Tuesday 4 March 2014

Task #17: Visit Pompeii

About three or fours year ago I learnt about Pompeii. A town at the base of Mt Vesuvius near Naples, Italy - which was completely covered by the mountains volcanic eruption in AD 79. No one knew the town existed until about the 17th century and when they started to excavate they found that the lava and ash had basically protected the buildings from decay. Not only that, but the lava had basically provided a cast around human bodies. So when the scientists started digging around they found bodies that had been buried for almost 2000 years and where left in a cast. I was fascinated by this and when my Dad asked me what is my top destination in Europe, I immediately said Pompeii!

So last week, my parents and I flew to Naples to explore the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and of course Pompeii. It was a wonderful week exploring the area. But, without a doubt, Pompeii was the highlight!

We got there early (around 9am) and set about exploring - no one else was there! It was fantastic! There  were houses of all classes, an amphitheater, stores, and parks. They also had a lot of artifacts on display, which included pots from houses and also some human casts on display. It was so eerie to realize that an entire civilization was wiped out by one volcanic eruption.




Some of the human casts were in positions of terror, there was even a cast of a dog. It's a beautiful place and I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to be transported back to the first century AD.....


Hopefully, I'll return and be put under Pompeii's spell once again...