On the next two days after Vesuvius and Herculaneum, Wednesday and Thursday, I took trips to the ruins of ancient Pompeii. What an experience. This trip reminded me of how much I've learned about Europe and never even considered I would see. When I heard about the Mona Lisa, or Michelangelo's David, or the ruined city of Pompeii, I never dreamed I would see those places. They were like some faraway story that people who write textbooks have seen. But now I have experienced some of those things I was told about growing up. It's just so amazing because I did not see it as a possibility. Yet, there I stand in the ruins of Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius behind me.
Walking through a whole city made of ruins is, in one word, unique. It's like a museum where everything you touch, walk on, and look at is history (well, besides the metal gates and groups of school kids). The city was set up with grids of buildings and simple North-to-South, East-to-West streets. The buildings were like cubicles, each about the same size with one opening and a destroyed, open-air roof. The points of interest were all the places that defer from this pattern; the arena, the odeon, the forum, the large wealthy homes, bathhouses, etc. To see everything in Pompeii with each point of interest explained would probably take 2.5 days. With my two days I saw everything available, because some areas were closed and I had only a booklet as a guide. Still, I feel like I learned more information of historical significance than any other trip. I've narrowed down my images to a manageable number so you aren't looking at every wall of Pompeii.
See the album of Pompeii Ruins here.
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