Day 21 Naples & Pompeii

So we hit Napoli and Pompeii today. Our tour started out in the town of Sorrento, where our guide Sasha had arranged a nice Italian meal for us. After lunch we watched a demonstration on inlaid wood carving. This art is absolutely beautiful, and they informed us that there is a lack of young people wanting to take up this profession. I bought a beautiful music box, which will make a lovely addition to our home. Then we had an hour or so to wander and shop. Sorrento produces many of the bottles of Lemoncello that you buy today, so of course we bought a few souvenir bottles. The lemons that are grown in Sorrento are huge, I have never seen anything like it!

The trip to Pompeii took a while, but we did get to have a quick photo stop. Once arriving in Pompeii we stopped to watch a man carving a shell to make earrings and necklaces. They were beautiful, but quite expensive. Then Sasha took us through the ruins of Pompeii. The preservation of the town of Pompeii is absolutely phenomenal! There are roads, where you can still see the groves caused by the chariot wheels. The shops which have been excavated are still intact with the exception o most of the roofs. The ash that fell caused most of them to collapse under the weight. The city sits on 4 square miles, so we only had time to see a portion of it. Our guide managed to keep us there until the last minute so we could see as much as possible. We went into a large family villa, where the frescos on the walls are still very much intact and visible. The original wooden door still stands as well, though caked in ash to this day to preserve the wood.

We also saw a brothel which during the excavation of Pompeii, they located 21 of them all on the same street. A phallic symbol at the beginning of the street on the ground marks the start. As well, there are phallic carvings above every brothel door. They also used frescos to depict specific positions available to guests! Our guide said that it’s due to the fact that many men were coming from other cities and possibly didn’t speak the language, so the images spoke for them!

We also saw the plaster casts of the bodies located in Pompeii. They have to pour the plaster over the bones to preserve them so they don’t disintegrate. There was even a dog forever frozen in terror from being chained up and left behind. A pregnant woman was found protecting her face, as the poisonous gas is what killed most people before the ash fell. Visiting Pompeii was an amazing experience, one that I fully recommend to all.

After dinner tonight onboard, we went to the show. It was a married duo that plays the electric violin and the guitar. They played some Celtic music and some other styles as well. They were quite good. Then it was on to perform in the superstar competition. There were 8 of us competing, and given that my cold is in the stage where I have a hard time trying not to cough, I thought I was not half bad. Geoff said he was impressed though. I didn’t make it into the top four, but some of the contestants they chose due to there on stage theatrics more than anything else. It was a fun end to a long day!