Sunday, June 21, 2009
Pompei
We spent the day in Pompei at the ruins. Established over 2000 years ago by the Romans,one day in 67AD they saw the mountain nearby explode and then a day later the whole town was covered in Ash followed by lava coming down the mountain 100mph. Most of the city has been excavated and with the help of the trusty Rick Steves book, we wondered through the city.
This is a picture of the main square. In the distance is Mt.Vesuvius. Picture it with one peak and you get the idea what happened.
One of the displays is of a plaster image of a person caught in the action. When they were excavating, they determined an air pocket, so they filled it with plaster and then took away the ash. They found a skeleton, and the remains of a person just as he was 1950 years ago. The belt around his middle indicated he was a slave.
Another picture is of one of the streets. The large stepping stone was so that a person could walk across the street when they were flooding the street (to wash away the sewage) or in heavy rains. They were spaced so that the chariot wheels could go over and around them. We guess the horses mana
ged somehow. See how the ridges from the chariot wheels wore in the stone.
We got back right before a monsoon started, and are sitting in the lobby watching people come back soaked to the bone!
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Interesting reading and great pics. Reminds me of Patrick's travels -- glad it was you on that bus and not me!
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