Pompei, November 12th, 2011
With two days left in our final week long trip, we went further south to visit Pompei. Once again, Pompei was something I had studied throughout school, so I was excited to see it in person. Pompei was a city that was destroyed by the volcano Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD and was preserved by the volcanic rock throughout the centuries. Pompei was different than other ruins I have seen because it is more intact and you can really see how these people lived in their everyday lives. It was a lot easier to imagine people living in this place than it was in Rome and in Athens when visiting those ruins. There were many homes preserved, full of mosaics and frescos on the walls which would not have been preserved without the volcanic rocks. It was really neat to see a clear network of streets in this city with functional buildings surrounding them, such as thermal baths, homes, markets, churches, kitchens, bathrooms etc. I have to say, although these ruins do not have as much meaning and significance as those in Rome and Greece, they were the most interesting to me just for the fact that you can see functional spaces of a city existing so long ago. That night we stayed in Naples, which I have to say, I wouldn’t want to explore much other than my hotel room. Driving through the city, it just seemed extremely dirty with trash flying everywhere and stores closed. Our hotel room was amazing though- the best hotel room of any I stayed in throughout Europe.
With two days left in our final week long trip, we went further south to visit Pompei. Once again, Pompei was something I had studied throughout school, so I was excited to see it in person. Pompei was a city that was destroyed by the volcano Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD and was preserved by the volcanic rock throughout the centuries. Pompei was different than other ruins I have seen because it is more intact and you can really see how these people lived in their everyday lives. It was a lot easier to imagine people living in this place than it was in Rome and in Athens when visiting those ruins. There were many homes preserved, full of mosaics and frescos on the walls which would not have been preserved without the volcanic rocks. It was really neat to see a clear network of streets in this city with functional buildings surrounding them, such as thermal baths, homes, markets, churches, kitchens, bathrooms etc. I have to say, although these ruins do not have as much meaning and significance as those in Rome and Greece, they were the most interesting to me just for the fact that you can see functional spaces of a city existing so long ago. That night we stayed in Naples, which I have to say, I wouldn’t want to explore much other than my hotel room. Driving through the city, it just seemed extremely dirty with trash flying everywhere and stores closed. Our hotel room was amazing though- the best hotel room of any I stayed in throughout Europe.
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