CLANG, CLANG, CLANGETY CLANG, CLANG ……  think very loud bells, for a whole minute, at 7 am every morning, and that’s our alarm clock courtesy of the nuns in the convent across the laneway from our hotel.  No excuses for sleeping in and not starting the day  bright and early.

Today our itinerary took us to Herculaneum and Pompeii,  the two cities devastated by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 63.  Herculaneum, a fishing and port town as well as a holiday spot by the sea for wealthy Romans was completely submerged in a sea of boiling mud.  The people of Pompeii however were suffocated under a massive deluge of hot ash from said volcano.  We had been to Pompeii  before, so started with a good  long look around Herculaneum, which is smaller and  better preserved, before moving on.

The train trip was an adventure in itself.  The old, and I mean old, rattler swayed and rocked, and rocketed at breakneck speed towards our destination.  No soundproofing meant you couldn’t hear yourself think.  Hard plastic seats (not nicely padded like in Melbourne trains) meant a sore bum. You couldn’t see out of the windows, as they were smeared with graffiti.  I won‘t be complaining about Melbourne trains again any time soon!

Yesterday while it was raining, we went to the Naples Archaeological museum and spent several fascinating hours looking at all the artefacts removed from the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum for safe keeping.  Some of the glassware removed was still completely intact,  an absolute miracle of survival.

Much of Naples seems to be behind scaffolding and concealed behind plastic sheeting as buildings receive much needed facelifts, cleaning and new coats of paint.  There were also plenty of tourists around as two enormous cruise ships were in port.  A massive “manifestation” (demonstration) in the city centre meant that there were armed police and military personnel everywhere.  Roads and footpaths were blocked off and for a couple of hours it was sheer chaos trying to get from point A to point B.

I am off for a beer.

Ilze