Pompei

Today after another late start we headed off to visit Pompei. Eerily enough the train station is called Pompei as well - it just gets spookier and spookier! We are getting so slack at getting started in the morning that we didn't arrive at Pompei til around midday, by which time we needed a cup of coffee! When we got off the train we were a bit bombarded with signs telling us that audioguides and tickets etc were sold above the station, so up we went and purchased the audioguides - they were quite different from the ones we used in Herculaneum. Then when we actually got into the excavated area itself we noticed more places where similar ones to those we used in Herculaneum were available! Almost immediately Claudia had issues with hers and mine seemed to be stuck on loudspeaker so whenever I turned it on to listen, everyone around me could hear it too! This was handy for Claudia, but people who were trying to listen to a 'real person' guide could have been confused!! To top it off, the numbers on the map didn't correspond with the numbers on the buildings so sometimes the audio was very confusing!! The lesson from this?? I noticed people had books about Pompei and they were consulting these to read about the points of interest. The guided tours were really big and expensive so I'd probably stick with the books or buy the audioguides from inside the site. 

Anyway.... Pompei is massive - much much bigger than Herculaneum and there were still many frescoes and tiled floors that were in great condition. The city just goes on and on and there's still a lot of excavation and restoration work going on. Many of the buildings date back to 5BC and some restoration had been done on them in 67AD after there had been an earthquake. Some of these renovations weren't yet completed when the volcano erupted in 79 AD. 

Today was really hot and glary and believe it or not I've managed to lose two hats in the past few days so I was feeling a bit sun struck! Claudia hasn't lost anything except her dignity when she fell on the footpath yesterday and lay sprawled on the footpath in front of me!! 

She's a bit bruised and sore today but thankfully didn't break anything! It occurred to me that neither of us know the emergency number to call in Italy - better get onto that! I did mention to Claudia that we could find a walking frame for her. She didn't find that particularly amusing - not sure why. I'm only trying to help. Anyway she's getting a lot of mileage out of me managing to lose two hats as well as nearly losing a bag with a gift inside which I left in a cafe! 

We've decided to go to the Isle of Capri tomorrow. This will mean an early start (aargh!), the train into Naples and then the ferry.