Pompeii With Two Eyes

I like ruins.  You know, the leftovers from what once was something. I have a particular affinity for the ruins  of cities.  They always pique my curiosity and imagination. One such city is Pompeii in southern Italy. It is now a World Heritage Site with 2.6 million visitors per year. Recently we visited it.

The train from Sorrento was crowded, but not as crowded as the previous day's five o'clock train from Naples to Sorrento.   Pompeii is one of the many stops between Sorrento and Naples. The entrance to the attraction was also very crowded, but we bought our tickets and followed the crowds through the gates of the city. Pompeii was a Roman city of the first century A.D. with some 20,000 residents. The city had a gymnasium, two theaters, laundries, restaurants, a mill, an amphitheater, and the usual shops and dwellings. While there are a number of Roman cities which exist as ruins Pompeii is unique. The city was buried under the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The ash from Vesuvius simply covered the city, snuffing out all life. Because of the method of destruction some unique features are displayed. For example, all life buried by ash decomposed over time leaving a negative image or recess in the solidified ash. That fact made it possible to fill these voids with plaster and create an exact image of the living thing whether man or beast. It is eerie looking at them and realizing that these are the exact plaster replicas of the living on that fateful day in 79 A.D. Pompeii was a large city with all the infrastructure of modern cities. The paved streets have stepping stones across them so pedestrians would not have to step on the waste water and sewage in the streets. The city's water was supplied by viaduct and distributed via lead pipes.  I wonder about the instances of lead poisoning with lead pipes.  The distribution system insured that critical needs were met first when the water supply was low. There is a great display of Roman plumbing systems at the museum at Pont du Gard, France.  Another fascinating thing was the shops for selling food on the street. The counter tops had recessed cut-outs for cooking pots.  There are very few buildings with roofs in the ruins of Pompeii, but the public bath has a roof. In many ways the procedure at the baths is similar to Japanese style.  The pool of hot water is not for bathing but for soaking. These waters were usually heavily laden with minerals. The bath in Pompeii is in a vaulted structure lavishly decorated. There are several rooms for bathing, changing clothes, and soaking. I did not see the facility for heating the water, but it may have been heated geothermally like the bath waters in Bath, England. All

structures in the ruins have numbers which correspond to captions on the map you get at the entrance. There are temples to various gods and a forum for the local government. Several private homes, or rather what is left of them, depict the architecture of the era. It seemed that each had a formal entryway leading to a courtyard with various rooms around the perimeter. On many the ancient frescoes still adorned the walls. There were storage rooms, rooms for preparing food, and dining rooms. One thing noticeably absent was a toilet. I'm sure there were public toilets available in the city.  We have seen Roman toilets in Vaison de la Romaine, France and Ephesus, Turkey.  Mosaics were the common decoration along with frescos.  In the house of the Faun there is a mosaic of the Battle of Issus which was between Alexander the Great and Darius, King of Persia.  This large work of art is on the floor and measures almost nine feet by seventeen feet. This particular house even had a private bath indicating the wealth of its owner.

We ventured along  the ancient street and stopped in front of a house that had a large number of female tourists peering inside. I heard some feminine giggles.

"I wonder what's that's about?" I said.

"I'll get closer," said Claudette as she made her war way through the group of women four deep. "You won't believe this!" she exclaimed.

I managed to get through the crowd as it dispersed and joined her at the rail which prohibited entry into the ruins of the house. She was right. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it. In the foyer of the house was a wall painting which measured about two feet in height.  It was of a man  in period dress. Visible below the hem of his short robe was his large penis.

"Can you believe that?" she asked.

"Somebody had an active imagination!" I said.

"Or did they?"she added with wink.

"It's about fertility rites, or so it says in the guide book," I said in an effort to have the last word.
Actually, paintings considered pornographic by some were fairly common in the city.

The most fascinating building for me was the mill and bakery. In industrial parlance it would be referred to as vertical integration.  Grain, probably wheat, was ground into flour and then baked into bread at the some location. The millstones were different from anything I had seen before. I was familiar with the flat round mill stones. Grain is introduced between the two stones. One of the stones is stationary, while the other moves. As the grain moves from the center of the stone to the outer edge it is ground into flour.

Falling water is the most common source of power.  But these grindstones were conical, with the stationary stone fitting inside another stone thereby creating the grinding surface. The power source was either human or animal. At this location in Pompeii there were four grinding and milling stone installations.  Due to the location I believe they were operated by human power, probably slave labor. This was the first mill I had seen, although I had seen other Roman mill stones before.

