Pompeii Getaway

Stella

Today we went to Pompeii and we saw all of the nearly dug up buildings that had been covered up in larva many years ago and sadly ☹️ everyonewho lived there died . We saw some bones from people that died and some hand  made pottery. We watched a short movie  about what it used to look like  – cool!

Then we went out for tea at a place that we had not been to. I had some seafood risotto. It had prawns 🦐 in it and it also had octopus  and squid 🦑. Mmm. Daisy had carbonara,  Mum had gnocchi and Mumma Jac had pasta  Today was fun.

Jac

Pompeii was our site of choice today, and what a sight it was. Accompanied by a couple of hundred fellow train travellers, we secured our tickets and entered the city of ruins. I half-expected Frankie Howerd to appear in his “Up Pompeii” get-up, rolling out a repertoire of risqué double-entendres! It was fascinating to see the layout of the city and the prevalence of baths and water areas for relaxation. It was also interesting to see that the design of wood fired ovens hasn’t changed over the centuries. It will take some time to process all that we saw, as the site covers a very big area and there is so much information to take in.

Pompeii has a history well beyond the lava incident, as Pink Floyd filmed a documentary in 1971, performing their music in the ancient auditorium. They played in front of 10 people, mainly film crew, and a few local kids who skipped school. They had difficulty getting power to their equipment so they used a very long cord from the Town Hall!

As per usual, the girls were interested in the Pompeii souvenirs but couldn’t really see the value in them- it’s pretty difficult selling souvenirs that are ruined! I loved the “not quite what we meant” sign that I saw advertising chips, near the site. Firstly, not a great outcome for the French and secondly, not exactly sensitive to the impact of heat in this area! It could only have been beaten in bad taste by a local café selling chocolate lava cakes!

Daisy

Sometimes you don’t know what it’s like to miss home so much that you go psycho! So people be glad you’re at home!
Today we went to Pompeii, the magma covered city  yay! So many rocks yay, yay! Even geodes. Scientific 🧪 example: geodes are rocks that have been around for a very very, very, very, very long time. As plain as they may be on the outside, they have been hollowed in so that crystals can grow in all different types shapes and sizes.

We saw some ruins. They were all made out of bricks. Bricks are made out of wet land that was hardened into clay. The best thing that I saw today was the stadium because it was very big and there were loads of tunnels. I liked today.

Dan

Travelling with kids requires a lot of thought and preparation, especially with regards to food and drink provisions to get us through a day of site seeing.  Pompeii today required 6 rounds of sandwiches, 4 pieces of fruit, 4 slices of cake and 4 biscuits (baked by our host) with 4 drink bottles full of water to wash it all down. Carrying all of that in the back pack, along with hand sanitiser, sunscreen, jackets, phones and purses (you never know where the next bargain might be…) makes you feel like you’re going some way to working off those extra holiday treats, and I’ve certainly enjoyed more treats than most!

Strategic planning for the kids’ personal needs is also a must whilst travelling, especially in places where there are very few public toilets or when visiting large historic sites where signage is lacking. On more than one occasion over the past few weeks, I have had to make a mad dash to find facilities for one or both kids.  In the early days, I tried to use the toilet in cafés only to be met with a stern “No public. Go to the square” (or similar). In Venice this was a major challenge; the twists and turns to find the right square sent me, and poor Daisy who had the tummy bug, into a state of utter confusion and desperation.  Today at Pompeii we lucked it in by taking a guess that the area crowded with school kids was the one to aim for…!

I wasn’t actually sure what to expect at Pompeii today. I had done a bit of reading but really didn’t have a sense of the history or time periods we were talking about. We entered the site through Porta Marina and were fortunate enough to view a brief documentary about the site that showed the key areas that have been uncovered and get a feel for the place in the times prior to the eruption in 79AD. After that we followed our noses (and the map) and listened in to snippets of information from the English-speaking tour guides talking to their groups near by. I loved exploring the temples, forums and seeing glimpses of the mosaic tiled floors and painted walls. Given the short time we were at the site, we certainly covered a lot of territory and ticked off many of the significant items of interest.

Tomorrow is Capri & the Blue Grotto.  Fingers crossed the weather continues to be kind to us so that we can get into the cave and see what all the fuss is about!