Took a train from Rome to Pompeii. I really enjoyed the ride. It was a very relaxing and scenic ride. Pompeii really was awesome but for some reason we didn't get to visit Heracleum. It is amazing how well preserved everything is and Vesuvius definitely looms ominously in the background. I couldn't help but think about getting encased in lava rocks to be discovered in a few thousand years by people who wonder what happened. I was saddened to find that the Villa of the Mysteries was temporarily closed while I was there. Thank goodness I've seen the watercolors at the Kelsey Museum! We did get to spend a good amount of time at Pompeii. I wish we could stay even longer!
After Pompeii we took a bus to Naples. The picture on this post is from the bus ride. I thought the tickets were beautiful. Mine (the one on the right got read and bent), my friend Reesa gave me her ticket which she never ran through the reader so I could have a nice copy. Naples was absolutely beautiful and I could imagine myself living here...if only I spoke Italian! Southern Italy in general seems to be where the wealthier citizens live and is definitely more interesting in my mind that the Northern part of the country.
July 18, 1995 (Tuesday)
We left Naples and traveled to Brindisi. Brindisi was known as Brindisium and was originally a Greek colony before becoming a port of the Romans. Today it is still a port where travelers can see many shops dedicated to tourism travel packages and lots of tourist trap shops. We went down to the sea and the beach which was welcome.