The City of Pompeii and Positano, Italy

Pompeii, buried under thirteen to twenty feet of ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvieus erupted in 79AD, had suffered little deterioration. However, now that two thirds of it has been excavated, deterioration has accelerated because of the air and weather conditions, water being the primary culprit.

Our tour, although taken on a day of extreme heat, was fascinating. Many of the buildings that we saw were amazingly well preserved, such as the Forum, the baths, some of the houses, the amphitheatre, and a swimming pool. There are streets that still exist, paved with large cobble stones with houses and shops on both sides. There were areas specifically for the nobility, the middle class and the peasants with even a designated brothel area.

A lot is known about Pompeii, considered a major city at the time, from the well preserved frescoes and graffiti on many of the walls. There have been casts made in plaster of people who were presevered beneath the ash. The discovery of Pompeii gave proof to the world that there was an ancient Roman civilization that was extremely advanced for that time period.

Pompeii was not discovered until 1738 and excavation has been going on periodically since then. The ara is extensive and would take several days to really see it all although a few of the areas have been closed to tourists due to the fragile state of some of the buildings. When we were there near the end of June, there was a heat wave and with few trees, we were at the mercy of the sun. After touring the area for about three hours, we sat under the few trees available and had lunch before getting back onto the bus to resume the rest of our day trip.

Our next stop was Positano on the Amalfi Coast. Passing beautiful scenery, we finally stopped and the tour guide told us we would be walking down to the beach. From the look-out platform, we gazed down at a beach, far below, where the houses were small and the boats were nearly invisible. Walk? But walk we did down extremely narrow winding stairs that had buildings on both sides. Finally after about half an hour of walking, the stairs came to an end. We rested before proceeding the rest of the way down a narrow winding lane. Too narrow for cars to travel, there were beautiful little shops on each side selling fabulous items. The pavement was so hot that my feet felt burned through the soles of my shoes so when we reached the beach, I walked into the ocean without bothering to take my shoes off and let the cool, refreshing water beat against my legs.

Positano is a beautiful, sheltered area with restaurants, shops and hotels and, with a bar on the beach like an ice cream stand. We got a drink, found a shady spot to sit, and never did a drink taste so good.

Positano was a port in medieval times, later falling on hard times. Over the course of years, it became a fishing village. But in the 1950's, tourists began the trek to Positano after John Steinbeck published an essay about this village clinging stubbornly to the side of a mountain. 'Under the Tuscan Sun' was also filmed there and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote their song, 'Midnight Rambler' while there on vacation. After visiting Positano, I could certainly see that it's a place to come to get creativity flowing.

We caught a ferry from Positano which took us to Sorrento for pizza and then the bus back to Rome, a three hour trip. We didn't get back until 10:00 p.m., a long and hot fifteen hour day. It was the last night we had in Rome. I packed my luggage for the final time for an early start in the morning to the airport. I thoroughly enjoyed my European vacation but as always, it was nice to be going home.