Italian Artifacts...

A few days ago we arrived in a new place for me, Naples, Italy. Napoli!! Ahhh, the city itself didn't offer much, but we got out in the short amount of time we had and took a trip to Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius rose up about 30 minutes away from us while we were sitting in Napoli and Pompeii was right at its base. Eons ago this massive mountain erupted with such force, it devastated the town and people below and even some of the surrounding islands. All these people had to warn them were a few pre-quakes and they didn't even know what to make of them. They had no idea what an eruption was. Mt. Vesuvius only erupts once every 1,000 or so years, and it hasn't erupted since Pompeiii's devastation in 79 AD nearly 2,000 years ago. I remember watching a reenactment on HBO some time ago about how the people might have reacted to such an event. They characterized social behaviors based on classes and social structure at the time. Apparently the quakes were just taken as signs from the Gods and people made decisions based on them. They thought the Gods might be angry. Suddenly Mt. Vesuvius spout a great explosion in 79AD shooting black smoke and fire straight into the air. They perceived this as a wondrous event watching in awe as the mountain shot fire into the air. They didn't realize that the mountain was spewing molten lava about a mile into the sky where it dried because of the cold air temperatures at such heights. The black clouds of the eruption spread for miles and then because the lava hardened and gained weight, it began to fall as pumice rock to the ground. It was lights and airy rocks for the most part, but there were some that crusted together to be the size of basketballs. It rained ash and pumice for a while a few hours after the initial eruption. Falling from such heights, the little rocks were like bits of hail. Annoying, but not too painful. It was the big ones people were getting killed by. Also where hail melts, pumice does not. So it builds up on rooftops and collects in the streets. If you happen to pass out from the sudden change in air quality from all the ash or sudden warming, you will get buried in pumice rock. Even if you get knocked on the head and pass out, you can get buried alive in a matter of minutes. Roofs would cave in and people began to run through the streets. Also the oxygen in the air began to deplete because of the sudden rise in Sulfur content. People became dehydrated and began to lose consciousness. Just when you thought it could get worse, it actually did. The eruption finally fell weak and gravity took over. All the hot molten gas that was spewing miles into the air began to fall. Suddenly a cloud rushing down the side of the mountain with hot air in temperatures that can cook where traveling down the mountain and through the cities at over 100mph. People were encrusted and burned alive with ash, rock, and dust. If they weren't dead already from falling pumice, dehydration, or heated air from a rise in temperature, they were cooked instantly by this rushing cloud. You could see in Pompeii today some of the figures that were frozen in time in ash from such high temperatures. It was breathtaking to walk through the city and see all the pieces still standing after such devastation. A lot of it has been restored, but to walk on such an archaeological dig that dates back to almost 2,000 years ago. It was easy to get there. We hopped on a train from port and it was merely 2 Euro round trip. A subway ride to Pompeii. We wandered through all the ruins much like the ruins of Athens or Ephesus in Turkey while taking in all the things that could've happened here. There were now beautiful gardens amongst the ruins and it was packed with tourists. After being overwhelmed with my senses, we stopped at a local stand where I had some Napolian pizza and gelato before we left to go back to port. We encountered a windy rain storm before we boarded again, but at least we had a gorgeous day to take in all the beautiful things we were able to see and be so close to the unpredictable Mount Vesuvius. Geologists and Archaeologists predict it still has the potential to erupt again and can erupt in a matter of years now. The city around it has now built up to over millions of people compared to the mere 10,000 of Pompeii back in 79AD. They are trying to predict when another such violent eruption may come to give ample warning to evacuate. Personally, I love the scenery of the countryside, but it's not worth living so close to something so unpredictable and violent.

The next day was a busy day in Rome. We actually docked in the small port town of Civitavecchia. It was a rocky night sailing from Naples to Civitavecchia because of the stormy weather. Oy! It was still raining when we arrived so I decided to stay with my friend Alice and tour the religious area of Rome in the Vatican City. The others went and did a city tour of Rome by foot in the rain. It was a lovely day, although we didn't plan it so well. We should've seen the Sistine Chapel first before the Basilica, but we didn't know where the Chapel was and there was a huge line for something so we stood in it. It took us about 40 minutes in line to get through security and into St. Peter's Basilica. It was absolutely breathtaking all the art and beautiful marble inside. My words can't describe how vast and gorgeous it is in there. We wondered around for about an hour just taking it all in and then we took a tomb tour to see the burial places of past popes. Here we saw the most recent grave of Pope John Paul and I couldn't believe it. We tried to make it to the Sistine Chapel just to see Michelangelo's work, but the line was immense by this point. Next plan of attack would be Sistine Chapel first and then the Basilica later as the lines in the afternoon were much shorter. I was still in awe and had a good day as we wondered through Vatican City. The area even has it's own post office. Next time in Rome, I will definitely see the Chapel and then find the Trevi Fountain. The one sight I didn't get to see on my visit to Rome in 2000.

We're off to the Black Sea now. I've seen most of these ports already so it'll be nice to revisit some and then others I will just take a day on board. Ahh the exploration continues.