Antonio our host suggested either the train or bus for our Pompeii visit, I'd had a terrible sleep and had woken up with a bad headache that was fast becoming a migraine. Due to my tankles last night I'd taken diuretics and had subsequently been up 8 times. However the tankles had vamoosed so that was a definite win! I popped two panqdol and crossed my fingers that they'd do the trick. EJ was still asleep so I gainfully filled in time by washing my dirties in the bathroom sink and hanging them up on the balcony like a local. Haha like a local I was photographed by a Sunday tripper! Anyway getting back to Pompeii, I bought us two return tickets on the bus, a mere €8.80. After coffees and cornettos for breakfast we went to wait at the bus stop that we'd been directed to by biglietto vendor, a shame we stood at the wrong stop for 30 minutes.
Finally on the correct bus off we went on the long journey that took 2 hours the only consoling factor was that I got to lull a gypsy baby on the bus whose mother needed a break from his grizzling. He was so adorable and had such bright intelligent eyes. He stopped grizzling immediately and I got a weeks worth of baby cuddles!
Once in Pompeii we followed some English speaking tourists to the information centre where we wete sold an audio guides and a thin book on Pompeii. I needed to deal with my migraine sowe actually spent close to an hour so I could take my medication, eat and allow it to kick in. My friend Carla had dreamt of us visiting Pompeii as highschool students and had asked me to photograph the frescos in the whorehouse so I had a task to complete.
A surging crowd engulfed us and we were carried along with the hoards to the ticket office. Once we were inside the historical grounds we began to explore on the left with the forum. It was a huge rectangular space and with my trusty Rick Steves commentary I could visualize the goings on of yesteryear. Eric was content with his audio guide and we pottered along . The Frescos were stunning in shades of orange and black and there were many excavated nick nacks like cooking equipment and sewing implements.
Upon our exit we crossed over to the righthand side to enter the amphitheater. It was amusing but also disturbing to overhear a paid guide with a strong Italian accent word for word parroting Rick Steves monologue! There had been a Pink Floyd concert here and Eric was fascinated by all the photos. Infact we've made a note to check out the interviews with the band on YouTube once we get home. ( oh home that far off place filled with things such as a broken fridge and a murky swimming pool).
At the end of this laneway we realised the enormity of this Pompeii. Imagine that after 3 visits we hadn't yet seen all of the Colosseum complex well Pompeii had 9 seperate areas and as its not a museum but an ongoing archaeological dig it is mind-blowingly enormous. In this area which was Zone 1 we entered by Gulia someone's garden. It was extremely difficult now for us to make sense of everything.
To be honest we couldn't make sense of anything, because nothing is marked with many words and mainly just numbers we were now having to follow the crowd and if everyone was hyped we'd follow along and hope to God that we could find a picture in my guide book. This is how we found Venus in the half shell aka the birth of Venus. How I wish that I had listened to Robyn and gone with a guide!
I looked in envy at all these smart people who using a scrap of a map were locating things. It came to light that Eric's guide didn't correspond to the numbers on the exhibits but only to the numbers on the gawdy map they'd given us and the map only worked if you could understand the unnamed squiggly streets. So it was a miracle (or a by product of intense eavesdropping) that we saw the five or six famous spots that we ended up ticking off the map.
So we've agreed that next time we come to Italy we will stay overnight in Pompeii so we can do two days here. The first with a guide then the next alone. But then Italy is so amazing that it will be so hard to decide which spots need a second visit. Anyway time was a ticking and when we were sitting in the grand theater at the very top imaging we were in ancient times. I had to break it to Eric that it was half an hour before we needed to get his audio guide back.
So without breaking any ankles we traipsed down the giant stairs then wended our way through streets and alleys to the exit. We picked up our bag from the cloakroom and decided since there was a 15min deadline it was best that Eric run ahead as my legs felt like slooshy giant soft drink bottles and my head was throbbing.
Was this a wise move? No. I got to the office at 6.06 but my marito had not turned up. They were very kind and said. Pompeii is a small place he will easily find us. After 15 minutes it was apparent that their assumption was incorrect so I dragged my legs along to look for him. I by some fluke saw him in a street which was horizontal to the one I was on.
I waddled and jogged as fast as a pensioner with a walker and bellowed Eeeeericcccc. Amazingly the Soundwave hit his ear and he looked up startled. Anyway whilst apologizing the guy got him to sign up to a €60 per person teip to the Amalfi Coast tomorrow. Which we both agrees would take the stress of us.
We decided to take the train back as we couldn't face 2 hours on the bus. The train wasn't going for half an hour so we had some salsiccia at the nearby restaurant. I don't know how we managed to get home once we'd arrived back in Salerno as it was a half hour walk back. I do remember Eric crooking his arm so he could drag me along . At some stage we ate an amazing donutty thing and then we slept.
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