For some insane reason, my husband K woke at 6:20 and decided to get up. I refused. My ankle had cramped during the night and had interrupted my sleep. At 6:50, I got up.
When I looked out over the verandah, there was Napoli- Naples, Italy. It was unimpressive. As we knew would be true for several stops on this trip, the port here was not for cruise ships, but rather for shipping of goods. It was only later that I realized that the second picture I took was actually our first glimpse of Mt. Vesuvius.
Our daughter J appeared at our door right on time at 7:20 and we all went up to breakfast. Since she holds down the fort at a table and orders our juice and K's coffee, and because she also eats the cold cut sandwiches for breakfast and the same chocolate pastries, I just got more of all of it to give to her. I also had my Greek yogurt with mixed berries and Bircher muesli, plus a banana, of course. This would keep me going until our late lunch back onboard.
At 7:55, we finished and went back down to our cabins to wash up and get our things for the day. We always carry our own refilled water bottles and extra sunscreen. They warn you that Pompeii has no water, so we were extra careful about that. Did I not mention that that is today's excursion? It is and we are excited. J has been, but K and I have not. Anyway, they also say not to bring backpacks. So, K is wearing cargo pants to stuff things in and leaving our trusty backpack in the room. I can stuff a bottle of water in an outer pocket of my travel purse.
We have learned our lesson about getting to the World Stage before our required time. It gives us time to stand in line for our sticker (Blue 11 for The Ruins of Pompeii) and then one last restroom stop. So, we arrived today at 8:20, 10 minutes before our required time. We were told that we had to mask on the bus, but the three of us do that anyway. Departure time was set for 8:45, but our group was called at 8:35. So, we were wise to be early. They told us to go Forward, i.e., the opposite end of the ship, to disembark, but really Mid would have been better.
Our tickets scanned from my phone and J's, we were on our way at 8:45 with our guide Fabio. The port really handles a lot of cargo. The first photo shows that the containers are stacked as high as the highway and the second shows that it is a stack of four.
Naples, we were told is more than 3000 years old. It has four castles and is the most industrial city in Italy. Naples is the City of the Sun and is known for its mild temperatures. Pizza was born here in the 18th century. Margarita pizza actual reflects the colors of the Italian flag and it was named for the first queen of Italy. The oldest highway in Europe is the Autostrada 1 and links Naples to Rome, Florence, Bologna, and Milan.
When Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it formed 2 mountains, which is why I didn't recognize it this morning. It was now about 9:10 and we were parked in a large parking lot down the street a bit from where we needed to be. Across the street, we could see Pompeii and the umbrella pine trees that we knew so well from visits to Rome.
As we walked down the street, we saw signs of tourism. The gas station with a parking lot behind it was not a surprise, but the prices were good to post on Facebook for the folks back home complaining about prices. I was surprised by the ad for camping. It was not something I expected around here.
We managed to cross the street, which is no mean trick for a busload of people. Soon, we turned up a sidewalk that had a large area to the left of it called Piazza Porte Marina Inferiore, which was full of tents of items to tempt the tourist. To our right, there were food and beverage places and our 9:20 destination: Cellini, a factory-demo/shop that sold cameos.
Inside, we crowded behind a workbench as a chicly-dressed and masked woman explained what the man at the bench was doing. We could see his work closeup in the tv screen above. Cameos can be made out of a variety of materials. She showed a shell and mentioned at least coral, agate, lava, and mother-of-pearl. It was an interesting presentation.
This was our only chance at a restroom and though the sign was cute, they were down an excruciating set of stairs.
I had had the thought of getting a cameo for one of my dollhouses, but the ones here were far too expensive for that. I don't like shopping under a time crunch, but that's what this was. I hadn't planned on a necklace, but I did see one I liked. To make it worse, there was also a cameo bead that would fit a Pandora bracelet. Besides the credit card, there was also the paperwork to secure that would get me the VAT back once we were home. That said, we made it out at 9:38 with two minutes to spare.
We had to walk past the rest of the commercial area to get to the entrance. We were told to take our stickers off, so that they would not wind up on the ground. We then walked down Viale delle Ginestre ( seems to mean Avenue of the Brooms, or Gorse, which is a plant) that was rather like a garden, being very green. Above us, we could see a giant statue of Apollo on a high wall.
The city has been divided into 9 regions as it has been excavated. We entered at Region VIII at the Quadriportico del teatri or in English, Quadriporticus of the theaters or Gladiator Barracks. This was behind the large Roman theater and spectators would have hung out here during intermissions. There was an earthquake in 62 AD and now the building became a barracks for gladiators.There were rooms upstairs that may have been an apartment for the gladiators' undertaker. (Such a fun idea.) Weapons that were found here are now in the museum in Naples. Many victims were found here. It was excavated off and on from 1776-1795. That's impressive in itself. How long have we had archaeologists?
Next up was the Small Theater or Odeon. It was built in 79 BC. It had had a full roof that would have improved acoustics. Here they would have what was the most popular theater of the day- miming. There also would have been musical singing acts. It is in rather good shape.
