Herculaneum, Day 4

Our first port of call was Naples. There were shore excursions to the area beaches, and of course to Pompeii, but we decided on the tour to Herculaneum. Why? Everyone goes to Pompeii. Any time you travel to that region you can easily pick up a guided tour of Pompeii. Herculaneum was a smaller seaside resort for the wealthy that was also destroyed by the 79 C.E. explosion of Vesuvius. The site is smaller, having been excavated less, and having the modern day town of Ercolano still on top of it (literally - they can’t excavate some areas because they go under people’s houses), but it does have some things to recommend it. Primarily, it was buried by mud, not ash, so is much better preserved, including original timbers that charred and fossilized, but did not burn away. Having a classics minor, and knowing an expert on the area (she was in a PBS special narrated by Leonard Nimoy!), we took more pictures here than at any other spot, I think. I’ve posted the gallery up at picasaweb.google.com… of course.

From Herculaneum

Originally published at lebor.net. You can comment here or there.

Castelmola and Taormina, Day 5

The next day we docked in the Port of Messina, on the Sicilian coast. Our tour guide was Australian, and although he’d been a tour guide for decades, he had no sense of pacing. He rambled on all the time about things that were not necessarily relevant, or that he had already said three or four times. You’d think he was being paid by the word. It did make it difficult to actually stop and look at what we were seeing and take pictures, because the only time he stopped talking was when we had to move on to the next spot. Regardless, we really enjoyed the area, and would be happy to go back. We also did some shopping. Next time you come over, remind me to show you the tablecloth.

From Castelmola and Taormina

Originally published at lebor.net. You can comment here or there.