Saturday: Pompeii and other ruins to the south
I experienced a bit of travelers’ pride today as I was successfully able to get from Rome to Pompeii and back without knowing more than ten words in Italian. Sure, Pompeii is a big tourist spot and most signs there are in English as well as Italian but hey, I walked out my door armed with nothing more than my umbrella, some mixed nuts and an ATM card and I’m back here tonight to tell the tale. Pure magic, I tell you.
Anyway, Brooke and I met up early with Keith and Linda to catch the train to Naples. First class Eurostar tickets in hand, we boarded and journeyed without an issue. First class is nice and really not that much more expensive. We got comfy seats and a dude with a snack cart to service us. You know those pump-top coffee dispensers you see at the gas station when you need your 64 oz SuperUberMega cup of coffee as your gassing up the Buick in the morning? Well, this guy has one of those on his cart…only it’s filled with espresso. Did I mention I love Italy? I tried to get him to set me up with an espresso IV drip but I don’t know how to say ‘Stick it in my vein’ in Italian. Regardless, the trip was lovely and uneventful. From Naples, we had to take the special ‘circle Vesuvius’ train (which is separate from the normal regional train) down to Pompeii. We got tickets and then spoke to the most helpful information desk person ever. He gave us a map and told us exactly where to get off and what column to look at for the return times at the Pompeii station. Before Pompeii, though, we stopped at the Herculenium. The Herculenium is another town that Vesuvius destroyed, only was meaner about it. Apparently, it’s denizens had more time to respond to the mountain blowing its top and most fled to the sea where they attempted to get in boats to get away. Unfortunately for them, a massive tsunami smashed them all back against the rampart walls of the city where they were subsequently covered with Vesuvian detritus. Ugly business. By comparison, Herculenium is much smaller than Pompeii but it’s been visited by fewer folks and is, I think, better preserved and more ‘authentic’. Also, you don’t need a flippin’ map for it which, as you’ll read later, is a boon. Finally, there was a group of Italian high school students there at the same time and I’d like to report that I was finally ‘eyed’ by a few of the girls. Again, I’d like to know where said girls where when I was in high school…
Since I’m on the topic, sort of, I’d like to point out that 98% of Italians are beautiful. They’ve got some silly-ass fashions and often times they look pissed off (in that fashionista sort of way) but they’re beautiful all the same. Even the ‘plain’ looking Italians have this vibrancy and way of carrying themselves that’s gorgeous. Of course, I remember thinking and saying the same thing about the Danes when I was in Copenhagen too. It’s not just xenophilia though. At least I don’t think it is.
Ok, back to the day. After enjoying the Herculenium, we took the train to Pompeii and had lunch at a little food stand in front of the entrance to the site. Panini all around, as well as fresh squeezed lemonade. Apparently, lemons the size of my noggin’ are a regional specialty and much tasty lemonade is made. After lunch we started what would turn out to be a very frustrating and tiring trip through Pompeii. Have experienced a bit of ‘ruin overload’ while at the Herculenium, we decided to get a tour book and map so that we could catch the highlights at Pompeii. For 8 Euro, we got a poorly translated guidebook from a street vendor that included a map. The map, we soon discovered, was for downtown Toronto, not Ancient Pompeii (the fact that it was printed on paper and not papyrus should have tipped us off). Actually, the map may have been ok but it gave names to the streets that we found very confusing because the signage in this massive ruin is distinctly lacking. After spending a half an hour of searching for the Brothels (more time than should ever be spent in search of such, really), we nicknamed the map the ‘Angry Map’ since it instantly made whoever was holding it violent. Arms were flailed, voices were raised and ruins were cursed for the better part of two hours while massive ‘schools’ of guided tourists glided by us raving about the well-preserved beauty of something we’d been looking for in vain. It was the first and only time I’d wished we’d signed on for a guided tour. Later I realized that the guides were probably in collusion with the mapmakers. Bastards.
We did get to see the larger ruins, however, such as the large and small amphitheaters and their mini-coliseum. The best part was at the small theater where Linda insisted that Brooke and Keith walk up to the top for a photo opportunity while she and I sat at the bottom. When they got to the top, Keith did the best impersonation of someone falling over the back of bleachers that I’ve ever seen in my life. There was, of course, a landing at the top that we couldn’t see so it looked quite realistic. So realistic that Linda nearly had a heart attack from shock. All was well, though, as he popped his head back up and Brooke and he continued to giggle like mad about the sketch well into the evening. With all due respect to my mother-in-law, it was giggle-on-the-ground funny.
After all the angry touring of Pompeii, we took the long way back around to the train. Everyone was pretty exhausted from navigating miles of massive cobblestones. (Amazingly, I have avoided spraining my ankles this entire trip, which is nigh miraculous considering all of the cobblestone they’ve got in this country.). We caught the local train back up to Naples Central station and were able to again use our tickets to take a different train. Man, I love Italy. We arrived a little after 10 and had dinner shortly thereafter. We were, of course, right on time for your standard Italian dinner. When you have three courses for lunch at 2 pm, 10 pm for dinner just makes sense. After dinner, we parted ways and I’m currently sitting in the lobby of our hotel typing this, enjoying the quiet, the cool breeze and the wireless internet. I hope all is well with everyone that’s receiving this…and that I’m not boring you too much. I'm off to bed...
Ciao,
Shaun.
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