After the quick fire bus tour, it was time for some relaxation.
Andrew met us at the bus stop in Roma after we travelled into the city from the Sheraton at the airport and from there we travelled to meet Melanie & Chelsea at Termini as they had just returned from a trip to Venezia and Bologna.
The balance of the day was spent unpacking and finding a laundry to do some welcome washing. The next day after a luxurious sleep in we jumped on a train to head for Napoli. We arrived at our apartment where we had a real surprise – air conditioning, a kitchen, and most importantly, a laundry and internet awaited us. After unpacking we decided to explore the neighbourhood and came across some sort of festival with singers, dancers and drummers. We eventually found a little restaurant where we tried homemade mozzarella which with the addition of pepper and lemon, wasn’t too bad.
The next morning we again boarded a train and headed for Pompeii.
Pompeii was a real surprise. It was much bigger than I’d expected. It was also reasonably warm and muggy, and the three ladies didn’t take too long to commence expressing their feelings about the warmth.
Many of the buildings still had artwork remaining on the walls and given that they were 2000 or more years old, the buildings were in remarkably good condition. Unfortunately the authorities had attempted to reconstruct some buildings which was a disappointment as the mortar was clearly different to the original. The stone streets with wheel ruts worn in them was also unexpected. After some four hours of walking around the boys acquiesced and led the girls from the heat back to Napoli. As it was Fathers Day the girls decided to shout their father a dinner of pizza.
If we ever come back to Italy, I will certainly return to Pompeii. Much like the Louvre, it is almost too big to explore in one day, and is quite a fascinating, extraordinary place. Tomorrow, we visit Pisa.