Outside, we made our way to the main street, Via Stabiana. As you can see, plenty of others were visiting. It is a miracle I got the shot across the street with no one in it!
Fabio led us across the street to something I'd just recently read about - a fast food stand! Theatergoers would have come out and found the recessed spaces full of warm food and the little steps to the left would have had condiments. In excavating, they actually found food in the pots.
Crossing the street actually brings up an interesting topic- the street. I had trouble with the streets. They were so deep! An article I found says the sidewalks were usually 30 cm (11.8) inches high. That's tough, when you have bad knees. Evidently, the sidewalks used to be covered with a mixture of broken terra cotta and fat lime cement, but that's been worn off by the millions of visitors who've come. The streets themselves were 2.5 to 4.5 m wide (8.2 to 13.12 feet). The paving was large slabs of lava from the nearby volcano. In the photo below, you can see one of the pedestrian crossings. They were not at intersections, by the way. The raised stones are the height of the sidewalk so that folks didn't get their feet dirty or wet, since there wasn't a good sewer network. They are spaced far enough apart to accommodate wagon wheels. Sometimes, you can even see the ruts from the wheels. I used these when possible. J spent time finding me low spots to step down.
There was greenery here, even if the residents didn't put it here. There were buildings that were now little more than fields.
We continued down Vicolo del Menandro, just amazed at what they have found under all that ash and rock. I am fascinated by the fact that they figured out the roof lines.
We were now in Region I. One interesting thing that Fabio pointed out was this bench at the entrance to the Casa (House) dei Ceii. The bench showed that the owner of the house was a bigwig. People who needed his help would sit on the bench to wait to see him. Cool, huh? I was also interested in the hint of color remaining on the covering of the facade.
Pretty much across the street, was the Casa del Menandro- the House of Menander, who was a Greek dramatist and the best-known author of what is known as the Athenian New Comedy. He had lived from 342-291 BC in Greece. He had never lived in this house. It was named for him, because there is a painting of him . The house actually belonged to relatives of Nero's second wife, Poppea Sabina. The house was excavated in 1928, 1930 and 1932, according to the official guidebook. We took a peek at the original entrance before going around to the current entrance. The tile floors that remained were lovely. I was just blown away by the painting that remained on the walls. Just lovely! We made it all the way through the house before exiting at the side. I'm afraid that the painting of Menander has seen better days, but do enjoy these photos.
As we walked down Vicolo di Paquius Proculus, I was surprised to see writing on some walls. How did this manage to survive? And how was it written- did they use a stencil to paint it? Because, there is no way you could do it freehand.
Looking at other buildings, there were traces of vibrant colors on the facings. They are still working on buildings in this section.
When we got to the House of Paquius Proculus, we once again looked in the front door and I realized we were not going to fully explore any more. They began excavating this house in 1911. It may have actually been the House of Caius Cuspius Pansa. There is doubt, because both names were in the electoral posters painted on the facade. We were here simply to see the mosaic of the chained dog at the front door. This was to tell visitors there was a dog here. More great mosaics beyond it.
Fabio pointed out a building nearby that he said was a shop. The pictures above the door were of gods and goddesses, each representing the day of the week. That told people who frequented the shop, when it was open. The gods are Apollo, Jupiter, Mercury, and Diana and represent Sunday, Thursday, Wednesday and Monday. I've seen that the building is referred to as IX.7.1-2 in scholarly work. Photographers have called it the House of Venus and the Four Gods, because there is a picture of Venus on the left upright. I haven't seen any interpretation that goes with his, but we'll live with it. I just don't know why Thursday was put before Monday.
As I looked down the street of ruined shops and houses, I couldn't help but notice Vesuvius in the background. Did they notice it every day? Someone was paying attention to their environment, because they developed walls of stones shaped like diamonds. These were more resistant to earthquakes.
So, you may well ask how they knew a building was an house or a shop, when they excavated it. Some had been looted rather early on, because people did know about the disaster and the two story building were sticking up. So, they dug. A simple thing like a groove at the entrance told the architects that it was a shop. It was for pulling the gate across at night. Very observant.
They've found 40 fountains scattered around the city. They are made from blocks of lava, of course. They had sculptures of faces with spouts where the mouth was. The overflow flowed down the street. Here is Fabio showing us one on the Via dell'Abbondanza.
Our next stop was the Terme Stabiana (Stabian Baths), which are among the oldest in the Roman world. The site was excavated from 1853-1857 and again in 1865. We didn't get to see the baths themselves. Instead, we got to appreciate the walls in courtyard and columns. They really are beautiful.
WeWe were taken into one small room. There was the plaster cast of the body of a woman found in the ruins of the baths. She was wearing a belt that showed she was a slave. So, her not being able to escape comes as little surprise.
Our next destination was the largest Lupanar excavated in a city of maybe 20,000 people that supported 20-25 of these establishments. What is a Lupanar? A brothel. While Fabio didn't mention them, there were male, as well as female prostitutes. They were by and large slaves, often from the East. There were phallic symbols put above doors and in the street to signal the location of a brothel. I think you had to know what to look for, because I never would have noticed them. This one was two-story, with the upper floor being the residence of the owner and the prostitutes. Downstairs, there were around 11 cells, usually without windows, that had curtains instead of doors. The beds were stone, which would have encouraged speed. This was the site of the infamous paintings of sex acts. Fabio said they served as a menu, but they may have served as art, according to other sources. I'm including the mildest one.
