"Lava comes down soft and hot"

We celebrated American Thanksgiving in Rome with Caroline, John and Angela. A Thanksgiving to remember.

Every morning for the last seven days, my morning begins around 7 AM. I am an early riser. I dress and head to the Spanish Steps and MacDonald's.

Not very Italian you think. Obviously, it is the Italian thing to do judging by the number of Italians in front of me every morning. To be accurate, I am going to McCafe. In Italy, MacDonald's is separated into two distinct stores. McCafe is an expresso cafe. "Un Caffe" and brioche are the start of the day in Italy. For large orders of Americano, it is McCafe.

With Betty and I, it has been Latte Machiato and Croissants. With the kids now here, the order changes to  five Caffe Americano and donuts. We are able to shop for cream/milk and keep the cream/milk in the refrigerator.

"Buongiorno, cinque americano e due cioccolato donuts e tre pain cioccolato. per favore." Or, some resemblance of that in Italian. The response is "How many?" And, then you point a lot. it is "Pergo", "Grazie mille", "Arrivederci".
The donuts are more like cake than donuts. They are delicious and become a favorite. The Pane Cioccolato is very, very good and my favorite. How do they do it.? One answer is that they bake them there so they are warm and fresh.

I walk back to the apartment. I sometimes walk about hundred feet out my way to walk past the Spanish Steps. This is cool. Everyday I have this great feeling of belonging and excitement.

It is happening more often recently, people walk up to me and ask for directions in Italian. I have to answer "Americano". They realize their error and apologize in Italian. It has to be the haircut and scarf.

On Friday, we have decided to make the commitment to travel to Pompeii.

It is a commitment. Pompeii is about 19 miles south of Naples along the Mediterranean Sea. Naples is about 90 miles south of Rome.

We are up at 5:30. At 7:30  we are at the Metro Station which is about 300 feet just past the Spanish Steps. We arrive at the Termini Station (the main Rome Station) and hurry to buy our tickets for the train to Naples. We choose to take the Trenitalia which leaves hourly for Naples. Trenitalia trains are very nice and very fast at about 176 mph. My only compliant remains I can never get a working wifi connection.

By 9:30, we are in Naples. From my limited one day experience Naples is not a tourist city. Naples is a working port city. The population seems much more diverse than we have experience  so far.

We have a new adventure. Naples trains are a cross between subway and trains. They are old. To add to our concerns is that we are not positive which train to take or even which side of the platform to wait on. As is our custom, we rely on Betty to navigate and negotiate with the gentleman in the ticket booth. As for which side of the platform, we guess and wait for divine inspiration.

A train with Pompeii as a stop (thus, the confusion - no sign saying this way to the ruins of Pompeii) leaves about every 30 minutes. We wait on the platform as the population of Naples fills the platform. Think of all the bad movies involving Tokyo subway crowds. The train arrives. It is the lifeboat drill on the Titanic. Through various different routes and a lot of pushing and shoving, we all get in the same coach, just different ends of that coach.

I am confident that we are on the right train since I see other disoriented tourists. Hey, if you are wrong, there is a feeling of glee that someone else has made the same mistake. In this case, this tourists are a family from Minnesota.

It is a long trip - over 40 minutes. This is a local. But, after that initial crowd, the coach empties within six to seven stops. By Pompeii, the train is almost empty.

The great thing is that the kids are calmer than I am and they quickly figure out where we are and how to walk to the ruins of Pompeii. Of course, I volunteer for an early lunch at about 11 AM.
After a panini lunch, we walk about 100 yards to the entrance to the ancient city of Pompeii and we met Mario.

Mario is an historian, tour guide and lover of the culture that is Campania and Neapolitan.  As Mario continually reminds us he is 71 years old. I want to tell him I am 69 but I know a good storyteller when I met him.

John met Mario first. As we were walking up to the ticket window and trying to gain a consensus on which ticket to buy. John comes over to the group and explains that Mario is willing to take us on a two hour private tour of Pompeii. John explains that Mario has been a guide for over 40 years. He is the Patriarch of the Guides.

Mario was very much a Prince of Guides and more. Everyone should have Mario as a guide. Mario loved his Pompeii and knows her well.

Mario stayed with us for almost three hours. we had contracted for two. I think he enjoyed us as much we enjoyed him walking and talking with his umbrella over his arm.

First, I need to explain to you that you need a week to see fifty percent of the ruins of Pompeii. You walk and walk and there is so much more.

Before I begin with my impressions of Pompeii. Some facts may help.

Pompeii is about 5 miles from Vesuvius. Pompeii was a port city (think Santa Barbara - home to the rich and famous - Capri is just of the coast and was the vacation home of Emperor Tiberius). At the gate to the city, you see where the boats would have been tied for mooring. it is now five to six miles from the bay due to the lava flow from the eruption of 79 AD (August 24th, the day after Vulcanalia - festival of the Roman god of fire). There is some disagreement on the date (some date the eruption at November 23rd).

As you would expect in an area with rich volcanic soil, agriculture was the major industry.

Pompeii was a city of 20,000 people at its peak. At the time of the eruption, the population was probably closer to 11,000. An estimated 6,000 died at Pompeii and thousands of others at neighboring  villas and towns, such as, Herculaneum (Herculaneum was destroyed primarily by lava flow and Pompeii by ash). The eruption occurred over three days. It is now believed that most of the deaths were the result of tremendous heat (@ 482 degrees F).

At the eruption, Pompeii was covered within a six hour period by 12 different ashes to a depth of over 25 meters (about 11 feet).

