened and tried to flee, but also what it would have been like to live there on a daily basis. The city of Pompei had been there for hundreds of years, you see, and all in all their ration of good to bad days was very satisfactory. They only had one really bad day.
But you all know the story, right? Mt. Vesuvius erupted, smothering the city in ash and lava. Many tried to flee, but few survived. Some took shelter in their basements, and suffocated there. The culprit still stands in the distance, sleeping.
How easy it seemed, walking those streets, to imagine the terror of the residents. I can't even try to suggest that I understood or felt anything close to the uncertainty that such an event would inspire, because their lives were truly being destroyed. Foremost, I think, would be drive to survive; under that, however, would be the certain knowledge that even if you did survive, your life as you knew it was now over. It's not like there was insurance, or any way to reclaim what had been yours. Survival meant truly having to start over, from scratch, with nothing.
But like I said, that was only a small part of my imaginative wanderings that day. I also tried to imagine what it would be like to set eyes on your new home there for the first time, or to be a child growing up in a home there. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to attend a funeral in their Necropolis, or to look on the features of a departed friend or relative in a statue there.
The citizens of Pompei had a good life. There was a Theater and an amphitheater, and plenty of room for everyone (apparently 20,000 people lived there at the time of its destruction). Sadly, on one very bad day, that ended for them.
Anyway, that's it for Pompei. You should go there, and see the modern city and the ancient one. Visit their square, dine at their restaurants, and buy crap from the souvenir vendors. I'm on my way to PIsa now, and it's going to be a long day on the trains.
Ciao for now.
Postscript: I bought a guidebook in Pompei in English, and found that for some reason they spell it on the English ones with two "i's," although everywhere else it's just one "i." I have no idea why we have to rewrite the names of places into English (see also Firenze/Florence and Roma/Rome). Perhaps I'll rant more about it later.
Posted: Thu - May 17, 2007 at 02:21 PM |
