Anybody Seen Victor Mature?

Greetings. It’s a wrap in Roma and Geoff and Linda were met at their hotel for the tram ride to Roma Termini, the big train station. There was time to purchase pannini and Geoff downed 12 or 13 lattes. No problem getting to Napoli.

Now there is a town outside Napoli (my cousins will have to help me out here) where Grandma Rienzo grew up and started to raise her family. Several stories have circulated concerning her life there. What seems to be the case was that she had several children in the United States (ensuring citizenship) and then would return to Napoli. When Chris’ mom was born the Rienzo family stayed in the Bronx. Mom never did make it back though her ashes did make it to Venezia.

At the Napoli station there was a lot of activity and some confusion as to where to get the train to Pompeii. It was determined it was a separate local line and could be found downstairs. Chris succumbed to a uniformed staff member’s offer to buy their tickets and get them on the right train. This did work but it cost six euro for the privilege. He did cut in the ticket line and ensured that we would be able to make the next train. But after we boarded said train we were not sure of how grateful we were. There were more tourists than one could throw mouse ears at all standing shoulder to shoulder, valigia a valigia…for almost all of the 17 local stops before Pompeii Scavi (not to be confused with Pompeii the current town).

Upon arrival Chris phoned the limo service that would take them all to Positano after their tour and everything was ‘va bene’. A driver would meet them at 3:30 allowing 4 hours for investigation.

We-e-e-ll-ll-ll…as it became apparent you would need about 4 days to establish ground rules for exploration, a few years of archaeological training and a 4 year lease on a nearby villa to do some justice to this experience.

On August 24, 79 (yep that be a two digit year) from 10 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon, Mount Vesuvius literally blew its top along with some earth shattering. Pompeii was buried in 10 to 20 feet of dust, debris, pumice while Herculaneum was engulfed in lava also. Not really a good day…

About 60 percent or so of Pompeii has been excavated with current efforts more focused on preservation of what has been exposed as opposed to breaking ground on the rest of the city. And we are talking a city here folks.

This posting will basically show pictures and have some labels. Everyone was overwhelmed and the flow of the experience cannot be conveyed here. Taking it all in was not possible and the process is actually still continuing even though the group has moved on:

Avenues and streets:

Notice here the ‘beaver teeth’ in the street to prevent carts and chariots from ingressing on pedestrian areas. There were some raised stones low enough for vehicles to pass over but convenient for stepping over puddled streets.

 

that would be the exterminator Vesuvius in the archway.

Much of Roman life was familiar from one end of the Mediterranean to the other. So there was a main forum:

The Temple of Jove, of course, was here overseeing business and socializing alike.

Another active meeting place was the Triangular Forum:

This was essentially the theater district. The Romans knew how to put on a show. In Pompeii there was an amphitheater, a stage theater and an Odeon. The stage and Odeon were part of the area by the Triangular Forum. This was also complemented by an open exercise area called the Palaestra where one could exercise or fine tune some fighting skills.

 That would be Linda way up there.

Also nearby was a Temple to Isis, always a special place for Chris.

It was just amazing how much of life seemed and looked familiar. Chris and Maurizio, Mary T’s cousin, have a slight disagreement going. Maurizio, an informative historian to be respected, feels that all ages should be evaluated equally for their culture and contributions. Chris, however, perhaps being a technophile, prefers Roman times to Medieval or even Renaissance in terms of when to have lived.

Fast food has been available in all eras but here is the Pompeiian version:

Each recessed area would be appropriately insulated for hot or cold offerings. And there has to be bread and pizza:

 Gristmills for grinding:

  Hello Gini! Notice places to put rods so that the mills can be turned by hand or animal.

 And you must have an oven.

It was not uncommon for women to run or own businesses here. Some villas were assigned to female owners.

Maybe not so familiar (unless you live in Iceland) was the idea of the public bath. There were 6 of them in Pompeii. Three for men and three for women. You could bathe hot or cold or go for the steam.

As for the houses this is where it was difficult to get a handle. Every town has wealthy people and it is obvious where they live. Here in Pompeii there were many, many examples of very nice residences. So many had an open atrium centrally located and most likely where dining took place; a living room with a shallow pool or fountain, gardens…

Murals:

Mosaics everywhere especially in their entryways and around their pools and fountains:

Commemorating Alexander:

And the weighing of a phallus would definitely be unfamiliar:

The most dramatic would be the capturing of the empty space of the disintegrated bodies. Once these voids were encountered then molten plaster was injected with dramatic results:

3:30 arrived and we staggered out to meet our ride. What had we just seen? If the Roman Forum radiated residual energy what was impacting everyone here? So on to Positano but memories of Pompeii filled our minds and conversation.

If It's Sunday This Must Be Roma

Greetings. They were due to arrive, we thought, at 10 AM and then work their way to the train station where we could fine tune a plan. Somewhere would be a phone call. After checking Aer Lingus’ website it became clear that the earliest flight would be a little after 11 AM. Finally at 12:30 after a couple of calls to their hotel which was one block down from Hotel Eugenio Principe it was decided to go to their hotel and ambush them there.

This worked. At a little after one there’s Geoff hauling his suitcase up the stairs followed by his lovely bride Linda. This hotel, though inexpensive, had the look and feel of a good place. As a survival strategy Italian coffee was immediately produced and downed.

Temple Minerva restaurant from the day before seemed like a good choice again. It was close and the food was good.

A short walk brought us to the Metro where we took on the automatic ticket machines and wangled 4 twenty four hour passes. This brought us to Barberini again where we headed for tourist central, the Trevi:

Such a lovely couple recreating their Roman honeymoon magic from 30 years ago. Not quite so hungover as last time as the uncommon denominator.

A rare sight to see these two smiling:

Coins were tossed and then the next destination was targeted, the Pantheon.

Our literary and cultural references got crossed similar to the end of Blazing Saddles as we encountered an attractive duo:

Pancho? Cisco? Don? Sancho? Chi lo sa?

And then again there is the legend of the lonely tourist:

Even though the excuse was for finding an ATM, the group wended and wended along many small streets dedicated to separating a tourist from their money. An inexpensive umbrella was purchased in anticipation of tomorrow’s sun at Pompeii.

The major destination of the day was soon reached, Piazza Navona.

This Roman gathering place is also famous for its fountains:

The ambience was heightened by music:

And phenomena:

Linda had researched an article describing not only the many offerings of the Piazza but also of the attractive nature of the nearby neighborhoods. She was quite astute to have done this as we found ourselves seeking out many of the narrow streets until we found ourselves at the Tiber River on the other side from the Vatican.

A perfect time for gelato and rest. At this point Geoff and Linda thought it was 39 o’clock and Geoff had not even napped for over 24 hours. Bravely we continued on.

Cute and fun:

We found a wonderful café to order spritzes and coffee. It was an incredible setting:

This is the last recorded evidence of either Geoff or Linda being even close to vertical on that day:

Gini and Chris bid them a’ dopo and had a nice intimate (sharing a table with six other people) dinner at Taverna Antica. It was a 12 Euro dinner complete with lasagna, veal covered with prosciutto and a good glass of wine. Rest now because domani Pompeii awaits. Ciao.