Vesuvius' eruption would have blocked any escape by land (she is still there and she does not smile). Attempts at rescue would have been by sea which was extremely dangerous (ask Pliny the Elder). As you walk the ruins of Pompeii, you are not aware of Vesuvius. She is that green small mountain in the background. Vesuvius is a green Scylla waiting.

The modern city of Pompeii (yep, they named the second city Pompeii - another factor in the train confusion) is built on the lava flow from 79 AD. The new city is as exposed to an eruption as the first. On the train ride to Pompeii, you become aware how densely populated Vesuvius' domain is. Approximately 3,000,000 people (not counting tourists) live within her deadly range of gases, lava and ash. Naples, itself is only 19 miles away. Vesuvius is active. She is not small. She is a stratovolcano - the most deadly.

As the tour begins, Mario points out that in 62 AD Pompeii suffered a large earthquake ( @6 on the Richter scale). Rebuilding is still evident in the ruins. The bottom of walls show earlier construction. The top of walls show Roman construction techniques. With some residences and buildings, the whole structure was rebuilt.

Between 62AD and 79AD, Pompeii experienced a series of earthquakes which slowed the rebuilding. Although the residents knew that Vesuvius was not a sleepy little hill, no one thought to check.

You think strange - right? Who would stay in an area with earthquakes and an active volcano? Portland is only 50 miles from Mt. St. Helen.  People are surprised when lava from Kilauea on the big island (Hawaii) burns down a shopping center. Homes in San Francisco go for $2,000,000 plus. Nope, I think Pompeians were just as smart as we are.

Pompeii rivals the Colosseum. It makes you think. The ruins of Pompeii makes Roman life - these people lives - immediate. They were just like us - just shorter.

As opposed to the imagined grandeur of the Forum, it is very easy to visualize their lives. The store keeper lives in the room behind and adjacent to his store.

The merchant's villa is next to his office and storeroom. You understand their lives.

Yes, there are "mummies" (actually, plaster cast of the corpses created by pouring plaster into the cavity created by hardened ash as the body eroded). They are not gross. There is not enough detail and you can remain detached. But, it is the ability to walk through their homes, streets and lives that makes the experience compelling.

The Pompeii was a city in transition. When the Campania towns revolted against Rome in 89 BC and lost, Pompeii became all Roman.

Walking the streets of Pompeii (by the way, the steps here are also steep), you pass small restaurants, taverns, bakeries and wineries. Like modern Italy, Pompeiians ate out a lot. They appear to have been social - they had to be the buildings included residences are wall to wall.

Unique to Pompeii is that you find a villa next to stores and much smaller and simpler residences - on the same street. The Romans had limited floor plans (see one floor plan you have seen them all).

There is no wasted space and the rooms are small. Particularly, the sleeping rooms are 8x8 even in the villas. Natural light was important and a luxury. Romans did not have window glass. When they closed up for the night, they literally closed up.

Kitchens are remarkable small and basic (Again, similar to present Europe). The Romans did eat in a prone position on lounges. As result the dining room was the largest room in the Villa.

For all the residents, bodily functions occurred in one room. Waste was thrown into the street to be washed away in the morning.

The Pompeians were very comfortable with sex. They did not have phallic symbols, they had penises and proud of it. The Phallic was a sign of progenitor, best wishes, good health and fortune. A Viagra commercial on every wall and doorway.

The aqueduct system is evident throughout Pompeii with running water fountains strategically placed on the streets.

Romans were conscious of their bodies and the importance of socialization (networking). We have seen the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian and Baths of Caracalla. The private and public baths of Pompeii make sense of the concept. First, the baths are well preserved so they are not simply walls and holes in the ground. Within reason, they look like they did on August 22, 79 AD.

The baths were like today's 24 Hr Fitness Club. You went to exercise a little or a lot; go to the steam room  (tepidarium and/or sudatorium) and cool down in the pool (frigidarium).  You talk to friends. You don't take phone calls. You read a few magazines.  Women were segregated from the men. Women had their own rooms. I am sure Romans will be Romans.

The walls of the baths have suggested exercises and "you can look like this" frescoes. Of course, there is more suggestive art (think Playboy).

It does occur to me that if I lived in an 8x8 room with six other people of both genders and watched them dressed, undressed and other functions. I probably would expect my art to be descriptive and anatomical complete. It would be weird not to.

Mario finishes his tour at one of the Villas. He tells where to begin our own investigations of Pompeii. He humorously tells us vaguely how to get to the brothels (I could not find them and I looked studiously).

We stop for refreshments at the snack shop which just off the Forum. It is modern and does seem out of place. But trust me, it is a great idea. I can only imagine what Pompeii must be like in July and August. There are no trees. There is no shade. Even at the end of November, the afternoon sun exhausts you.

After refreshments, John and Angela head to the amphitheater which is one of the best preserved examples of Roman engineering of crowd control and management. With this amphitheater, you come close to seeing what the spectators saw as they approached the entrances.

Betty and I start to wonder down one the streets. Slowly, I realize that there simply too much to see. Why not come back. See Capri (Caroline's favorite). See Mario again. Have a lunch and a beer.

John and Angela were successful. We met up with Caroline. Together, we find our way out and to the train station for the journey home. We are tired.

We make it to Naples Train Station. The Naples train station is modern and efficient, but does not have a place to eat. No pizza. No MacDonalds (this is first train station we have encountered in two months without a MacDonald's or Starbucks - excluding Siena which had a great deli and Parma which had pizza place outside the door). And we looked. It did have a whole store dedicated to Moleskine.

Tired and hungry, we begin the journey home on our 176 mph train.

I would do today again in a heart beat. Over and over again.

Okay - I might throw in a few more beers and Capri.