The final four days of our trip were spent in the region of Campania, on the Bay of Naples. Riding by bus from Lecce (in the heel of the boot), we crossed the Italian peninsula once again--driving coast to coast through many a mountain tunnel--arriving in Sorrento on the evening of October 17. We loved the Hotel Antiche Mura ("ancient wall"), where we stayed for four nights.


Our first excursion from Sorrento, the next morning, was to view the ruins of ancient Pompeii, buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Since I was about ten or eleven years old, when I would pore over encyclopedias eagerly searching for anything about ancient Greece and Rome, I longed to see Pompeii. (And since I was in college I wanted to see its bordellos!) I wasn't disappointed, even though it was rather crowded (for the off-season), hot, dry, and dusty.



We only spent a few hours, hitting the highlights (like the forum and the amphitheater), but that was enough, really. I didn't want to linger too long thinking of those who could not escape the volcano's fury. "Ash and cinders buried the city within hours and superheated gases asphyxiated the two thousand inhabitants [about one-tenth the population] who had not fled." (Nat Geo Traveler) "Buried for 1,700 years under 15-30 feet of mud and ash, and reduced by the centuries to skeletons, they remained entombed until excavations took place in the early 19th century. As excavators continued to uncover human remains, they noticed that the skeletons were surrounded by voids in the compacted ash. By carefully pouring plaster of Paris into the spaces, the final poses, clothing, and faces of the last residents of Pompeii came to life." (Atlas Obscura). Below, we saw one of the casts of a man who had fallen face-down in agony.

Below, our local guide tells us about the amphitheater, while our tour manager Gaetano observes, That's our expert archaeologist Janet in the red shirt, consulting notes perhaps, or a map of the ruins. She'd prepared us very well the previous evening with a great lecture on Pompeii.

   

We saw where the citizens of Pompeii lived their lives, we walked through several homes with kitchens, stoves, and bedrooms; we saw bathhouses and bordellos, with frescoes on the walls from lovely to lewd . . . . 

         

    

One of my favorites: The fresco below depicting the myth of Actaeon, who happened upon the goddess Diana bathing, and suffered the consequences of beholding her naked: he is mauled by her dogs!

Then, there's our guide pointing out the stone phallus that indicates the way to the brothel. (Just follow his pointing finger to the pointing penis!) Soon after our visit to the venereal venues, we headed back to the Forum, the centaur pointing the way. There's Janet again.

     

It was in the forum that Gail's Canon camera met its dusty demise. This picture of me was the last she took with it. Soon after the shot, I offered to hold the camera for her, and as she handed it to me, the wrist-strap somehow got caught between my fingers and I dropped it on the stony, sandy ground. Cluttered with grit, it refused ever to work again. Yes, it literally bit the dust. She had to rely on her phone's camera for the rest of the trip.

A last look at the ruins, and then we were off to return to Sorrento, and later that afternoon, another agriturismo trip to a farm, where we would be instructed in the culinary art of making gnocchi . . . . 

Click here for Part VII