Pompei

If the city of Rome belongs to the cats, then Pompei is for the dogs. There are tons of strays all over Pompei. They follow us around as if they are our tour guides.

On the 24th of August, 79 A.D., shortly after midday, flames from the volcano shot into the sky, and an immense black cloud covered the sun. For three days, volcanic matter, lapilli and red-hot scoriae rained down on Pompei making a blanket fifteen to twenty feet deep over the entire area. Artifacts and people were basically encased in the ash as it cooled. The survivors who may have first escaped the eruption were soon killed by a poisonous gas. Pompei had a population of ten thousand.

Under the ash everything remained as it was at the time of the eruption. Artwork was preserved. Buildings were preserved. Several important clues were left behind. These clues give a little glimpse into the past

	Pompei Friday, June 7th
	Wake up call came at 6. Luggage had to be out by 6:45 and we were on the bus by 7:30. It’s the last full day that our group will all be together.
Tomorrow morning we will all be going off in different directions. Some of us will continue on to new adventures, while others return to the familiarity of home. Kathy began our day with her famous “Buongiorno!” She still remains peppy every morning. We had an hour journey this morning before we reached Pompei.

We met our tour guide just outside the gate in Pompei. He should us the main attractions in the city. You could easily spend days here going over the ruins, but we had an hour and a half. The ruins provide fascinating insights into the lives of the ancient Romans, and include numerous villas, temples, theaters, baths, shops, amphitheatres, residential houses, and unique wall paintings, mosaics, and statues. We saw what could have been some of the first public flush toilets, bath houses, and a market area. We were able to see what could have been the first fast food restaurants.
The Streets of Pompei were paved during Roman times with large polygonal blocks of stone. They are bordered by curbs and pedestrian walkways. On most streets there are raised stones at regular intervals that pedestrians used to cross the streets when water flooded them. There are also reflective stones every so often that under the moonlight would guide your way along the road. Kind of like the first street lights. One villa we saw had a mosaic of a big dog that adorned the floor of the entrance with the words: Cave Canem. Basically, this is how they said, beware of the dog



Dave and I felt pretty rushed. Our tour guide was hurrying us along. Most of the group had gone across the street to watch a Cameo demonstration. Dave and I were running behind, so we missed it. We grabbed something cold to drink and waited for Umberto to come with the bus.