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082604: Herculaneum and Pompeii: Cities of the Past |
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written
by boogieon / 09.06.2004 |
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Itinerary |
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Authors: Lauren & Amanda
What a day!
We departed by bus promptly at 7:00 a.m., and set out for our Southern Italian adventure. First arriving in Herculaneum, our group got an idea of what life must have been like 2000 years ago. We visited many great sites in the Herculaneum ruins, including a beautifully preserved home called the House of the Wooden Partition. This home was creatively named after a perfectly preserved wooden wall that still exists today, carbonized by Vesuvius’s eruption. The house was found in such amazing condition that there is even ancient fruit on display!
After Herculaneum, our group hopped back onto the bus bound for Pompeii. We saw the forum, amphitheater, brothel, baths, and a few select ancient homes. Our class listened to two scintillating student presentations, if I do say so myself (mine was one of them), on the Roman baths and the magnificent House of the Faun. Among the many topics covered today was public and private aspects of Roman life. We discovered, for example, that Roman daily life lacked much of the privacy that we take for granted in modern America, and many daily habits reflected this lack of privacy (the baths were public, and many homes had public rooms, for instance).
After seeing the two ancient cities, we found our way back to our hotel in modern Pompeii. We all took showers and most went swimming in a great round pool before feasting on a much-anticipated four-course meal, which tasted wonderful, especially after such an extraneous day of walking.
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Highlights |
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As the day was our first one spent outside of Rome, an overarching highlight was simply the ability to see more of Italy. This allowed us to have a point of comparison in observing Rome and to begin to take note of sociological differences between the North and South. More specifically, however, seeing the archeological wonders of Pompeii and Herculaneum was amazing. Having read about both buried cities it was truly impressive to see them in context, backed by Vesuvius and facing the ocean. The complexity of the cities and of the housing (second stories, fresocoes, columns etc) was spectacular and unimaginable. These are truly places that one has to visit in order to appreciate the Romans. I was overwhelmed by how advanced their cities were, and I think that most of the group was as well. The student presentations enhanced the experience immensely, offering insight and educational background to all that we saw...Other than that, a dip in the pool at the end of a hot and grueling walking day would definitely make it on to my list of highlights!
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Images |
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| Group Dinner in Pompeii |
| The day culminated with a wonderful Italian meal together at our hotel. The meal consisted of veal, insalata caprece, insalata mista, gnocchi- all authentic Italian dishes. More importanly, we all got to be together at one table- how cute are we? |
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| Frescoes at Herculaneum |
| Herculaneum is slightly better preserved than Pompeii on account of the way in which it was covered by Vesuvius' eruption. Here you can see the group, listening attentively to Anna's presentation, in front of some of the magnificent examples of Ancient Roman fresoces. |
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