Amalfi Walking- Day 5 Pompeii

Pompeii was our place of interest today - much flatter walking, but still plenty of steps up and down and along old and uneven roads.  The weather blessed us with more rain - so we balanced umbrellas, camera and audio guide as the made our way around the massive area which is Pompeii.

We had no idea it would cover this area of ground - (34 hectares?) - but it felt like walking around a couple of suburbs and we covered about 9km, so it probably was like that too.
It was really hard to tell what roads would be open and what areas would be unlocked so you could go in and visit.

There has been an incredible amount of effort of excavation to expose the architecture, the relics left behind and the decorations on the walls etc. It gives a really good idea of what life then must have been like.

Your bedroom might have been very heavily decorated and entertainment might have been pretty gruesome.

bedroom with ornate decoration. 

colosseum

inside Colosseum

colosseum

The mosaic tiling was incredible (mostly black and white) and there were lots of temples and rules to keep.

The rich were very rich and enjoyed beautiful marble, water features and gardens and fast food (just like today).

sit in the cool marble bar and enjoy the water trickling down the steps at the back

It was amazing to see the colosseum and theatre areas and picture the people crowded in by the thousands to view the spectacles offered.  

the theatre

 And heart-wrenching to imagine the poor people caught with nowhere to go to escape as Vesuvius spewed ash and lava which engulfed them.

A guide to Pompeii can be found  here which would have been very useful before going there. 

An overview of the area is shown below 

66 Acres of Pompeii mapped out into sections to make it easier to identify where you are and where you are going