Thursday, September 23, 2010

Day 3: Pompeii: A City Frozen in Time & More + Day 4: The Eternal City of Rome & More



Day 3 and Day 4 are perhaps the most action packed of the lot. These were also the days for choices. For example, on day 2, I had to choose between choosing multiple destinations. Do I take a boat to the Isle of Capri or a full day tour of Naples? Do I choose to spend the whole day trekking to Mount Vesuvius, which is an active volcano or take a tour of Pompeii and another city? Choosing one meant sacrificing another.

Day 3

The ship docked at Naples. As we approached the dock, you could see the whole of Naples (which is on the shore) in front of you and it was a wonderful site. I began the day by taking a city bus tour of Naples and its surroundings in which I essentially covered Castel Nuovo, Naples Cathedral, Palace of Caserta, City Gates...all from outside. I only had a day on shore so had to prioritise accordingly.

Next visit was Pompeii. Pompeii, a wealthy Roman city that was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. What's unique about Pompeii is that since it was buried under ash and pumice, the objects buried beneath Pompeii were remarkably well-preserved for almost two thousand years. The lack of air and moisture allowed for the objects to remain underground with little to no deterioration.

Do cite some examples, you can actually see the positions of the victims as and when they got buried along with their facial expressions. The preservation was great to such an extent, that archaeologists were able to recover bread from the ovens in the bakeries. Pompeii has been on my "100 things to do" list and it was great to visit this today.

It was great to see ancient Roman houses lying intact with pools, paintings, pottery and all. One house, you could actually see the entrance of a house having a drawing of a dog with the words 'beware of dog' in Latin. I saw the forum, markets, wine shopsc etc. Pompeii is so well preserved, you could also see the barber shop, the local eatery and the brothel. While a lot is definitely left to imagination, the layouts of each of these are so well preserved. You could see original Roman streets with road blocks and one ways. Some of the walls still retain original election propaganda messages. I saw bakeries with the ovens still lying intact. The water fountains were still there with clearly visible carvings of Gods and animals. You could witness the leads pipes that provided water to the city (Romans were unaware of lead posioning then).

I also wanted to go see the many recovered Pompeii artefacts and the infamous 'Secret Museum' the Naples National Archaeological Museum, but the museum is closed on Tuesdays.

I then proceeded to check out the city of Herculaneum. Herculaneum was also destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. Though again remarkably well preserved, however not as well preserved as Pompeii since it was first hit by a huge earthquake before the eruption. Additionally, over time, there was modern construction over Herculaneum which has made it impossible to excavate the entire lost city. Herculaneum served as a resort city for wealthy Romans which is why over here you would see huge palatial type houses with baths, steam rooms and such. I was able to see a lot of simple paintings here that essentially shed light on the way Romans lived. Again, a lot of the city was preserved thanks to the ash, so the ancient paintings showed how Romans enjoyed fruit of all kind, sauces imported from Spain, how they used cups made of glass and how these resort houses were designed such that they could benefit from sunlight at all times of the day.

There was quite a few walls on Herculaneum with well preserved ancient advertisements. There was a wall that you could claerly make out sold wine with the different qualities of wine mentioned selling for different prices. Another wall advertised a play that was playing at the local theater. To be able to read these advertisements 2 centuries later is a sight indeed.

At the end of the day, it was definitely a great day to remember and I left feeling satisfied that I had covered what I wanted to see. Towards the evening, I headed out to check out the Aquarium Bar on the ship. The brochure said it would give a feel of staying in between the sea life so I imagined a real aquarium but turned out to be just a fake plastic themed place. Pretty disappointing.

Let's see what day 4 holds as we head to another port of call.

Day 4

We docked at Civitavecchia. This harbor was constructed by the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the 2nd century. We saw the ancient Civitavecchia fort and the harbor itself.

Moving on, afer a 1 1/2hrs drive...

Rome has conquered! (a famous line a faction leader shouts in Rome: Total War, when you conquer a neighbouring faction city). Rome is another place on my '100 things to do' list.

I feel a close affinity to Italy, Florence and Rome simply because of it's influence on video games over time. One of my favourite games as a kid was Caesar, in which you have to build and manage a Roman city. Rome Total War, is my favourite war-time strategy game. Assassin's Creed, is heavily based in Italy and a lot of monuments and churches that I want to see are due to their presecence in this game. Additionally, I have always been greatly influenced by quotes of famous Roman generals and leaders and one often sees me using them in my status messages, emails and verbal communication.

So it was but a dream come true to finally visit the land in which the senate once presided over all. Rome is just so huge and I saw tons of places, most by bus due to time constraints. Where to begin? I saw the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus. Although the Colosseum is pretty much in ruins, it was still an impressive sight. Did you know that the most of the Colosseum stands destroyed not bcause of time but because it's construction material was so superior that the Romans and Popes through the ages destroyed it's parts to have their own statues, tombs etc consructed? I saw the Castel Sant'Angelo. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle. The castle also appears in Assassin's Creed 2. I saw the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of an unified Italy. I am specifically mentioning this as I was impressed by it's presenation and grandeur. I saw the ancient Roman forum. I saw the remains of the Theatre of Pompey, the infamous sites where Julius Caesar was murdered. There are 100's of such buildings all over Rome and I could see but maybe a dozen.

Are we done for the day? Heck no!

Next on the agenda was Vatican City State. Vatican City State is a country of it's own. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (110 acres), and a population of just over 800. It has complete sovereignity from it's own postal system to issuing its own passports. The Pope is the head of State. The destination to see here was St. Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest Christian sites and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom." I stood over an hour in line to enter the Basilica. Once in, I was but speechless at what I saw. Grand is but an understatement. Elaborate frescoes, statues, the Papal Swiss Guard, everything just leaves you speechless. The Wikipedia article covers everything that I saw and I cannot type it simple because I just cannot remember the names of everything I saw. The one I thing that I do remember seeing (because of the simple name) is Saint Peter's tomb.

Am I done at the Vatican? Unfortunately no because I could not see Michelangelo's work at the Sistine Chapel and I do look forward to returning to see it one day.

Eveneing was spent at the Schooner bar, a nautical themed bar with a live pianist. I also gambled away $2 at the on board casino.

I am going to miss Rome. As I left Rome I made sure to visit Trevi Fountain (the most beautiful fountain I have seen till date), and tossed a coin over my shoulder which legend says shall ensure my return to Rome. I do hope so as I want to return to this historic city and quench my thirst of visiting all it's wonderful monuments and re-living this advanced civilisation brick by brick.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Google