Another interesting fact I discovered was the construction methods of columns. There were columns carved from a solid piece of stone. (The most valuable were those carved from the purple marble of Egypt.) The most common were the brick columns covered with  a mixture of marble dust and plaster. Some were carved from sections of marble and stacked on top of each other. Others were constructed from a custom molded brick which produced a fluted column. The Romans were very ingenious engineers which is witnessed by the longevity of some of their structures.

It was a beautiful sunny day in southern Italy as we wandered around the ruins.  We were listening to walking tours narrated by Rick Steves we had downloaded to our cell phones.  This

was very helpful and informative. However, portions of the site are frequently closed for additional archaeological exploration or repairs. Although many of the relics are in the museum in Naples there is still plenty to see in this large World Heritage Site. We opted not to see the amphitheater.  We had seen several of them elsewhere.

It was a good day at the ruins of Pompeii, but sometimes it was difficult walking on the stone streets where Vesuvius loomed. We took the train back to Sorrento where we enjoyed a great evening meal.

Note: The modern city of Pompeii is spelled Pompei.

Florence, not of the Pee Dee.

Outside Hotel Lorena, Florence.

Of all the cities in Italy, I prefer Florence. I'm not exactly sure of the reason. However, I can relate our recent visit there. It was after dark when we made our way from the train station along unfamiliar streets to our hotel. We had been on trains most of the day. We had left Venice in the early morning and got off in Rimini to visit the mountain-top country of San Marino. From Rimini we traveled to Bologna and changed trains to get to Florence. In the evening there were hundreds of vendors set up on a piazza enroute to our hotel. Each vendor occupied about a ten square foot area with a mobile structure and display racks of merchandise. This included leather goods, textiles, ceramics, and various bric-a-brac, much of it intended for the tourist. Several vendors were helpful in directing us to the street we needed to find.

Hotel Lorena, like many in Europe, was on the second floor with the ground level, or first floor, occupied by shops and restaurants. Incidentally, the second floor is referred to as the first floor, while the ground floor has no number designation. There was an elevator, but we did not find it initially. Soon we had unpacked.  Our room overlooked the street, Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, and the Medici Chapel. After a quick chat with the desk clerk we ventured into the street to find some food and explore a bit. We were surprised that the vendors were packing up and moving their mobile shops  from the piazza. Soon the piazza was filled with people walking about enjoying the warm Italian evening. We got a quick bite of food and found a gelato shop near by. There was not much exploring because we were tired and wanted to turn in early.  Back in our hotel the closed shutters and windows muffled the street noise and music of the wandering accordion player allowing for a good nights sleep. The shared bath was always empty.

Breakfast at the hotel was the usual continental style, with cappuccino of course. Claudette and I were the only non-Asians in the breakfast area except for the server. I believe they were Chinese. I'm not very adept at determining the nationalities of Asians, but I'm getting better. One of the attractions we wanted to see in the city was Michelangelo's David. The sculptor was only twenty-

In the Medici palace.

six years old when he carved the seventeen foot tall statue of the Biblical hero from Carrara marble. Michelangelo (1465-1574) considered himself a resident of Florence and the ruling family, the Medici, were his patrons. There was a long line at the entrance to the Accademia Gallery, but it moved quickly.  No photos were allowed. As you enter the main salon David is at the end in its place of honor. It is impressive. On either side of the gallery leading up to the Michelangelo masterpiece are the "Prisoners". These are statues or figures in their rough incomplete stage.  Michelangelo is reported to have said that the image was inherent in the stone and that he simply released it.  The "Prisoners" illustrate this, as they seem to emerge from the stone. Housed in the same gallery is also a collection of musical instruments and other works of art.

After leaving the Accademia Gallery we found the Medici Palace on Via del Pucci. It is now called Palazzo Medici Riccardi, because the Riccardi family once owned it. We wandered the halls of the Medici Palace.  Yes, it was posh; not exactly Versailles, but then... there is only one Versailles. Fortunately, there were very few tourists. There were great rooms with many tapestries, and the customary vaulted ceilings were highly decorated. I particularly liked the Luca Giordano Hall. In addition to a beautifully painted vaulted ceiling, the mirrored walls were painted as well.  The Medici practically invented the banking industry. As great patrons of the arts they left their mark on the city of Florence.

The Doors of Paradise.

