The last full day of the trip is here and even after 3 weeks I am not ready to come home. I wish we had one more real spot to go to instead of just back to a night around the airport. But at least we have Pompeii today to give us one more place to see.

First though we have to check out of the Airbnb, which means getting our luggage up all those stairs. It was a daunting task and everybody was worried about it. I rearranged my suitcase to move more to my backpack to get the weight below 40 pounds to make it easier to carry.

Our driver was to be the same that brought last week so we knew he could find us and that everything would fit so at least we didn’t have those concerns. He was coming at 7:15 so we had to get up early to give us enough time to make multiple trips with rests in between. Margaret and Clark started super early and soon we were all part of the procession and we had it all up and waiting before 7. Thanks to the guys for carrying all the big bags.

By 7:20 we were off on one last adventure. I had been to Pompeii on my very first trip to Italy but was excited to go back again. I had watched several documentaries on it and now had a better understanding of what had happened and the ongoing process of uncovering new areas of the town.

We got there a bit before 9 so had time to have coffee and croissants before lining up to get in. Our tour guide led us quickly through the entrance and we were off to hit some of the bigger sights before the crowds picked up.

She was another excellent guide and we learned a lot about how life worked in Pompeii. It was way more advanced than I realized. The city was set up on the grid system and had roads running east and west and north and south. It also had established districts for shopping, restaurants, even fast ready made food that was purchased to take home and eat. You could identify the businesses by a rut in the doorway where a sliding door would have been to slow them to shut it down when closed.

Pompeii predates religion as we know but had a Basilica. Which basically means meeting house for decisions or enlightenment. It later taking over by the Christians and evolved into the large main place of worship in the community. Not much was left standing of the Pompeii Basilica but you could see some of the walls and columns. It seems they liked the look of marble but did not have access to enough of it so they used plaster to recreate it.

Out in the main square they had some of the plaster casts of the people that they found. She explained how these were made and it was totally different than what I thought. At some point during the excavation someone realized they were coming across hollow areas in the ash. Instead of just breaking through it he pumped plaster into the hollow area allowed it to dry and then dug it up. Seems the ash had harden long before the body decayed so as the body decayed the ash encompassed the shape of what had originally been there. the plaster holds the bones but otherwise is just a solid representation of space that was left in the ash. She said they also had plaster casts of plants because they couldn’t tell what the hollow space was until the plaster set and they got it out. The casts of the plats has helped them identify plants and bring them back to be in the gardens that have been reestablished.

After this main area we went back to see the house of the two brothers, the House of Vetti that had made their way from poverty to riches and used their house to show off their new wealth. The house also contained a brothel so likely that is one way they made their wealth and kept it going.

The house was quite elaborate with painted dining and meeting rooms, marble bath and a working cook stove.

The frescoes were very detailed and painted to look like wallpaper or repeating designs instead of large murals.

You might notice white marble dots in the floor in the picture above, those were there to reflect light. They also had larger ones on the streets and pedestrians areas. They looked a little more random on the roads but you can still see them.

The fact that they had such nice roads is amazing. The raised crosswalks is something I wish we would have kept up with. It would be nice to cross a street without getting your feet wet or muddy.

The guide also explained the roads and pavement of the cross blocks required the use of a very particular size of carriage or wagon. It allowed the locals to set tolls or collect money from visitors who needed to change from their traveling carriage or chariot back in the day to the size that fit the roads in Pompeii. You can see the groves in the roads from everything being the same size.

Pompeii also had running water. Many of the houses had water piped in but for the less well off there were fountains placed throughout the village where they could fill their buckets with water. The pipes were made by encasing branches in lead then burning the branch. the water fountains were identified by the different sculpture for the spigot.

Prostitution was legal in Pompeii but gambling wasn’t. However, that didn’t stop it. They have found small rooms painted with different scenes which they assume were places that were used for gambling.

As to the bakeries and food services the setups were quite elaborate for 79 AD. the “fast food” locations had counters with several large post to keep the premade food warm and make it easy to grab and go.

The bakeries had both implements to grind the wheat and ovens to cook the bread. you can’t really make it out in the photo but stone grinder in front had places for poles so the top part could be turned. There were also about four more lined up behind it but I didn’t angle the photo enough to get them.

The last big location we went in was the bath house. It included dry rooms where they could just set around and talk, changing rooms with lookers to store their clothes, saunas and hot and cold plunge areas. the walls were hollow so that the heat from the fires beneath the floor could circulate around the room to warm not only the water but the room to make it a sauna.

From here are tour guide led us to the museum, gift shop and exit. The museum was smaller than I remembered it but it had some of the tile floors that I thought I remembered seeing still out in the open on my last visit but it had some fascinating things. Their iron works were very detailed and decorative. They did not just have useful items they wanted to show off. The paintings also showed that they had traveled. One in the museum had elephants and one in the house of Vetti had a leopard neither of which were native to Italy.

After the museum we realized we had not seen the tiled floor depicting the dog. We had a bit of time left so we asked directions and headed back in to find it. I am glad we did. It wasn’t far from the main square and right by the bath we toured. Not sure why the guide skipped it. The floor is only decorative so maybe she didn’t think it had relevance to the cultural aspect of the city. Regardless I am glad we went back in to see it. we all had our photo with it.

Because we used all our time in the museum and seeing the dog we had no time to grab anything for lunch and the drive to Rome took several hours. Margaret and I were the back earring mints and cough drops to hold us over. All the while a bag full of sandwiches, cookies and candies was up in the front. We thought it would be rude to eat the sandwiches in his van but we could have the candy. Oh well we survived.

We arrived at our hotel and immediately met up in my room to eat the sandwiches. I guess it was good I stayed up and made them. It was too early for dinner and if we ate anything more we wouldn’t be hungry for dinner so the sandwiches were just enough.

It was could and windy but we decided we needed one more gelato so some of us headed out to explore the area. The hotel recommended a place for the best gelato so we passed a few on our way but it was worth it. The Rome airport sets in a small town right on the sea and we had to cross a drawbridge to get the gelato.

We also wandered around and checked out the restaurants so we could decide where to go for our last dinner. it was a little windy but there was one of the trees that I think would make a perfect Christmas tree and I wanted a closer look. The leaves were crazy. Almost like a succulent. Very soft and springy.

We headed back to the hotel to rest up for dinner. Kelle, Jeff and I decided to have another drink and Kelle and I shared one last bottle of Prosecco.

It was cold but we walked past a few options on our way to the restaurant recommended by the hotel. It might have been the same one Christina and I ate at a few years ago. Even if not I made the same mistake and ordered the crab pasta. I don’t like to get my hands dirty or work that hard for my food. The pasta was delicious without the crab so I let Kelle enjoy what she was able to get out of the super hard shell. I did have a delicious seafood salad as a first course so I wasn’t going to go hungry.

All in all a great last day for our trip. I am sad it is over and I can’t really say that I am ready to go home but I know I can come back again.