Author: boneswk

From Monday

From Monday

From Monday’s Road Trip

From Sunday

From Saturday

More Pictures

More pictures

Here are some pictures, It takes a long time to upload from our apartment. This is group one.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

We slept in late today until almost 10 am. We have been up so early each day recently and stayed up later than we had desired. So we enjoyed a late morning. We took our time in having a light breakfast. I washed the towels as usual for our morning wash. The washer/dryer combination here takes about four hours to wash and then dry the towels, a seemingly endless time and we have found that doing it early when we usually leave is the best time. We don’t care if they are wrinkled or they shrink a little. At least they are clean and dry.

We usually just wash the clothes and let them air dry on the drying rack provided by the apartment. It takes about two hours normally for the wash but we found a “quick wash” feature that takes about an hour. It includes about 30 minutes of what they call drying. It means that the clothes are not dripping wet but just wet.

We went to the nearby market and got some lunch supplies. I hung around there a while so I could use their free WiFi again. It is very fast but today several other people were in there in the entrance area doing the same thing. It was fast but not as blazing fast as it was without all of us on it at one time. The entrance area has two bar type areas with bar stools so people can eat prepared meals, charge their phones, talk with others drink coffee and like me, use the free fast WiFi. Sandy did some shopping and took her time so I could upload the pictures to the cloud. We want a good backup of our pictures in case something happens to our phones.

We came back to the apartment around 2 pm and fixed lunch. We watched another episode of Midsomers Murders. Around 4:00 pm we went walking and did some window shopping and some shopping. I am again sworn to secrecy as to what was purchased. We have to keep some surprises. I stopped by our local gelato store and got some dark chocolate and dark cherry flavors. Both were great.

There was a nice piazza nearby which we had not been to, called the Piazza Navona. It is large. It has many nice restaurants and shops in and around it. Sandy was looking for a special kitchen store she had read about on the internet before we left home. We had the address and found the store, but the store was not there any more. It was a bar to the restaurant next door. They said the store closed a couple of years ago. The internet just keeps things on it you know. We walked around the area and took some pictures. Seeing large buildings with sculptures on the outside, up on the walls, on the roof and built into the buildings is getting old hat to us and not as impressive as it was when we arrived. I guess we are getting “Romed out” just like we got “cathedraled out” in other cities. The Piazza Navona has a large fountain in the middle of it with a huge oblique with large figures on each side with water running out of some of the figures.

Sandy found a few shops she liked and did some shopping.

We walked around a while. It was cool today, high in the 66 range and slight wind but not as strong as yesterday.

We headed back to the apartment. We stopped at the gelato store and I got a repeat of the dark chocolate and dark cherry flavors and Sandy got pistachio and dark cherry. She really liked her choices as well. After we got to the apartment and used the toilets, I went to the grocery store again to upload more pictures. I had started out at around 1970 or so the day before including the videos from Friday at the Vatican Museum. I got down to 410 when I left today. Some of the videos are long. Sandy also left and did some shopping while I was at the grocery store. We got back to the apartment about the same time.

We decided to go out for dinner but we were not really hungry. We did not want pasta or pizza. There was a burger and steak place on the way to the Pantheon and we went there. They had a large ribeye special with fries, an appetizer and a soft drink for 24 Euros. We got that and split it. I enjoyed some good red meat again.

We got back to the apartment around 10 pm or so. Sandy had figured how to use the washer/dryer just on the dryer setting and dried some clothes. I washed some shirts and clothes and then we went to bed later than we had planned. We had not decided on what to do tomorrow. Tomorrow is May Day and a national holiday. Some stores will be closed.

Monday, April 29, 2019

We got up early again today. We were to be picked up at the apartment between 6:45 am and 7:00 am to go to Pompeii for a small group tour. We were ready. We waited and got almost a little anxious when no car before 7:00 am but a black Mercedes van came about 7:05 am and picked us up. We had a guide, a guide in training, the driver and a couple from Oakland California, Debbie and Jim Beck going with us. After the introductions, off we went. It is a good two hour drive to Pompeii which is below Naples.

The guide talked about what we were seeing in the city as we drove through it. Once out of the city, she explained what we would be doing during the day. She explained the history of Pompeii. It suffered an earthquake in 66 AD and it was restored by the Roman government. It was a major port area for the Romans. In 79 AD the volcano destroyed the city entirely, covering it up with ash and debris. The damage was too extensive to rebuild and thus Naples developed as a big city. She talked about Naples being the largest seaport area of Italy now and having the most people, over 4 million. There is a natural harbor here divided into five major port receiving areas. China has recently purchased one of the larger port areas and their goods come in here for Italy and most of Europe.

We had a pit stop on the way. We talked to Debbie and Jim and got to know them better. We got to Pompeii around 9:45 am. We met another group of people from Kansas who were going to join us. The company that arranged our tour combined the groups to a total of about 12 people. Hector came and introduced himself. He has been doing the tour of Pompeii for 40 years. He was outgoing and walked very fast.

It started raining when we got to Pompeii. It had rained on and off on the way. We were given umbrellas. Before Hector got us all together and explained what he was going to do, it began to rain very hard. We thought, oh no, that was going to make things difficult. As we went through the gates and had to walk up a steep hill of large smooth stone, the rain almost stopped. By the time we got inside, the sun came out and no rain.

Hector said there were seven entrances to the city in the Roman times. The gate we were going through was for pedestrians and pack animals. It had a slope up as the city was raised up on the hill even further as the walls were built. This gate did not allow for chariots or carts as it had large stones blocking access for them. The slope was slightly slippery but we ascended into the ancient city.

