We arrived at the port in Naples early in the morning, greeted by another hot, sunny day.
Naples Maritime Terminal features two prancing horses on columns on either side of the building.
Mt. Vesuvius as seen from the bow of our ship. It is 5.6 miles from Naples and is considered a dangerous volcano due to the huge population it could impact if it erupts again. The eruption in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum and other settlements in the region. It has erupted continously since then. The last eruption was in 1944.
View of Naples from the port.
Castel Nuovo, first built in 1282 by King Charles I Anjou. It was the royal seat for kings of Naples, Aragon, and Spain until 1815. This picture was taken from the aft of the ship.
I haven't been able to sleuth out what this building is.
I could see many domes and spires in the city from the ship.
View of the port. There is a coast guard boat on the left.
The excursion was to visit Pompeii. Ricky wasn't feeling well and stayed back at the ship. I took this picture of a bell tower as we sped by on our motorcoach.
Sebastian was our guide for the day.
Driving towards Mt. Vesuvius.
We followed Sebastian up this nice mosaic sidewalk toward the entrance.
Sebastian had the inside Intel. If we agreed to listen to a short presentation on making cameos, we could use the gallery's nice, clean, and free restrooms.
The man at the desk is carving a shell to make a cameo, and the camera shows how he is working on the TV screens.
This was a nice and expensive gallery and retail store. Of course we had to walk by everything to get to the bathrooms.
First view of Pompeii. The statue is contemporary.
Map of Pompeii. Only a fraction has been excavated.
Scaffolding holding up walls.
This is a courtyard next to the theater.
The sides are lined with columns, which at one time created a shaded portico.
This is the small theater, the Greek Odeon. We didn't see the original large ampitheater.
This plaque is not original, but is a restoration giving credit for the theater.
This plaque is supposedly original.
The Romans liked to build with brick. They plastered the outside walls to look like marble. They used marble inside.
Standing on the floor of the theater.
They still have concerts here.
Frescos lined the walls.
This passageway leads into and out of the theater.
Cobblestone street. They built with basalt.
They put these large stones into the roadways to slow flowing water during rain. The carts and wagons went over them. Notice the groove in the stone from wheels.
Looking into a "fast food" place. They sold street food from the "counter" on the left.
Notice the groove in front of the food counter. They had their version of sliding doors to use when not open for business.
These pots held the food and were built into the counter.
Anything wooden is a restoration.
All roofs are restorations.
We were able to view the inside of this house. The "sign" on the right of the door was actually a political campaign sign showing support for a candidate.
This house had a stone bench in front for people to wait for an audience with the owner. (Like to ask for a loan or favor in turn for votes or support.)
Mosaic floor in the entryway.
The house was filled with frescos.
There was on opening in the roof that allowed the owner to catch rainwater in the shallow basin.
The rain water ran down into a cistern and was drawn up through the small white well. After plumbing arrived, they used this water feature to play water games (as per our guide.)
Frescos on the walls in a small room for sleeping.
Sebastian said up to three people would sleep in this room.
This fresco was on a wall that was viewed from the main bedroom. It depicted a hunting scene and garden.
Main bedroom
Stone wardrobe
Large and heavy plaster door.
I don't know if this pipe in the wall is original.
The white church was built at ground level before they realized Pompeii was buried underneath. The location was lost for centuries because everything was buried.
Original lead pipe in the wall was a part of their water system.
This was a bakery. You can see the brick oven at the back and the round storage areas or mills on the left.
Wider street
This is the entrance to a bath house.
This is a plaster cast of a victim of the eruption in 79 AD. She was a slave. They know this because she was wearing a belt which was the symbol of bandage.
She's trying to protect her face from the ash.
Courtyard of the bathhouse.
Decoration depicting Jupiter
Evidence of the sewer system
Archeologists aren't sure what the Rosetta signs meant.
A street fountain made of basalt. Sebastian is showing us a groove in the stone made by hands or ropes.
This phallus symbol is carved in the stone in the street. Someone poured water on it to male it more noticeable. Sebastian said it pointed the way to the nearest brothel.
He stated frescos painted in the brothel show what services could be purchased and the cost. He stated most citizens didn't use prostitutes because they had slaves to serve that purpose.
Marble fountain. A higher status watering hole.
Beautiful mosaic floor
This is the huge main square. It was surrounded with columns. There is a temple at the far end with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.
The statue is contemporary. There were statues on the pedestals.
Looking toward the temple
The Square was originally paved with marble.
This area is just off the main square. There were three plaster casts of victims in this corner.
This was a more public temple
On the main street leading into the square small pieces of marble are used to make the street more visible at night. I saw the same thing in Ephesus.
This temple of Saturn and Apollo was supposed to be used as a way to tell time.
This is the fallen temple to Venus
One original column
We passed by this wall as we left
Canopy of green in our waiting spot. I was so grateful for the shade. I completely sweated through my clothes on this excursion.
Meanwhile, back on the ship, roasted suckling pig was on the menu. This seems Roman (or Hawaiian) to me!
Two blueberry tarts from Mamsen's!
We're sailing out of port through this narrow gap while Mt. Vesu is watches our progress.
Many gulls showed up to wish us a safe journey. Arrivaderci baby!
We made it out of port with the gulls to send us off.
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