Pompei and Vesuvio

Lots and lots of pictures here!  

The day we visited the ruins of Pompei and Mount Vesuvio turned out to the be the day the kiddos most enjoyed.  

I expected Pompei's ruins to be much less expansive; the ancient city was prodigious.  Stone paved roads with deep ruts worn into them from extensive wear from wagon and chariot wheels branch off of one another and wind around the town in intricate web-like patterns. Houses and stalls line the roads with some preserved in a state of near completeness.  

Frescoes. mosaics, and carved marble reliefs are still visible throughout the city.  Mill wheels used to grind wheat still fill the baker's shop.  Marble fountains in the bath houses look as though they remain serviceable.  Cisterns located on the main road still boast running water, and the kiddos drank from them on several occasions.  The amphitheater stands though most of its bench seating has fallen away.  The general layout of the forum is discernible.  

Littlest and Bop made a game of discerning shapes and pictures in frescoes which was well and good until we entered the one time brothel.  Pompeians were quite a licentious bunch:  frescoes depicting the 'specialities' of the prostitutes in graphic detail adorned the doorways (there was also a phallus carved into a paving stone which indicated the direction one should travel to locate the brothel).  In other private homes, men are shown weighing their phallus.   I felt that we were visiting Sodom or Gomorrah, and the fresco game came to a screeching halt as the girls were instructed to look for volcanic rocks.  

We had a picnic near the smaller theater where musical performances and poetry recitations were held.  Afterward, we walked toward the Villa of Mysteries and by tombs.  

Satisfied that we had seen the better part of the ruins, we set out to climb Vesuvio.  The hike was steep and the cindery, slick ash/rock path did little to help one maintain footing.  There was a wooden fence set along the path to the crater that was busted through in some places due to falling boulders.  

Reaching the top, we were escorted by a vulcanologist to the rim of the new crater and given a detailed account of the volcano's history.  Steam rose from the crater.  The view the rim afforded was beautiful; the Bay of Naples, Ischia and Capri were clearly visible.  Log was disappointed that we were not to descend into the rim of the crater.  Matty scoured the area and pocketed nearly of pound of volcanic rock.  

View of forum in Pompei with Vesuvio visible in background.