Thursday, 10/21 - Pompeii
Now these blogs will
become a little hazy, because despite my best efforts, I didn't get a chance to
write on them while we were still on the ship. Consequently, I'm working from
old memories, and I probably don't remember a lot of detail.
On Day 6,
we visited some city (I didn't catch the name, I was still worn out from Rome.)
and Pompeii. I dozed during the bus ride to the city, and don't remember much
until we stopped in the city limits, the bus stopping in a bus parking lot just
long enough for everybody to get off, and then it scooted off somewhere else.
Then we walked 4 or 5 blocks to our first stop. You guessed it, cobblestones,
but at least we had sidewalks to walk on, and didn't have to share the roadway
with the vehicles.
They took
us inside a big furniture shop, where we were given a lecture about how
difficult it was to do inlay. There were probably dozens of ways the worker
could mess up during the process and have to start all over again. Their inlaid
furniture was absolutely beautiful, but I was afraid to brush up against any of
it, for fear I'd have to buy it.
Then they
gave us half an hour to walk around and see a little bit of the city. (I was
surprised by this, because didn't the government object to us tourists walking
around on our own?) Anyway, there was an ice cream shop across the street, and
I was still tired, so John bought me an ice cream cone and let me sit at one of
their outside tables while he wandered a few blocks away. He came back having
bought a small bottle of lemon liquor, which is a known commodity in this city.
It still sits, unopened, on our kitchen counter, having made it home with us.
Well, we don't drink much, and not very often, but it will be taste-tested one
of these days.
Then we
all gathered together and walked back to the parking lot, where our bus waited
for us. We were off to see Pompeii!
There is
a modern Pompeii built up around the excavations. I didn't expect that, but I'm
not sure why. The excavations are a tourist attraction, after all.
After the
bus parked, we had to walk about 3 blocks, and about half of that distance was
through an open-air market, past booths that sold all sorts of trinkets and
keepsakes. But before we got to see ancient Pompeii, we were taken into a small
shop, where we got a 3-minute lecture on how cameos are created. I knew about
as much about the art form coming out as I did going in.
There was
a pizzeria attached to the cameo shop, and we were given about half an hour to
get ourselves something to eat and drink, if we wanted any. At the end of that
time, our 2nd tour guide showed up, the group split in two, and we were off.
We
entered ancient Pompeii through the gladiator school. It was, I have to admit,
the cleanest, well-kept and greenest spot in the town, having a grassy spot in
the middle arena. Of course, if that's where the gladiators practiced their
fighting, it probably didn't have much grass growing there back in Roman days.
After
that, everything was cobblestone or gravel and dust. We saw one of Pompeii's
auditoriums, and our guide discussed the ingenious way they constructed it so
that all the audience could hear what was said on stage. Then we were taken
through a narrow alleyway to a street.
It was
obviously a street, complete with raised sidewalks. All cobblestone, and big
stones, at that. The guide tried to impress upon us how much shorter people
were 'back then', and I couldn't help but wonder how they ever managed to cross
the streets, because the difference between street level and sidewalk was about
a foot. I wasn't the only one who needed help getting up and down every time
the guide decided to cross the street!
She
paused to tell us that Pompeii was a dusty town, and every time it rained, the
streets became muddy rivers as the water rushed down the hills and out of town.
Then we walked to the corner, where this street crossed another, and 3 big
blocks semi-blocked the street, stretching from corner to corner, while other
blocks crossed the others corners of the intersection. So it wasn't necessary
to cross the street in the middle of the block, you had the option of walking
to the corner and walking across these stepping stones. But there wasn't a lot
of room between them, and I wondered about horses threading their way between
them. Also, it meant all the carriages and carts had to be a standard distance
between wheels, or the vehicle would never get between those stepping stones!
So we
walked all over ancient Pompeii for weeks (or so it seemed). Despite my efforts
to 'get into shape' for this excursion, and no matter how close I was to the
guide when she started walking again, I would always wind up at the end of the group,
trying to keep my balance and keep track of where the group was headed.
Near the
end of the tour, we visited the 'red-light' district of town. Back then, the
method of attracting the attention of potential customers was to howl like a
wolf. This is where some of the best kept murals in town were found, a series
of 7 or 8 pictures showing various sex positions. That way, a visitor who
didn't speak the language could merely point to a picture to indicate what he
wanted.
One of
the last places we visited was a series of semi-buildings that were being used
to store what had been excavated. In those, we saw 3 plaster casts of people who
had been covered in volcanic ash. The cast of the small child actually had a
bar between the legs for support, and thus made me think of a body cast.
Then we
were headed out of the ancient city. It didn't take long for the guide to leave
me behind again. I found myself at the top of 2 sets of stairs going in
opposite directions, and I had no idea where I was supposed to go. Thankfully,
John had heard her say, "Just keep turning left.", so we did that
until we got to the gate and got out.
So, I was
sort of disappointed in my exploration of the ancient town. I wish I had been
in even better shape, but I am not a fast walker, and my balance isn't the
best, so I'm not sure I could have kept up with the guide anyway. And while we
got to see the 'summer' master bedroom and the 'winter' master bedroom in one
house, I'm not sure why they needed 2 bedrooms. As always when it comes to
excavations, I am always interested in the daily life of the people who lived
there. Much more interested in that than in holiday festivities and religious
rites. Or who knows, maybe the guide went into that sort of thing when I was
trying to keep my balance and not get lost.
And then
we had to wait for the other group to join us outside in the marketplace. Then
we retraced our steps to the bus and were taken back to our ship.
I think
that was the night we ate at the Moderna, a Brazilian Steak House. If you've
never been to one, they had a 'salad buffet', which had more than salads. Then
when you returned to your seats and were ready for meat, there was a card you
turned over, and various waiters came around with chunks of meat on skewers. If
you wanted lamb, you told that waiter, and s/he would carve some off for you.
Chicken drumsticks, pork, beef, just tell them you wanted some, and they'd
deposit it on your plate.
John
tried everything. I guess I wasn't paying much attention until I finally got a
filet mignon deposited on my plate. I cut into it, and... I swear it mooed!
Okay, maybe not, but it did bleed. I caught the attention of the main waiter,
and explained that I liked my meat well done, so was there anything we could do
about this bloody piece of meat? I expected them to take it back and let the
cook show it to the flames a few more times. And maybe they did. I can't say,
because what came back looked much different than what they took away.
But I
liked their cocktail so much, I had 2 of those.
Our
excursion the next day was not until the afternoon. But we were tired, so we
were soon setting our alarms and going to bed.
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