Today we took the train to - you guessed it - Pompeii. Pompeii is a pretty amazing place - partially because of the whole volcano thing, but mostly because of the level of development that existed in this city prior to the eruption in 79 AD. Transportation-wise, all roads were paved and had curbs and sidewalks. There were pedestrian-only zones, there were stepping stones that pedestrians used as crosswalks, and all chariots were designed to have the same wheel-base so they could negotiate the stepping stones. There were ruts in the roads from all the chariot traffic and there was evidence that they "repaved" the roads when the ruts became too severe.
We thought that was impressive engineering until we visited the bath house. Here, they designed the ceiling to collect moisture from the air such that it would not drip on people walking through the rooms. They used non-slip mosaic tiles near the baths. They had heated floors. Amazing!
Other highlights included the "fast-food" restaurants on the main streets where people would buy food from the counter-top ovens, the cuts in the sidewalks where store owners could tie awnings down, and the overall sheer size of the city. One of the most amazing things we learned was that while you can see Mount Vesuvius in the distance, before the eruption it was much taller than it is today - about 25% of the volcano became ash and lava flow that covered Pompeii and Herculaneum, where we are going tomorrow.
After Pompeii we returned to Sorrento to relax - its exhausting walking in the hot sun all day. We did some more exploring around the town and had some dinner. We also went to the local supermarket to pick up a few snacks. A couple of comments about the supermarket. There are about 4 aisles of pasta, another 4 with cookies, treats, candy, and a ton of cheese. But it took us forever to find a reasonably decent snack to bring with us on our upcoming hikes. It was very surprising, and we ended up with PB&J and rice crackers. But if you needed clothes (nice brands like Express) or back to school supplies, those were easy to find...
Lastly, some of you may be wondering how the Italian is going. So far, I've been able to communicate what I want or any questions I have in Italian, but either I'm killing the language or the people here don't want to deal with it, because everyone except two people so far have responded to me in English. Its only been 4 days so I'm not totally discouraged, but it is frustrating to make the effort and get shot down.
Gelato Gusti per il Giorno (Gelato flavors of the day):
Mike - Pistaccio e Ciocc. Bianco (Pistachio and White Chocolate) and Mente e Bacetti (Mint and Baci - a chocolate from Perugia) and a Barchetta which is a small pastry boat filled with frosting
Aviva - Mela Verde e Fragolina di Bosco (Green Apple and Wild Strawberry) and Melone e Kiwi (melon and kiwi)
Mi piace sentir parlare il gelato ed i dettagli di ogni città ! Can you believe it?! I learned Italian just to speak to you, Aviva! Don't get discouraged, I'm sure your Italian is great and they're just being snotty :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to Rome for the first time in 1976, I had 3 months of college level Italian under my belt. The first time I used my limited Italian was to order gelato. They laughed at me and responded in English. I tried the next day when buying a purse and the same thing happened! I never spoke Italian again in Rome! I am living vicariously through your blog and enjoying it immensely!! Thank you.
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