Italy, pt. IV

Day 5!

Morning of day 5, we wheeled back into Sorrento & once again boarded the Circumvesuviana, this time aiming to alight at Pompeii.

Pompeii's now an archaelogical site, where the Roman town's being excavated after having been buried in ash by a Mount Vesuvius eruption in AD 79.

 
Pompeii is enormous, & many of the ruins are open for the public to explore.

 
Curators have displayed some of the recovered artifacts (incl. bodies).

Roads.  They don't make 'em like they used to.

One of my favorite types of Roman art is mosaic.  After viewing so many at the Archaeological Museum in Naples, it was a real privilege to see some in situ.

A reproduction of the Alexander mosaic; we'd just seen the original the day before.

Mulieres domesticis.

Any guesses on what those are?

 

Yep, that's another one.  Supposed to be good luck, or ward off evil spirits, or something like that.

This was part of a bath complex.

Hypocausts.

We broke for lunch in a theatre.

Inscribed on one of the benches.

Support.

Check out the wall's composition: larger stones layered between thinner, terra cotta bricks.

Aves murum.

Another mosaic.

Here & there the frescoes have been well preserved; most of them were not.

I often found myself wishing for a bucket of water, so I could wash away the dirt & dust for a better view of the tiling designs.

A shop.

The amphitheatre.

Vesuvius, lording over us in the distance, potentially ready to smother all of this in ash again.  See it while you can!

Italy, pt. III

Day 4!

Morning of day 4 we drove into Sorrento & boarded the Circumvesuviana railway line, our transportation from Sorrento to Naples.

Once we'd arrived, we journeyed to the Naples National Archaeological Museum, home to the best collection of classical mosaic & sculpture I've ever seen.

Many Medusas.

The Alexander mosaic was harvested from a villa floor in Pompeii.  I wish I'd included something in the frame for perspective, so the size was more apparent.  It's gigantic, measuring something like 20 ft across.

Part of the museum is called the 'Gabinetto Segreto'.  It houses classical erotic art, mostly deriving from Pompeii & Herculaneum.

Not exactly what I'd call erotic, but you get the idea.

The ladies behind a Darcey look-alike.

More statuary.

 
One big navel.

After finishing up at the museum, we ambled around Naples a spell.

Lots of interesting grafitti in Naples.  I'd love to go back in search of more.

Just before leaving we ducked into this place for some pre-Circumvesuviana refreshment.  Naples is renowned for its pastries. 

Here the ladies sample a sfogliatelle (left) & cannolo (right).