Hector said the area was left alone after the volcano disaster for centuries. In the late 1500’s part of one of the walls was exposed but nothing was done other than noting it. In the late 1600 and early 1700’s some more became exposed and in the very late 1700 and early 1800 some excavations were done. An Italian archaeologist was put in charge. He recognized that the people, the animals that were killed in the explosion had decomposed but the volume in the area where they died was still in perfect condition. He came up with the idea of using a special mixture of liquid plaster to fill these voids as they found them. They waited several days, then carefully removed the debris and a perfect mold of the person or animal or furniture was left. A few of these molds are left here but most were sent to museums in Rome and around the world.

He said he would not take us to the amphitheater area as we have all seen them in one form or another other places. Pompeii had the largest amphitheater in the Roman times being able to seat comfortably over 30,000 people. It was built 150 years before the large one in Rome. He wanted us to see how the people lived, the rich with the large home, the average person, the store keeper and the slaves. This is known by research and the history of the time.

After entering, there is a large plaza area, the central area of the city. The walk way there had small white marble squares between the large stones. He said that was there to allow the moon light and the torch light to reflect and allow people to see their way at night. The main walkway and most major walkways were slightly recessed to form a curb. This allowed water to move away like it is in our cities now. On the edges of the curbs, there were often a hole in it cut at a 45 degree angle. This allowed for drainage of water from the side walks and also to place torches or large poles with flags during celebrations. There were stepping stone placed at certain areas so you could walk from one side of the side walk to the other without having to go down in the lower walkway. This allowed you not to get your feet wet when the water was flowing.

The main plaza area had at one end the curio, the seat of government officials and administrators for the city and representatives from the central government in Rome. At the opposite end of the plaza was a temple, the largest one in the city, for Jupiter, the main god. He had Juno and Minerva on either side of him. On each side of the temple were gates into the rest of the city, one named for Augustus and one for Tiberius. The central plaza had on one side an area for the merchants selling wares and the other side restaurants and food.

We went back into the main city area and saw a house of a rich person. It had an entry gate, then you could see further back an area that held a pool of water. That was the atrium area. It would have a roof above that slopped down and allowed rainwater to come down and fill the pool. It would be in a central courtyard. Then way behind that, there would be an altar for the god of the family that had protected the family in the past. Rooms for the owners then came off this area. The kitchen was in a separate area of the house. They had an oven, like in a typical pizza parlor now. They had their own millstones to grind corn and wheat. They had serving areas and large holes to hold pots that were kept warm by a fire underneath. All this is known as the pizza area or oven was made of brick, the millstones were of stone and the serving area made of marble, all surviving the volcano.

We saw a covered area of the many objects they have recovered, jars, pots, household metal utensils, etc. There were exhibits of plaster casts of people, a dog, etc. Most of the very fancy mosaics were carefully taken down and sent to Rome and displayed at various museums. However, they had two houses here showing the mosaics and how the rooms were decorated. The painting were frescos, painted on wet plaster and still remain. Even now you can see how striking they were.

There were 42 public fountains in the city. Each one had a different picture in stone of an animal or a god. This way you could say meet me at the rabbit fountain later today. The fountains were fed by an aqueduct with water from the mountains nearby. The city had a slight slope to allow gravity drainage. The city had several large cisterns which allowed water storage and also to give pressure to the water system, like the large water tanks in cities today.

The city had three public baths, the largest one behind the main temple. The water here did not come from a naturally heated source, so on one side was the woman’s quarters and baths, the central area was a heating area and the other side was the men’s quarters. The baths allowed for good hygiene. A sewer system was in place also. He showed us a public latrine area. They were placed around the city.

Hector was a source of knowledge. We were lucky the rain had stopped and the sun came out when we were inside. He was very quick on his feet and we had to almost run to keep up with him from one area to another. We took many pictures. He showed us areas where the chariots came in and out and there were groves in the stone in some areas where the chariots and the carts were in heavy use. The width of the chariots and carts are the same width as the US train tracks.

We were back at the entrance at 12:05 pm and were joined by our tour guides again. The driver drove us to a winery just outside of Naples where we had a very nice lunch. We got to know Debbie and Jim better. He had retired recently from AT&T as a personal director. She is a retired nurse administrator. They are traveling now. They had been in Italy several weeks. They went to Sicily and spent a week there. They met another couple and rented a car and drove around the island. They had been at the tip of the boot of Italy for several day and are heading to Budapest on May 1 to join another group of friends to do a Viking cruise on the Danube.

They like wine, mainly Zins like we do. They have a house in Sonoma also. We talked about various wineries we like. They travel often. Last year they took a four month trip of the USA. They have a daughter and a grandchild in the eastern shore of Maryland. They have two sons also, all grown. They are our age. We talked about our trips as well.

After lunch, we were driven into Naples and got to see the city, although very quickly. Our guide showed us the port from a good viewpoint and then we went into the city and saw areas of interest. Many people were about. She took us to a famous coffee shop and pastry shop. We went to a huge galleria. We went to a fort build by a French King when he invaded and occupied Naples for a while. Again we took pictures.

Our driver picked us up, it was close to 6 pm. Off we went back to Rome. We got into the city around 8 pm. He dropped off Debbie and Jim first at their hotel near Republic Square and we were dropped off at our apartment about 8:20 pm. It had been a long day. We debated what to do about supper.

We went to the local market and got some pasta and sauce and a bottle of wine. They were out of bread so we went to the other market around the corner. They had only two croissants left and we got them. Sandy made a very nice dinner. We had salad fixings in the fridge and ate them too. We watched another episode of Midsommers Murders and went to bed.

Sorry no pictures yet. The grocery store near by has fast internet Wifi and I plan to go and hang around there to upload them. This blog site will not publish them unless uploaded first. I cannot post from my phone.