We ventured deeper into the city and came across the two most famous villas. The House of the Faun and the House of the Vetti, both were very grand and large for the neighborhood. In the House of Vetti there were many walls that the still had the frescos painted on them. The red color is called Pompei red and it comes from a local type of red volcanic mud. We were humbled by the sheer size of the excavated area. We spent three hours inside the site and only visited half of what was available to see. On top of that a full one third of the town is still underneath the ash and pumice. It started raining as we were approaching the theater area. It was not a hard rain and we had to snicker at the families ducking for cover in doorways and little nooks off to the side. We rather enjoyed the cool down and we took this as a sign that our visit was ending. As we were exiting, we saw several large tours pouring in with umbrellas and rain ponchos at the ready. The rain stopped by the time we got to where the taxi left us earlier in the day. We tried to negotiate a ride back to the station but it was now going to be 25 euro to the station or 100 euro if we wanted to go directly to Naples. Instead we jumped on a bus for only 4.5 euro and then took the train into Napoli. We immediately stopped in Mara's hotel and got her situated and then we went to our last dinner together. Tat was a magnificent meal with lobster pasta and authentic Neapolitan pizzas.
A home alter
Fanciful art
The Pompei red pigment
Mosaic floors
A different piece for each alcove
More columns
In the House of the Faun the courtyard is framed nicely by columns
These must have supported a cover
The House of the Faun so named for the faun sculpture found here
Next was the House of the Vetti. Here the giant penis is on a scale and "fertility" is balanced with work and health. The classic work life balance
It was the house of two bachelors
Big enough for other bachelors to stay a while
Birdwatching I see peacocks
I see quail
Some sort of lark
Tho open ceiling lets in light annd rainwater
Here the rainwater would collect
The bachelors were money lenders and this is their moneybox
Naval battle
They were bachelors after all
Hercules!
Wait, a man asking for directions. An action not repeated for 2000 years
This corner was particularly preserved
The central courtyard had manly sculptures
Cupids too
Fish and eels
Another corner that survived almost intact
Doing the snake dance
Lead pipes in the kitchen
The hearth
The back room, wink wink
Oddly no windows in the back room
This guy has been in the back room
People for scale to illustrate how high the ceilings are for the entryway
The holes on the conical shaped rock grain mills would be where wooden beams were inserted and these were used to rotate the mill and thereby grind the grain
The clouds are thickening
A grist mill
The grid pattern for towns, brilliant!
A rainwater collecting pool but the house did not survive
Modern drainage systems
Deeper into the town the walls were better preserved
A small garden with a shrine and two marble dogs
Woof!
Some of the fountains were still working and folks were drinking
Entrance to the theater district, this is where they must have checked your tickets and looked inside you bag for smuggled hootch
Two theaters were located in the theater district. The larger could seat 5000 people and the smaller one was covered and could seat 1500.
My phone tracked our path
Which covered the left hand side of this map of the entire site
Dogs were allowed inside. But only dogs 10 kg or less and no taller than 40 cm.
The beware of the dog mosaic
Instead of a 25 euro taxi to the station we take the bus for only 4.5 euro
We were sweaty and hot and this guy has his puffy jacket on inside the sweltering bus!
A gelato to boost the energy
We took the local train and it took us around to the other side of Vesuvius
Boats at anchor
Statues
Calm harbors
Something to crow about
A modern part of the city
A huge shipping container warehouse
Back io Napoli
Public art
A tiny door for the hotel
Ever wall had a Vesuvius themed painting
Looking out from the balcony
Lots of fish
Funky Italian style, skirt, jeans, and white trainers
More Vesuvius
Lobby sign
Passing ghe boarding school we saw what appeared to ne new graduates
Lining up for their entrance
A grand entryway to the central courtyard
Colorful houses along the walk to dinner
Come with us, in our bellies that is
Nicely decorated restaurant
Professional lighting on the ceiling
Fizzy's for everyone, lemon, melon and Aperol
The four seasons pizza
The lobsters were presented table side
The pizza magic is made here
Outside the main train station, Napoli is a mess. Part of why Napoli has such a bad reputation.
Heading back after a long day
It has been 2 years and 328 days since we began our Migration
