Pompeii, Italy

As previously stated, driving out of Naples scared the ever living daylights out of me, and I was still in a blacked out haze when we arrived in Pompeii. All I could think about was getting to Amalfi and the beach asap. Joe was quite persistent on stopping in Pompeii and I tried to sneakily talk him out of it, but he wasn't having it. We found a spot to park our Ford Focus, and headed in to the city.

Pompeii is a Roman city that dates all the way back to the 8th century BC. Mount Vesuvius is located nearby, and it erupted in 79 AD, completely covering the city and its inhabitants in liquid hot "magma." The volcanic ash perfectly preserved the city underneath it, and it was accidentally discovered and excavated nearly 2000 years later. 

You can walk around the ancient city and see their homes, amphitheaters, bath houses, public fountains, and other buildings exactly the way that they were left when the volcano erupted. Once we started walking around, I calmed down and was so happy Joe forced me to go. 

walking around a park square

in the streets for their chariots, they had two ruts dug out for the wheels to fit in

in someones house

in the middle of a neighborhood

hanging with a Pompeii pup

the tall stones in the street are made for crossing when there is mud covering the street below them

The lava covered the town so quickly that people didn't have time to save themselves. When the archaeologists dug up the remains, they would often find holes in the ash with human remains inside. They filled the holes with plaster to make exact casts of the positions that people were in when they were killed by the heat. 

a bunch of uncovered artifacts like wine jugs, and a plaster cast of a Pompeian

this guy was covering his face

had to crop out Joe's travel socks

Mount Vesuvius in the background

Pompeii is one of the neatest places I have ever been. I'm not much of a history buff but it is so cool to see how advanced the Pompeians were before the time of Christ and to walk around an actual village that is just the way they left it. It was an amazing place to visit!

We had lunch and then hit the road onward to Amalfi!

he only had one beer I promise