We were shuffled through rather quickly, probably because this has become a popular stop. On our way to the Forum, Fabio pointed out a couple of things of interest. The first was a pair of ovens that do not look dissimilar to those used today to make pizzas. The other was a white house built on top of the ruins at the 18th century level. Wonder if they would have built, had they known what was below.
The Forum was a very large plaza that would have been the gathering place for the city. White squares in the ground marked where pillars would have stood, while others had been put back into place. Some even had inscriptions above them. It must have been quite something back in the day.
At the north end stood the Temple of Jupiter with Vesuvius rising behind it. It is a great picture, but ominous nonetheless. On either side of the temple were memorial arches, which were originally brick covered by marble..
There was a giant bronze centaur, which, if I hadn't looked into it, I would have thought it had been found there. But, no, it was by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj (1944-20140. For the life of me, I don't know why you would leave it there after an exhibition, when you are trying to show people what Pompeii was like through the things you've found there. His Daedalus was the giant sculpture we saw on the way in.
As we left, we passed a crowd of people coming out of the Sanctuary of Apollo. This is one of the oldest places of worship in town. We didn't get to go in.
From the top of the stairs (which were not fun for me), we had a lovely view down to the cameo shop and could just make out the tops of the shop tents. The sun was hot, but the breeze was cool.
When we reached the lower level, we saw this really unusual plant with the weird name of Bear's Breeches.
We had a little bit of time to hurry through the vendors to find the things we collect- postcards, pins, etc. I also got a book on Pompeii for 16 euros. I was looking at the cameos with an eye toward the dollhouse, but they were too expensive. The vendor was quite persistent and asked what I would pay. I couldn't come up with a price. When he offered it for 20 euros, I agreed.
We joined the others near the cameo shop and when we were all assembled, Fabio led us back down and across the street to the bus parking lot. When we were on the bus at 12:17, Fabio went down the aisle and gave us each a lemon candy. We were finally on the road at 12:21 and were on the Autostrada back to Napoli 2 minutes later, even though the left turn out of the parking lot was tricky.
When we parked near the ship after the 25-minute ride, K gave Fabio a 5 euro tip. We were in our cabin at 12:54.
When J came over at 1:05 to go to lunch, we found that the elevators had be shut down. We had to climb 5 decks up to the Lido Deck. So not fun! However, we did run into more art. I've since found out it was by Replaceface. Replaceface is an artist who used digital copies of English artist George Dawe's portraits of Russian generals during Napoleon's invasion to photoshop portraits of family, friends, and famous people into the old ones. His Frank Zappa, Dave Grohl, and Bob Dylan are here in a stairway.
While I got my usual salad but with focaccia and a plum for lunch, J decided to have pasta in celebration of Italy. As usual, our selection of desserts to share was excellent.
At 3:15, J and I went down to guest services about the statements again. K went to the fitness center. It took us 40 minutes, and it still is not resolved. They have to talk to corporate.
So, we repaired to my verandah for a while, then J left to get ready for Mass.
At 5:00 Mass, Father was talking about daily Mass like he did last week. Neither last Sunday nor today did he dis the number of people who had attended that day. He did dis the previous week. I think I know the problem. The Saturday night Mass at 5 may occur before everybody gets back from their excursions. I think we're going to miss next Saturday for that very reason. We get off the ship a week from tomorrow.
After Mass, we had time to go hear Brahms at Lincoln Center Stage. It was a great concert. We then went off to 6:30 dinner. Unfortunately, we were not put at our regular table and I expressed disappointment. When we ran into our regular waiter Eka at the end of the meal, we told him that we missed him.
For our starters K and I both chose their signature exc. port to table Prosciutto and Caponata, that was delicious. j's Crispy Thai Vegetable Spring Roll was good, too.
We ordered three different things to share for dinner- Rustic home-made Lasagna, Red Wine Braised Brisket, and Crispy Sweet and Sour Shrimp. All were good.
We had three terrific desserts- Double Chocolate Tart, Pear Strudel NSA, and Triple Berry Alaskan Tart.
At one point the manager came over to see how our meal was. He then talked to us about his home in Indonesia called Mt. Tambora, which is also a volcano. I don't think he would have had quite as much time to chat, if the ship had been full.
We were at the Shops for the 8 pm drawing. J won a necklace and earrings set. Of course, she can't use the latter. The rest of us got a ship wheel necklace, which will be handy for a dollhouse.
J agreed to a movie night in our cabin and we all watched the 2020 version of Blithe Spirit. It wasn't bad. It felt like a Noel Coward story.
When J headed to her cabin after the movie, I checked my phone. It said it had taken me 9, 261 steps to walk 3.1 miles. Then, it lied and said I climbed 2 floors, when we know it was 5. Argh!
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