The first stop on our cruise after departing from Rome was Naples, and we opted to spend our day in Pompeii rather than Naples itself.
Tip: wear sturdy shoes when you come here, the old cobbled streets are not kind for sandals.
The trip to Pompeii was with an excursion group. Firstly we got off from the cruise in Naples and walked through the cruise terminal to the busy Via Nuova Marina to get our bus to the Pompeii. The trip passed the enormous Vesuvius mountain, left with a crater in the middle from the initial eruption.
Our excursion did not include a guided instead we just made our own way around Pompeii, which was probably preferable as you don’t have to stick around and listen to the bits you’re uninterested in.
Like Rome beforehand, the heat in Pompeii was too much to stand around in if you didn’t have to.
The first thing that strikes you about Pompeii is the scale of it, I had always imagined it was just a small village, famous as some of the remains have been preserved, however, it was quite a bit Roman settlement, especially for its’ time, with a population of 15,000. Pompeii isn’t the only town to have been destroyed by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption. Herculaneum on the coast was a resort town for the Roman Elite with a population of 5,000 that was destroyed, as were many smaller towns such as Oplontis and Stabiae.
The people in Pompeii that didn’t flee after the initial explosion (approximately 15% of the 15,000 population) were not killed by lava, it was volcanic ash carrying poisonous gas that killed the people of Pompeii, and the ash has allowed so much of Pompeii to remain (relatively) intact over the years.
We walked around as much of it as we could before the heat got overbearing, rather than try and regurgitate more facts about this famous Volcanic village, I will share photographs from my trip instead.
Tourists taking refuge from the sun beneath one of the old temple’s pillars
Upon our return to Naples, we felt we couldn’t step foot in Naples, without trying authentic Neapolitan pizza, so we embarked on a journey to locate some. I opted for bacon and pistachio toppings on mine. Highly recommend.
We had a drink before re-embarking on the cruise, in the little cafe where we grabbed a quick drink, we realised Diego Maradona may have passed, but his legacy in Naples never will. He is worshipped there.
And last but not least, a parting shot of Vesuvius behind Naples as we were leaving the port, where you can see the dome that was blown off by the eruption in 79AD
