Herculaneum - overcoming language barriers

On Sunday morning we again headed to the Circumvesuviana train, this time not going quite as far along the line. We hopped off the train at Ercolano, and walked through the town, down the hill to the ruins of Herculaneum. What struck me as we were walking through the town was the sheer number of people just standing around on the streets talking to each other. I'm not sure if it was because it was a Sunday morning and it was after/before church, but there were a lot of people just hanging about!

We arrived at Herculaneum, and you instantly get a feel for how small it is, especially after Pompeii. It is set into a hillside (which of course was put there by the volcano eruption, and now holds the modern town). We walked down the hill to the main entrance, grabbed 2 audio guides and headed into the town.

We headed into the first building, which was the remains of a house. I found a small section of a mosaic floor which was sticking out of the ground. I bent over and took a photo, only to have one of the staff members come up to me and show me another piece protruding from the ground. He then proceeded to show me another piece and uncovered it more with his fingers. Then he let Scott and Lindsay know that he was going to show me something else by saying "photo, photo" and gesturing to them that they should wait. He led me behind a barrier and into a cave-like area which had a lovely example of a mosaic floor, as well as some stucco and the remains of a water pipe "aqua" sticking out of the wall.

For the next hour or so this delightful gentleman gave the three of us a tour of the site, all in Italian. Through my limited knowledge of French, Italian words that sounded like English or I recognised as being related to English (ah the beauty of Latin!!), and lots of sign language and miming, we learnt a great deal about life in Herculaneum. We found out his name was Pascal, and he really made our day. He was very entertaining, patient and kind. He also pointed out all the places for easy access for Lindsay "papa, papa". :-D

Our other find of the day was a ginger cat. As some of you may or may not know, I grew up with a ginger cat, so I have a soft spot for them. He was lovely and really really friendly. So friendly in fact that he followed us around for quite a while, and snuggled right into my neck, purring loudly and then promptly sucked on my shirt. Weird cat!! I miss having an animal to cuddle so it was lovely to have some feline attention. And it brought back a lot of memories to have ginger cat hair stuck to my clothes. :-)


After our "guided tour" and the cat, we left feeling very happy about our day there. We took the train away from Naples towards Sorrento and wandered the streets. Had a look at the view of the Bay of Naples and took some pictures, then headed back up to the town. We did a bit of window shopping, and followed the trend by wandering down the streets, in the middle of the road! I was astounded at just how many people were out and about. Scott and I have decided that we would like to go back to Sorrento, and to Pompeii of course!


Monday was our last day in Naples, so we decided to spend it in the city itself. We took the fernicular railway up to Castel St Elmo for the 360 degree views of the city. We were not disappointed! Naples was a little smoggy though. Then we headed down the hill using a different furnicular railway to just basically walk the streets and head back towards the hotel.

Naples is an interesting city. Not as aesthetically pleasing as other cities I have been in, but pleasant. It was lively with the markets on the street and the hustle and bustle. Clothes hung from every balcony.

We picked up our bags at the hotel and headed to the station. I took the bus to the airport for my flight back to London, while Scott and Lindsay took a train to Rome to continue the adventure.














Herculaneum from above and original metal feature of a house in Herculaneum.

Pizza, Pompeii, and photos galore!

Scott's dad arrived on the 10th of January (last Wednesday). And on Friday afternoon the three of us flew to Naples from Stanstead airport. Our hotel was very centrally located, and we had two adjoining rooms separated by a short hallway and the bathroom. On our first evening there we went for a wander around the hotel in search of dinner. Of course, being in Naples, the choice had to be pizza. We were not disappointed!!

Saturday morning we were up and out of the hotel early (said hello to Mt Vesuvius from the steps of the hotel) and walked to the train station for the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. I was so excited to be going to see Pompeii, as it has been on my list for a while now. And I was not disappointed. We purchased a guide book and we were off to explore the ruins.

Pompeii was destroyed in 79AD by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, which still looms over the city and is the only active volcano in Europe. The city was buried under ash and pumice for over 1700 years until a local architect accidentally discovered it after tunneling in the area and discovered some inscriptions. And in 2007, I wandered about the city, as the Pompeiians had done, although our views were quite different!!

I had mixed feelings about the place - excitement that I was finally there, sadness at the loss of all the people who disappeared one day, but above all, intrigue about how they lived, what people were thinking when the ash and lava came raining down on them on that fateful day.

The site itself is huge. We were walking practically the whole day, and we still did not see everything there. It was fascinating to discover new things about the people who lived there and the technologies they had. I found out how columns are constructed (bricks first, then the stucco), that many walls were beautifully and brightly painted, and Pompeii used to be situated 500 metres from the coast. After being buried, it was 2 kilometres from the water!

We were all completely exhausted at the end of the day, but it was certainly worth the sore feet! I had a fantastic day, as did Scott and Lindsay. And I took more that 200 pictures... not bad for one day, huh??

This is me under the Arch of Caligola, on the road leading into the Forum. Apologies for the sideways image!!

Groove marks in the stone roadway, presumably from the carts used by the inhabitants.

One of the many streets in Pompeii. The wooden barriers you can see are for conservation purposes.

The wall of a house with the shadows of the still-standing columns.

A storage area with a plaster cast of a victim.

First Post of the Year!!

Hello World!

It is the first day of 2007. Happy New Year to everyone. We had a quiet evening because I managed to get a cold, but we still had a lovely time. So now is the time to reflect upon 2006 and what we did.

January:

Flew back from Hungary a year ago today after spending a magical Christmas and New Year with my family

Spent a weekend in Sweden and Denmark

February:

Conference in Leicester

Spent Valentine's Day at the top of Tower Bridge

March:

Turned 26

Had our trip to Scotland cancelled as Scott became too ill to travel

Had to move out very quickly from our place in Beckton

Found out I had been hired for my museum

April:

Moved into our own place

Anzac Day service in Hyde Park

May:

Went to Hampton Court Palace

Went to Chatham Dockyard

June:

Went to Sarah and Jake's wedding in Cambridge

Went to York

Went to Portsmouth

July:

Became a Hungarian citizen

Scott's sister Kim came to stay for a week

Went on a Thames sailing barge

August:

Trip to Scotland

September:

Open House London weekend - saw the Rose theatre and Brunel's tunnel

October:

Had our two year anniversary of living in London

Caught up with an old family friend, Aliza

November:

Lord Mayor's Show

Sent off 32 tiny hats for a charitable cause

Weekend in Amsterdam - and flew on a 50 seater plane!!

December:

Scott went to Barcelona for a football game

Went to Bristol and Cardiff

Christmas party in a fine setting (the City of London Guildhall)

Iron Maiden concert

Saw my first football match

Went to a bar made completely of ice!!

So there you have it. Our year in pictures. This is just a brief summary of all the things Scott and I have done over the last 12 months. It has been a fun ride - we have laughed hysterically, cried, but generally had a smashing good time! To everyone reading this I hope you have a fantastic new year and that it brings all that you desire! :-)