Pompeii....

(Pic 1) Here is a man crouching and covering his nose to protect himself against the suffocating 20 feet of ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that eventually covered.....Pompeii.

I have always been fascinated by the story of how the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted and the ash buried Pompeii. The city was forgotten until many years later.






Here is a pregnant woman (determined by DNA testing) that was overcome by the ashes while she tried to escape the city. (Pic 2)





This poor man died resting on his arm. (Pic 3)






You can almost sense how this man was suffering as he was buried alive in the ash. (Pic 4)

These were molds made from the spaces left in the ash and pumice by the decomposed organic matter.



While the story of Pompeii is eerily tragic...the city was also quite beautiful.

You can see Mount Vesuvius at the end of this shop lined street in the city. Many of the store owners had homes next door to their shops. (Pic 5)










Here is the inside of some one's home. It is still beautiful today. (Pic 6)














Here is the city's fitness center/gym (palestra). (Pic 7) I wonder if they worked out au natural like the ancient Greeks. Judging from the movie 300 I just saw recently here at the cinema...those Spartans must have had a killer ab routine!!!! (No wonder the mascot at my undergraduate college, Michigan State U. (Spartans), was so buff!





(Pic 8) shows an exposed lead pipe. Testing showed that many of the inhabitants suffered from lead poisoning.





(Pic 9) shows the old theater. The bar work is new as they still hold special events there. The guide made sure he found me in the group to let me know that Frank Sinatra performed here. OK...If he really wanted to impress me he should have said "U2"!






Here is one of the local wine bars in the city (Pic 10)....there were quite a few... not much has changed today....








Speaking of things not changing. This long line (Pic 11) was for visitors waiting to go see the brothel.....again, not much has changed ....I bet there were long lines back then. (smile)

I did take pictures of the erotic paintings on the wall, but out of respect for any young blog readers I may have, I won't post them. I guess it was a sort of an a la carte deal....you pointed to what you wanted. I know you are giggling/blushing right now... but it was actually very interesting!





Here is an old fountain. (Pic 12) The place where right handed people held on was a little more worn than those for lefties. I guess there were southpaws even back then.












(Pic 13) shows the streets with grooves on each side for the wheels of the carriages/carts/chariots.






OK, I don't care what city I'm in...ancient or not...I'm going to find the food. Here is a old bakery. (Pic 14) The slaves or donkeys used to turn the wheels and grind the grain to make the flour. The breads were put in the ovens (some reconstructed bricks now). They found many carbonized loaves of bread still there.







(Pic 15) shows some old graffiti left over from the political election.






(Pic 16) is just a pretty picture.










(Pic 17) shows that sneaky Mount Vesuvius peeking out behind the theater. Our guide assured us that it wouldn't erupt today. (smile)







(Pic 18) shows a mosaic on one of the floors being cleaned or restored.






(Pic 19) is just another pretty picture.

(Pic 20) shows the front of the Basilica. Lawyers sat in the front where the altars are in our current Basilicas.

(Pic 21) is facing the back of the Basilica. You can see how are current Basilicas followed the same layout.

(Pic 22) shows the outside of Ancient Pompeii.

(Pic 23) shows a current resident of the new Pompeii resting in the middle of the street. He barked if any cars even attempted to make him move...they gave up and drove around him. He had to remind them you don't bother an Italian when they are trying to rest!

On our way to Pompeii we drove through the Bay of Naples (Napoli) (Pics 24 & 25)

Here is a fountain in the Bay of Naples created by Bernini's father, Pietro Bernini....not bad. (wink)