Sweet Pompeii, honey, we are finally on our way to meet you!
Day 8 of our adventure and we checked out of the Trevi Hotel and began our Emerald Bus tour for the next 5 days. In a nutshell our tour involved discovering the beauty of Sorrento via Naples, then visiting Pompeii and admiring the stunning coast and picturesque turquoise sea of the Amalfi coast. And yes, part of that was taken from our tour catalogue.
This part of the trip was stunning! I might add though that by this point we hadn’t swum in a pool yet or the ocean – and we had been taking showers to cool ourselves down from the heat. Rome was amazing, but it was humid in the city. Unlike when we travelled in Greece, there was always a pool or the local beach to cool down at. Next time – we needed to book a hotel with a pool.
So Day 1 of our Emerald tour and in the early morning we took a taxi to the local tour company and departed from Rome to Naples. A local guide took us on a walking tour of the historical centre to admire the Piazza del Plebiscito, the Royal Palace, the Gallery of Umberto I, and the San Carlo Opera House. More and more stunning architecture of Italy. We had lunch at a traditional restaurant – so more pasta, more gelato, and more food. We met a lovely American couple on the tour who were on their honeymoon.
Next we continued on our bus tour to Pompeii! While driving there we passed Mount Vesuvius and you can’t help but have thoughts cross your mind about the danger it still beholds. By this point as well I was so excited to get to Pompeii. I had studied the ancient town in Year 12 as part of my Ancient History subject for the HSC (it’s a requirement) and I’ve been yearning to visit this well-preserved archaeological site. When we arrived and before we entered into the site, the whole entrance point was filled with flea markets selling pottery, cameo shells, jewellery, magnets, towels, calendars – everything marketable you could think of, they had it. And of course, I noted a couple of things down that I wanted. Particularly a cameo shell.
We visited a proper coral and cameo factory (so expensive!) but if you have the money and you wanted to buy something in that category, the offer was there. We then proceeded to the excavations of the ancient Roman city and I was like a kid hyped up on sugar running around their very own playground that was filled with so many things to see, and do, and touch. But like every kid, if you’re told not to touch something, you shouldn’t, and you don’t. There was so much to see and do. We didn’t go see the whole site because of the limitation of time and the tour, but I was warned in 2013 by tourists we met at Olympia in Greece that you needed 2 days on your own in Pompeii (one sweet day when I return). We saw the gymnasium, brothel (the concrete beds were so tiny), the amphitheatre, the marble and mosaic floors, the gorgeous cobblestone streets, the tavernas, the house of Menander, frescoes, the baths, and eventually we ended up at the Forum. It was humbling and amazing to see all the architectural detail throughout the whole city – and to think that this town had once been thriving before the 79 AD eruption.
I did find it slightly misleading that as we were exiting the site there were sculptures by a modern, polish artist, Igor Mitoraj, who has his work on display, particularly the massive Apollonian sculpture, the Daedalus (Dedalo) and the bronze Centaur at the Forum. Tourists, like myself, could be easily mislead to believe this sculpture to be a well-preserved artefact, when it’s only a piece of art inspired and influenced by Ancient Roman and Greek art. You wouldn’t know this unless you did the research. The site is being used as an artist’s open exhibition space. This is an interesting and ethical topic to discuss.
However, nonetheless, walking the streets of Pompeii fulfilled my seventeen year-old self’s dream of visiting this timeless archaeological site.
More information
– Greece & Italy holiday organised by Greece and Mediterranean Travel Centre
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Claire Catacouzinos | Writer & Editor 