Pompei is old
Trip Start
Aug 19, 2010
1
7
12
Trip End
Dec 26, 2010
Pompei, Campania, Italy
Friday, September 3, 2010
There aren't very many things as old as Pompeii that are still preserved in pretty remarkable condition. It's not too often that one gets to walk through a city that was built over 2,000 years ago, and there is definitely an eerie part of experiencing that which makes the 11 euro entrance fee well worth it. If you are traveling to Pompeii I recommend doing it on an overcast day and wearing very comfortable shoes. There is a lot of walking seeing how the complex is enormous and it is a rough walk over uneven cobblestones . Other advice: bring water and don't pay for a tour guide as you can just follow one around and listen to what they have to say. There are a few very eerie casts of people that died in the eruption of 79 A.D. and a couple of them you can actually see remnants of clothing or skull bone. There's something for animal lovers too, a couple dogs that are contorted into very uncomfortable looking positions.
FUN FACT: most of the animals in Pompeii sensed the eruption coming and were able to flee from the town, the only animals that died in the town were the dogs and sheep that were tied up on chains.
You see all the fun things you can learn from listening in to a tour guide? I went the whole day thinking that Vesuvius was an inactive volcano, which I now feel silly for because it is in fact active, and had I known that I would have paid 4.50 euro to hike to the top of it. Vesuvius is one of only three active volcanoes in Italy currently, and the only one that is on the mainland. (the other two are on islands) Also Vesuvius erupted in the 1940's I believe which makes it the only European volcano that has erupted in the past century. If that thing erupts like it did 2,000 years ago, there will be a whole lot of people S.O.L. but the slummy area could probably use a remodel architecturally and aesthetically speaking.
