Naples

Schedule permitted me to go on a 4 hr tour to Pompeii.....man i was so excited....have heard so much about Pompeii and i have wanted to go there for long...and the best part....kim could come with me....so off we went round 8:30....Pompeii is only about a 30min bus ride....so convenient...and on the way there the tour guide gave us some facts about Pompeii....i think ill share some.....

-Mt Vesuvius errupted in 79AD

-Ashes rose 32km into the sky before covering Pompeii

-Pompeii was only rediscovered in 1738

-Mt Vesuvius is located 10km from Pompeii

-Mt Vesuvius is one of the five most dangerous volcanoes in the world and is still active now....it errupts every (plus/ minus) 75 to 100 years...the last erruption was in 1944....so currently they are waiting for an erruption, in actual fact they are hopeing for one....cause the longer there is no erruption, the more violet the next one will be

-It only took 4hrs to cover Pompeii in ashes between 5m and 12m thick

Last fact for the moment.....there was a month of earthquakes before Vesuvius errupted in 79AD

So....back to the trip....when we arrived, we first went to some camo factory...not my scene at all...but anyhow....then off to enter Pompeii.....wow....What an impressive sight...what fascinated me was that Pompeii is not rebuilt....it is still in its original state...and it is still like an entire city....amazing...the guide also was great, she was so enthusiastic, so passionate...and that makes an enormous difference.....so here is a pic from when we entered....

First stop...theatre....where they had performances....amazing how it is still standing..the seats are still there, the guide told us that the rich men used to sit in the front....and right at the back was poor people and on the top was standing reserved for women....amazing....hmmmm....here is a pic of the theatre.....the poles at the top were used to hang shades from.....

Then it was a walk through the main road....shops on either side of the street....we saw a bakery....where the oven could still be seen....and they actually found bread in the ovens when they rediscovered Pompeii....Pompeii had a total of 32 bakeries....and interstingly, the breads were engraved with the sellers mark....so already in those days they had so called brands.....and then a little further we stopped at a "take aways".... It was a shop where the workers prob stopped for a short lunch and wine was served...in summer chilled and in winter warm...the two holes in the marble is where the barrels of wine were kept...so they kept the right temp....mostly they ate bread and anchovy paste......here is a pic.....it looks just like a take away bar.....

The main road is exactly what you read in history books....round stones one after another......and interstingly the Romans were quite clever....Pompeii was quite a flat town so in between they had elevated stones so that if roads were flooded they could still cross them.....and the width between each stepping stone was the exact size so that a chariot wheel would fit in between it....man how clever...i love facts like those....and then the roads even had small pieces of white marbles in them....already they knew about reflection....so clever....here are two pics.....

We also saw the baths....and the paintings inside still had colour....red was used a lot because of the soil from Mt Vesuvius.....and the ceilings are still painted...and one can still see....in the baths they had lockers....and hot tubs.....so clever....the baths for men and women were seperated.....we also saw the market square....we saw one stall where it was engraved with pictures of fish and bread, presuming that that particular store prob sold those goods.....and from the market square we had an amazing view of Mt Vesuvius.....

 

In the whole of Pompeii there were 35 brothels....can you imagine more brothels than bakeries...unbelievable...we also went into a brothel and the paintings on the wall clearly indicated that it was a brothel....the rooms were tiny and the beds made from concrete.....another fact....there were 43 fountains in Pompeii....that is quite a lot....here is a pic....

Then there is also a small section which shows some of the pots that were discovered in Pompeii....also they found a lot of skeletons and cleverly they filled the mould with some plaster that would fill the mould so you could get an exact picture of what the position of the body was....here are two of the most famous ones....ones that are always depicted in the history books....the first one is a pregnant woman and the second one is a man trying to cover himself from the ashes.....

Then slowly time to go to towards the exit...time just seemed to have flown....i really enjoyed it...and man it is all so well preserved....wow.....and i liked all the little facts that i learnt.....here just a few more pics....first one kim and me......then second one....just one of the columns...you know how much i like designs and architecture....and last one...just a last glimpse back at the city of Pompeii...its walls.....

At the end we had 15min spare time...of course that meant pizza time....we found a little restaurant....with a woodfired oven and they assured us that they could make a pizza in 5min...time was ticking....we chose one with funghi...then added lots of chopped garlic and some chillie....and man...it smelt damn good....we had to run to the bus a little...and yes...pizza was finished before we reached the bus....of course close up pic of pizza that will stick in our minds....Naples pizza is very different from the pizza we normally know...the dough is thicker and very fluffy....not really that crispy....more fluffy, gooey....so good though....and did u know pizza was invented in Naples...first pic then story.....

Ok...so there was a poor man...and of course bread was cheap...so in order to make it a little tastier he wanted to invent a dish in honour for the queen....he liked the queen Marghrite a lot....so in order to honour Italy he added the Italian flag as colours....red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (basil) and of course he named it after the queen....Margharita.....in actual fact its the pizza that most Naples people eat...they dont go all fancy on toppings...maybe i have mentioned the above story before....but i thought id mention it again cause right now it was just so relevant.....

And last fact for today.......the ancient Greek and Turks use the Greek eye to protect them from evil spirits...the Naples people use a red chillie....fascinating.....

Before i end this blog im also gonna tell you about my typical Italian lunch the next day in Chivvi.....i think i might have or i def know have mentioned that i used to work with Alessio on the jade, he is from Chivvi....and the one time when his parents came on the cruise his mom brought pesto pasta and kim added tomato sauce....hmmmmm....so anyway....Alessio said to me when i have time once i should let him know in advance and kim and i can come for a real Italian lunch....def was not gonna forgo that opportunity....and man we got spoilt with food...starters was aubergine ratatouille, carprese and some pork liver mousse....all divine..

then came the pasta course....home made beef tortellini with tomato sauce...and man Alessio's mom dished up such a portion that kim and i thought it was def mains...how wrong we were....mains was pork with potatoes (potatoes were sliced, baked and in between were bits of bacon.....very tasty)....

As if that was not enough.....dessert...first was mandarines followed by home made Christmas biscuits and also two cakes...the traditional butter panetonne and the one with the dried fruits....and of course Alessio's mom insisted that we try both....the one with dried fruits was a little bit harder and dryer while the other one was quite fluffy....my favourite one....butter one....but then we all also know how much i like butter....and here a pic of me and Alessio.....

 

And last but not least we also visited the fresh produce market...i Love those kind of things, i guess i didnt have to mention that but anyway......we ended up buying three balls of buffalo mozzarella for €5.5, unreal, liquorice for kim and 1kg mandarines for €1..... Unbelievable....here is kim picking the mandarines....

Man....i just love love Italy.....in wanna go there on holiday again....Amalfi coast...Tuscany....fresh proscuitto...mozzarella....prosecco....vino.....pizza.....man.....my mouth is starting to water....i just love Italy....damn.....so amazing...so wow....so me......

 

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