Now one of the activities that was top priority on the list of things to do in Napoli was see Pompeii. Given the fact that one of us majored in History, the other in Anthropology,and we both have an interest in archaeology its seems inevitable that we would eventually make it to one of the worlds most well know, and well preserved archaeological sites. However, the first exercise would be getting to the excavation site, which is called Pompeii scavi(not the actual town Pompeii), with no car or tour bus to take us there once more our companion on this trip would be the local Metro system. Turns out this was probably one of the easier destinations we ever tried to reach. The metro system in Napoli is very straightforward and pretty much every local in the station knows that tourist are looking for the way to Pompeii, ask and you can generally get a point in the right direction. The ticket was pretty inexpensive, only 3 euros, and then we headed to the platform side for the Sorrento train( there is no Pompeii train) and were directed to get off on the stop for Pompeii Scavi. This is actually where we detoured a bit there are 2 trains with Sorrento as there general destination, do not get on the train with only locals and no tourist on it, you will take a minor 45 minute detour around the outer city. Thankfully we were able to find our way back and got a bit of help from a local gentleman who spoke very little English but was the only person on our trip who guessed where in California we were from(hint:it’s not San Francisco or LA). Eventually we arrived at our stop and were surprised it wasn’t surrounded by the overly polished look of usually tourist sites. The stop itself isn’t one hundred percent obvious until you see all the vendors and ticket salesmen along the street. If you don’t wish to use any of their tours you simply head down the road and buy a ticket into Pompeii yourself and go exploring on your own(disclaimer: absolutely no heels you will need your walking shoes).

Pompeii itself is actually more amazing than what either of us had originally imagined. The scale of the city was something that we had underestimated, envisioning something akin to the size of an old gold rush town rather than the thriving community that Pompeii obviously once was in its hay day. Walking down its still well defined roads and past the mostly perfectly preserved structures really creates a more comprehensive view of how well developed and modern this city was and how humbling and tragic it is that it ended in such an abrupt manner. It’s an interesting experience seeing a place that is so familiar in it foreignness, a city very much like your own, everything paused in that one moment in time. It’s not just the buildings that are saved but the paintings still remain on the walls, and intricate mosaics are still on display in houses doorways. You can still see and feel the quality of the marble on the floors in stately homes and posh bath houses. It’s beautiful and more than just alittle haunting especially with the  memorial statues scattered throughout the city remembering the citizens lost. The now silent backdrop to all of this is Mount Vesuvius quietly sitting in the background looking only like a regular mountain. There is even more to see in the way of archaeological sites in the area, all scattered about the coastline, but this was the only one we could fit time for but it was definitely worth the journey to get there.