Pompeii

Pompeii has to be one of the most incredible places you can visit on earth. It's as close to a time machine as we are going to get. Most of the ruins that we have seen in Greece, Sicily and even Rome are archaeological sites. Pompeii is an entire city.

Most other sites were destroyed by nature and mankind over thousands of years, and have been restored as much as possible to give us an idea of the past glory. The Coliseum in Rome was stripped of marble and limestone over the years to build other structures throughout Italy. Even sections of the Vatican have been built by recycled parts of the Coliseum!

But Pompeii is different. The city, and it's inhabitants, were frozen in time, buried in 10 feet of ash, cinder and rock. For almost 2,000 years it was left untouched by man. What nature had destroyed in 79 AD, it protected, from then on, like a jewel for future mankind to marvel.

It's fascinating to see the parts of the city that were every day life. You can really feel the difference versus many other sites we had visited. We had seen the grand temples to the Gods, or huge ancient arenas, but most stand alone or are surrounded by complete ruins. Pompeii has long streets lined with shops and restaurants. The homes have courtyards and gardens. There are still grooves in the stone streets where horse drawn carts made their way to the markets.

Along every street there are Thermpolias, which were basically fast food lunch stands serving hot food. They have currently discovered 89, and some look as if they could still be serving food.

A few of the fascinating finds were carbonized loafs of bread in The House of the Baker, and even a plate a spaghetti!

But stand at any of the tiny intersections, and look north, and you will see Mount Vesuvius and be reminded of why this is all here.

Many of the people we spoke with before visiting the city recommended 2 to 4 hours to see everything. Our experience was a little different. After 8+ hours, if it wasn't for closing time, we'd have stayed longer. And to think, they only have four-fifths of the site excavated. We actually were trying to figure out how they would find us if we hid in one of the houses and slept there over night! How do you cut short your day in a time machine?

It's difficult to think about the tragic death of the people who lived here. Most of the inhabitants of Pompeii headed to the shore after Vesuvius erupted in a futile attempt to escape. Some took shelter in their basements, but poisonous gases accompanied the ash and there was no air to breath. Many people perished in the streets, their bodies covered by the volcanic debris. The bodies had long turned to ash, but the volcanic ash surrounding the bodies stayed in tacked to create a perfect mold of their final hours. The excavators preserved these incredible finds by creating the now famous plaster casts of the spaces that they found. The attached photo shows a person sitting, and as you stand in front of it you can feel a tiny piece of the emotions the people of Pompeii must have felt on that morning of August 24th, 79 AD.

As we were wandering down a back street, and found that one of the more intact homes was closed to the public. There was a worker there doing the painstakingly delicate work of restoring the home. He notice us standing out front, clearly disappointed. He came out front, looked both ways to make sure we were not with a tour group, and waved us in! He gave us the private tour, room by room, of the surprisingly vibrant frescoes painted on the walls 2,000 years earlier. He did not speak a word of English, but smiled every time we whispered "bella" (beautiful).

A simple "grazie" could never repay him for the special invite, but if we have learned anything, it's that the people here realize how lucky they are to have these treasures, and how proud they are to share it with people who appreciate it. They are not looking for repayment. They are lucky, but we feel like we are the lucky ones to have spent a day in the time machine known as Pompeii.