Hey Hey Pompeii!

Oh dear am I back on that dreaded Aeroflot flight?! That is what was running through my head as my bus took off from Rome to Pompeii. Why did I think this I hear you asking yourselves, quite simple really, everything the tour guide said she said in both English AND Russian. I can assure you now though that this trip was a million times better than my Aeroflot flight, a million and one times better!!!

It was a slow start leaving Roma because there was a car crash on the motorway but we made it to the 'Highway of the Sun' eventually. This is the road that connects the North and South of Italy. They say that you always see the Sun on that highway and I like the Sun so I liked that highway :)

As we drove through the countryside the guide was very informative (in both English AND Russian) and continually gave us snippets of interesting facts. One thing she told us was about the supposed origin of the margherita pizza. Pizza originated in the region of Campania (Naples and Pompeii are both in Campania and Rome is in Lazio) and as the story goes the first margherita pizza was a gift to Queen Margherita of Savoy shortly after Italy was unified and was meant to be the symbol of Italy as it was the colours of the flag; red - the tomatoes, green - the basil leaves and white - the mozzarella. YUM! This story made me salivate.

As Mount Vesuvius came into view this song blasted through the stereo. Play it, listen to it and imagine the scene. I couldn't help but giggle. I couldn't quite understand the lady when she said the importance of it but I thought it was pretty cool none the less.

From what I saw of Naples I was happy that I didn't have to spend much time there. It was very dirty with a lot of high rise apartment buildings with clothes hanging out on the balconies. It's what I expected it to be like. We stopped at the Bay of Naples where we could take photos of Vesuvius. It was a nice view. Naples has a population of about 1.5 million and it was clear that all the money was in this area. It was very different from what we originally drove through. It was there that Franco jumped on the bus, an old Italian guy, and he was with us the rest of the trip and was our guide around Pompeii.

Mount Vesuvius

Bay of Naples

You might be able to see the snow on top of Mount Vesuvius? This is very rare because traditionally the weather in this region is supposed to be very mild. It now has two peaks and originally only had one peak but when it blew in 79AD the top blew off and made another. Seven cities were destroyed when it erupted in 79AD and the two most important being Herculaneum and Pompeii. Herculaneum was covered in lava and mud whereas Pompeii was covered in ash. Did you know that Vesuvius once stood at 6,000ft but now has shrunk to only 2,000ft? Fascinating stuff.

Before we set off exploring Pompeii we stopped as a group at lunch at a little restaurant and got to have a look around Pompei, the new city built around ancient Pompeii.

On the streets on Pompei

As we walked through the gates into ancient Pompeii I felt like I was going back in time. In my mind I knew that it was well preserved but WOAH it was soooooooooooooo cool. I particularly liked walking around the the house complexes because a few of them I've had to write essays on. This place was a Classics geek's heaven and man I am one hell of a Classics geek! There were many sighs and goofy smiles by me and I don't think I managed to get a word out the whole tour because I was just trying to take everything in. In March the British Museum will start a  big Herculaneum and Pompeii exhibition and I'll definitely be popping along to that!

First glimpses of Pompeii

Mint column

Some OLD wall paintings

Street view

House of the Faun

Yay! I'm in Pompeii!

It was a HUGE day because I left Roma at 7.30am and didn't arrive back in until after 8pm. I managed to get the metro and bus home again and it was on this bus trip that something quite magical happened. When I got on the bus I realised I was the only one on it and as I got on the bus driver gave me the warmest smile ever. When he started the bus 'Beat It' by MJ started blasting through the speakers. My day was fantastic but hearing this song made it even better. For some unknown reason the bus stopped mid journey and after some communication with the driver (we hardly understood each other) it was decided I should stay on the bus and wait for it to start again. This is where it got interesting. While he was waiting for people to get on he started to make something out of a serviette. I figured it was for me because he kept smiling at me and motioning me to look at him. This is what he made me;

A kind gesture

Oh would you look at that!

He could tell I was genuinely impressed by this and I think saw it as his moment to shine because he then proceeded to show me various images on his cell phone of things he had made. Things like cars and planes and helicopters. I couldn't believe what was happening. He then took out some scrap paper and started making me something else. I was intrigued but couldn't let him have all the fun so asked if I could also have a piece of paper. He willingly passed some over and there we were folding away while the bus was filling up with passengers. He made me this;

Cute!

And I made him a little rosette that he was so thrilled with he pinned it onto his shirt.

Two happy origami lovers

I then made him some little things that I gave him when I got off the bus. He was thrilled. It was an unexpected journey alright and who'd have ever thought my love of origami and Rome would come together so perfectly hehe only in Rome ha?

Parting gift

As you can imagine what with all the origami and all the bus trip took quite a while so I didn't actually make it home until well after 9. Davide offered to make me some carbonara and I could hardly refuse such a fine offer. It was the perfect way to end a fabulous day. I even got some tips for when I try to recreate it at home. Mmmmmmmmm. Delizioso!!!

Master chef Davide

Mmmmm carbonara!

Red wine from Sicily - a must have!