Italy 2014: Naples and Pompeii

Patrick at the Archaelogical Museum of Naples

April 9 - 11

Whatever you have heard about Italian drivers, the reality is that it is worse! They drive small cars and motorcycles and go wherever they can squeeze in whenever they feel compelled. Traffic lights, lanes, and right of ways are just mere suggestions to these people. Bicyclists go wherever also. I wonder what the rate of traffic fatalities is. Insurance must be astronomical! Thank goodness David and Cynthia were driving their cars!
Cynthia found us a nice hotel on-line, but it was in a bad part of town. When we would mention the metro stop near our hotel, Neopolitans would say, "Be careful!" It was a dirty, grafitti-covered station with all manner of trash on the tracks, but we survived our forays into the city and to Pompeii.

Our subway stop - Gianturco

We saw countless shoes and pieces of clothing on the tracks and on our walk to the station.

Our first day was a 45-minute train ride to Pompeii.


Getting some fresh-squeezed lemonade- no sugar added

These are LEMONS.

This entrance, Porta Marina, is "perhaps the most famous of the gates of the city, so called because it faces the sea. In more ancient times it was also called 'Porta Neptunia.' "


Starting the self-guided walk


The Temple of Apollo and Diana built in the third century B.C.; bronze statue of Apollo

Directly across from Apollo is his sister Diana


Arch of Nero once covered with marble

The Bakery of Modesto; 81 carbonized loaves were found here

A villa

Many fountains throughout the city for drinking water and washing hands.

The gladiators court and barracks

Villa of the Mysteries (named for the paintings on its walls) is a well-preserved villa

One of the rooms in the Villa of the Mysteries

The large theater; there is a small one also

In the small theater

Playing gladiators in the amphitheater?

Outside the massive amphitheater- we saw a painting of this in the museum.

Inside the amphitheater

While we were walking around Pompeii for 5-6 hours, the Gonzales family took the bus to Mt. Vesuvius. Here are some of their photos.

The next day Patrick and I went to the Archaeological Museum in Naples to see the paintings, frescoes, mosaics, statues, pottery, glassware, etc., from the excavation of Pompeii. Instead of paint or wallpaper, their walls were covered with elaborate frescoes and mosaics. They were a very advanced society. What a treat - rooms and rooms of the treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum; it made that dusty walk around the ruins even more worthwhile. We also saw the Farnese Collection of Greek and Roman statues excavated in the 1540s from the Baths of Caracalla -- extensive and beautiful! Most of these statues were huge -- much larger than life-sized) and some of colored stone -- maroon, green, speckled, and black.

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli

Farnese Collection

10-foot famous Hercules with his lion skin is weary after his labors; behind his back he holds the golden apples behind his back.

The tallest (13 feet) and largest intact statue from antiquity, Toro Farnese is carved out of one piece of marble. It tells the Greek myth of Dirce (look it up).