Our trip was coming to an end, with our last stop also being in Italy. This was a long day with an 8 hour guided tour. We went to Positano along the Amalfi Coast, then to Sorrento, a picturesque coastal town, and finally to Pompeii. Of all our stops, this was the one that was threatening rain - but we were lucky and didn't even get one raindrop!
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The road to Positano was very narrow, windy and along the cliffs
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We passed hundreds of olive trees - they put these nets under to catch the olives when they drop and are easily harvested
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These roads looked very precarious and old!
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We made it to Positano where we walked around an explored
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There were alleys everywhere! You just walked and kept deciding, right or left....sometimes it was a dead end....other times you were rewarded for getting through the maze and ended up at the ocean!!!
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Our last stop was Pompeii. There are two Roman cities that were destroyed by the volcano Mt. Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum, but they were destroyed in two very different ways and each were on opposite sides of the volcano
The volcano erupted in 79 AD and the first phase was mainly poisonous gas and heavy ash and tons and tons of small rocks and pebbles. Because of the way the wind was blowing, all this gas, ash and rock fell on Pompeii injuring the inhabitants, and forcing them inside to try and escape the gas and ash. Well, the volcano erupted for about 2 days like this, so the city was buried in ash and the people couldn't get out, and the gasses and ash killed them as they were in their houses and waiting it out. It preserved the moment in time when the city was destroyed.
Being on the other side of the volcano, Herculaneum didn't get much of this phase of the eruption. But then, came the 2nd phase - the "Pyroclastic Flows" which got Herculaneum, but not Pompeii. Pyroclastic flows are extremely fast moving rock, gas and ash and lava that is very hot - about 1500 degrees (F) and flows fast - about 100 feet a second! This was headed to Herculaneum. Pompeii wasn't spared of this, it still got about 14 feet of these Pyroclastic Flows, after all the ash, but Herculaneum got 82 feet!! Both cities were pretty much buried immediately, frozen in time, and both cities were preserved from the elements, time, looting and were able to be unearthed as they were over 2000 years ago.
The way the people died were different in both cities too. In Herculaneum, some may have escaped while Pompeii was getting hit, but many died by the hot flows and vaporized immediately - only leaving skeletons where they were, left to be discovered.
In Pompeii however, they didn't get much of the lava and flowing debris, they died from falling ash and rock, which basically buried them alive, preserving their bodies. Over time, as their bodies decayed, it left holes or pockets in the petrified ash where the body used to be. Then, archeologists were able to use special material to make a reverse cast of the holes which gave them a view of where the body was. They have some of the original casts at the site and you can even see emotion and worry and frightening looks on them.
So Herculaneum, their death and destruction was catastrophic, chaotic but fast. In Pompeii, it was slow, probably gathering with their families to wait it out.
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| This would have been houses and storefronts, and ovens with baked bread were even found. |
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| This was probably a bakery, with these all being ovens |
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| Being covered with mostly ash and poisonous gas, the city remained in tact and the frescos and paintings were preserved very well |
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| This was one of the huge bath and massage and relaxation areas. They had heat, air conditioning |
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| There were 'crosswalks' on all the roads - the wagon/chariot wheels could still get down the road, but people could walk on the stones to cross |
At the end of the site, there is a museum with the molds of the voids showing exactly how the inhabitants were when they perished. It's a little surreal seeing them in what would have been their last moments, not knowing they were going to die.
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Mt Vesuvius - that caused all the trouble
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The next day we flew out of Rome back home and our trip was over. It was an amazing trip - and we were so blessed to be able to take it and loved every second! We saw amazing things, realizing the world is a very intriguing place with lots of things to see and learn.
This was the 3rd of 4 cruises booked during a sale during Covid that never happened before and has never been repeated since, where all cruises were 50% off. Just one more left and then our cruises should taper off a bit. 😁
