The weekend was interesting, to say the least. We learned SO MUCH at Pompeii thanks to our amazing tour guide Mario, had awkward moments with our hostel owner, Giovanni, and enjoyed Naples for its intensity and craziness.
To start: Our arrival to Naples.
We got into Naples around 7 at night, so it was dark and we didn't get to see the city. We were starving and since this place is where pizza all began, we wanted to get some! We checked into our hostel, thinking we would just drop our stuff off and then head out for a quick bite to eat. Nope, didn't happen.
Giovanni, our hostel owner (see above picture), told us "No, you can't leave. I am cooking dinner tonight." Uhhhh Ok.? We tried to protest but he wouldn't budge on the issue. We were in for the night. This would have been ok, and even sweet, but he turned out to be a horrible cook! and he was kind of uhh.... rude to us? Looking back on his behavior now, we decided that he just treated us like family from the very beginning. And, I guess he treats his family a bit sharply. It was ok, but not the normal "welcome!" greeting you get at places. It was ok though, and we went forward with the night on the lookout for more awkward and interesting moments. They definitely presented themselves!
First, we waited 2 hours for him to actually get dinner ready. It was some weird concoction of pumpkin and rice in a huuuuuge pot. It may sound good but it wasn't. He served it to us all (19 or so people) and we all ate together. He said, "Hmm just like prison" as he served it. He had that kind of dry humor and I guess it just took us a while to catch on to it.
So dinner was interesting: 2 Germans, 5 Americans, 8 Koreans, 3 Canadians, 1 Aussie, and Giovanni. Quite the mix of people! After dinner, Giovanni busted out his guitar, harmonica, and ciagarette. As the weekend went on, Erica and I became convinced that he was smoking more than tobacco in those things. Buuuuuut this part of the evening was really fun: we all sang together and listened to Giovanni sing us an Italian ballad. It was tons of fun, albeit a bit awkward since he kept making weird faces and sticking out his tongue! Please note: the cigarette in hand while he played!!
Pompeii:
The next morning we went to Pompeii. Every museum, archaeological site etc... was free this weekend for a special cultural events week, which was great news for us! Before we even got to the ruins, we were asked by a juice-stand man to take a picture. Naploiteans are very straightforward and tell you what they are thinking. In this case, he thought Erica was hot stuff. He was so cute though, so exited to get a picture with her!
After that little detour, we went into the ruins and were immediately met by the cutest old man who offered us a tour. We were planning on getting a tour guide anyway, and he ended up being THE BEST tour guide we could have asked for. We were guaranteed a 2 hour personal tour (just Erica, him, and me) but he was so nice and we were all having so much fun it lasted 3 hours. We then stayed another 4 to explore the rest of the city. Seriously, this place is so huge we didn't even begin to see half of it. It was utterly amazing.
This is us after the tour. Erica and I both couldn't get over how much we had learned from this guy- utterly fantastic. He has worked as a tour guide at Pompeii for 45 years and really loves this city. He was so cute about telling us things- got all excited and pointed out sites, saying "Oh, come now, take a look see". :Hurry hurry, quick! the trouble is coming" (as he let us see things that most people aren't allowed into) He literally MADE our Pompeii visit.
From here on out, I've added pictures, but they are out of order from how we saw things. I can't help that, and I can't possibly write about everything I learned. But, I promise I will fill you all in in person- I can't express how much I loved this place! I will always be willing to talk about it :)
One of the wider streets in Pompeii. See those big stones in the middle? They're for crossing the street when it was a bit flooded- stepping stones, if you will. These were everywhere! Kind of like cross walks, too, I guess. The indentations dug into the road are from the carts' iron wheels that repeatedly dug into the ground. They were especially prominent at intersections, which makes sense since people had to brake there- and the wheels therefore dug into the rock harder. I would write "oh! so cool!" because that's what I'm thinking about everything here, but that would get pretty repetitive, so I won't :)
A counter top. I want my kitchen to look like this someday.
Amazing frescos. Everywhere.
A restaurant! These holes had huge amphorae inserted in them and they put anything from wine to figs in them.
The public toilets! Mario was so funny here, and told us how these toilets just had a long bench with holes in them with a trench underneath. Apparently this became a good meeting place for people too, or at least a place where conversations were bound to happen, because, as he said, "What else do you do, when your neighbor turns to you and asks how business is?" You respond, "Oh, business is good today...." or "Uhhh! I'm glad your business is good, mine is a bit rough right now." Get it? Yeah, again, mildly inappropriate. Sorry.
Pretty fountain, all mosaics. So much intricate detail on everything!
Ok so these pictures are slightly inappropriate, but oh well. This is the vomitorium. Rich people wanted to impress their guests with how much food they had and could eat, so they ate a lot, vomited, and went for it again. Soooo we have a re-enactment.
Sorry if this grosses you out.
Famous famous Alexander the Great fresco from the House of the Faun.
Erica and I drinking from one of my many many public fountains. Mario told us that these were used as meeting places around town since people didn't have addresses the way we do now.
Me crossing the street on one of the stepping stones.
In the House of the Faun, aptly named because of the faun statue in the impluvium (water collecting pool in the center of the main entrance).
In the bakery! The wood burning stove is EXACTLY the same as the ones in restaurants today. You don't change a good thing! (Oh, I'm making a pizza in the stove)
Erica told me the tree smelled like butterscotch. It didn't, but she took this opportunity to take a picture of my stupidity.
It means "welcome" in latin. It's a built-in welcome mat!
Garden in one of the rich aristocrat's home. They actually set up the garden how it would have looked then- with the same plants and everything. Mario (our guide) was telling us how they look at the root fragments underground to figure that stuff out.
Beautiful frescoes like this were everywhere.
Ok now for some sad pictures. It is neat seeing the bodies preserved etc.. but it is also really sad.
This lady was pregnant.
Bones coming out of the ash casting.
This guy, underneath the ash, is holding a piece of cloth over his mouth to try and keep out the noxious fumes from the explosion. He was found sitting on his stairs, with the rest of his family in a back room. Scientists think he was trying to go out for help, and was stopped by the gases.
This was really sad- if you look closely, you can see 2 iron rings on the dog's neck. He was tied up during the explosion, so he couldn't run away.
Monks of course. But it's their location that's funny- we ran into them just as they left the brothel. With some very explicit pictures. Clearly, the one on the right is contemplating the sins he has just seen.
These were everywhere. On the edge of the sidewalks, these little holes were carved so people could quickly tie up their horses when they ran errands etc...
The main forum. Imagine this huge square surrounded by a rectangle, 2 stories high, with columns like this all around it.
That's not even close to everything I saw. Maybe more later, but my fingers hurt.
Oh!!! I almost forgot! I rode on a vespa!
This was quite possibly the scariest thing I've ever done but it was totally worth it. Giovanni took me around town to whizz past the sites. I have never seen such crazy driving! Right and left lanes don't mean anything in Naples- you drive where you want to. I don't think I'm going to take up any more offers for vespa rides, but I'm glad I've tried it once!
