The reason for planning our trip to begin in Naples, was so that we could visit the ruins of Pompeii. I remember my fascination as a child with this mysterious city and now, as evidenced by our tattered, much read Pompeii children's book, my children have the same fascination. In preparation for our visit here, we took a field trip to Boston's Science Museum to visit the traveling Pompeii exhibit. We also watched a History Channel documentary on the site. We came well prepared and were not disappointed. Our travel book says that "Pompeii is not in the seeing, but in the feeling." Because we were so prepared, we were able to wander the abandoned streets, in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, imagining life here 2000 years ago. We could feel the monotony of everyday activities but our own sense of urgency for Pompeii's ancient inhabitants to flee the city was present.
We visited the forum, baths, shops, Roman amphitheater and temples.
We quietly observed the molds of the people who were not able to escape the eruption and marveled at the frescos that still decorated many of the walls.
Before we left we were determined to find the often replicated mosaic of the snarling dog and the words "Cave Canem" meaning "Look! Beware of Dog!". After searching down several alley ways we spotted it.
Now our visit was complete! Unfortunately, due to Naples notorious traffic, we didn't make it to hike Vesuvius, which we were looking forward to. It is always good to leave something for our next trip!
1 comment:
What a wonderful time you had at Pompeii! I remember watching the movie about Pompeii with the children. I would have loved to tour Pompeii with your family and see how excited everyone was to see the things they studied. Love, Mom
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