Our plans to drive the Amalfi Coast went out the window when Christina woke up with a stomach ache and fever. The weather also did not look good, with wind and rain obscuring our view of the water. We took it as a sign to stay home and have another quiet day. Christina spent the morning resting and I sat down and read a book. By lunchtime, Christina was feeling a little better and the weather started to clear up. We didn’t have enough time to drive the Amalfi Coast, so we set of to Pompeii instead.
The drive to Pompeii made me appreciate the Circumvesuvianna train! I quickly learned some important lessons about driving in Italy: (1) Expect the unexpected, (2) Defensive driving is key, and (3) Stop signs and lane markers are merely suggestions. The best advice I heard from other tourists was to “just drive like to want and the Italians will pass you if they don’t like it”. That was certainly a true statement, especially with the dare-devil moped and motorcycle riders! The drive took us along narrow winding roads and through busy towns. There were several spots of construction and detours, so the drive ended up taking much longer than taking the train. Oh well, it was good practice!
We parked outside Pompeii and walked into the site. Not being a scholar of history, my knowledge of the ruins was limited to “a town buried by a volcano”. What we found was an amazing metropolis of the former Roman city that was in remarkable condition for being nearly 2000 years old. Pompeii was a thriving port city along the Mediterranean before it was completely buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. It wasn’t until the 1700’s that the site was re-discovered and it is still being excavated to this day. This makes it one of the best preserved and complete set of Roman ruins in the world. We spent about 3 hours walking around the site listening to Rick Steves’ podcasts. The highlights included several houses and temples, along with a theater and amphitheater. It was amazing to walk the cobblestone streets and see the treads warn into the rock from chariots thousands of years ago. One of the more gruesome sights was a case full of plaster casts made of the victims of Pompeii. The eruption was so sudden that 2000 residents were killed, most buried under the ash. When the flesh decomposed, it left a void in the shape of their bodies. When the site was excavated, archaeologists poured plaster into these voids and made shockingly accurate molds of several of the victims, frozen in their dying moments.
After walking all around Pompeii, we got back to the car around 4:00. In the interest of time, we decided to skip Herculaneum and Mt. Vesuvius and head back to Sorrento. After another wild Italian driving experience, we made it home safe-and-sound. Christina made a very good chicken noodle soup and we enjoyed a quiet evening.
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