You could see your reflection between cherubs and such. The effect was awesome.  This was the home of Lorenzo the Magnificent; yes, the same one depicted in the television series, da Vinci's Demons.

Jaywalking Not Allowed

"€80,"  said the man in the flat brimmed straw hat with the striped shirt.

We were standing by one of the lesser known canals of Venice. I had done a few sketches as a gondola was tied up close by.  Claudette and I had talked about a gondola ride but thought it too expensive. I decided to see if I could get a better price.

"How about €70?" I asked.

"Eighty!" he said adamantly.

"Okay, okay, seventy-five," I said begrudgingly.

"Eighty."

"Seventy-five or nothing!"

"...seventy-five," he finally said.

I looked at Claudette.  I could see the calculator working in her head. Yes, it was a lot of money.

"It's Venice,  We'll probably never be here again," I said almost apologetically.

"You're right, we'll never have this chance again," she relented.

The gondolier helped us board his thirty-eight foot watercraft. All gondolas are black and usually have red upholstered seating much like the chairs or loveseat you would have in your living room.

The flat-bottomed boats are rather stable and actually designed to be rowed with one oar from the right side. A gondola can take six passengers for the standard fee.  Sharing is an easy way to cut the cost. However, that was not for us.

The oarsman, or gondolier, expertly maneuvered the boat into the narrow canal. Within minutes we were going under the first bridge. Tourists looked down at us and waved. There are over 400 bridges in the city. The canal we move silently down is not as wide as the gondola is long.  Although in some places there are sidewalks, many canals have nothing except the vertical masonry walls of buildings. The sky becomes a ribbon of cerulean blue outlined by the jagged rooftops. Our gondolier occasionally muttered something in a language resembling English. We thought he was describing landmarks but we didn't care. We were in the "City of Romance", in a gondola, with each other.

As we floated along the narrow ribbon of water we saw a  man and woman sitting on a window ledge three stories up with wine glasses in hand waving to us. After zig-zagging along several canals, the streets of the city, we were on the Grand Canal which runs the length of the city. Unlike the small canals we had been on this one was bustling with activity. Gondolas were in the minority of watercraft. There were vaporetti, water taxis, gondolas, and boats carrying cargo. Nothing moves throughout the city but by water. There are no wheeled vehicles. It was noisy on the Grand Canal, and the acrid odor of diesel exhaust irritated our noses. After passing under the Rialto Bridge we went back into a quiet canal, under many more bridges, and past entrances to restaurants and shops before returning to the place of our voyage's origin. It had been delightful. And, yes, at such an expensive price, I would do it again.

After returning to terra firma, or solid ground, which may be a misnomer in Venice, we wandered the narrow alleys window shopping.  Shops have everything, including clothing, leather goods, jewelry, and virtually anything else you would want. A very popular item are carnival masks. Most are made of paper mache, and many are quite elaborate. These shop windows frequently exhibit the "No Photos" sign. Could they be of copyrighted designs, or is there some other reason to disallow photos? Fortunately, we did find an uncrowded cafe for  cappuccino.   All these tiny alleyways near the Grand Canal were crowded with visitors.

Piazza San Marco is one of the most popular attractions in the city. Saint Mark's basilica is one of

the most popular in Italy, and for that reason there is always a long line for admission. We looked at the statues of the four horses above the entrance and I told Claudette about them. "Those are copies of the originals," I said.

"Where are the originals? she asked.

"It's a rather interesting story," I said, as I began my explanation. "When the Venetians ruled the waves, so to speak, or rather the Adriatic Sea and the eastern Mediterranean, they brought back the horses from Constantinople. The four bronze horses are thought to be Greek. Remember the Hippodrome in Istanbul? We were there last year.  That's where the horses were.  When Napoleon conquered Venice he took the horses to Paris. Later they were returned to St. Mark's, but those aren't the real ones," I was enjoying telling the story.

"They look real to me," she said.

"They're copies.  They discovered that air pollution  was deteriorating the bronze and moved them to the museum and made these copies," I said.

"That's quite a story, she said.

"Yep!"

We entered the basilica, passing through security where a guard searched hand bags.  There was a large sign stating that backpacks were not allowed.  It amazed me to see some people grumble and complain when the guards turned them away. Did they expect the rules to be changed for them? This cathedral is probably the best example of the Byzantine architectural influence in Italy. The vast use of mosaics is obvious. We were reminded of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The floors are inlaid marble, and all walls are covered with polychrome religious images. It was beautiful; but, quite frankly, I think I've seen about enough fancy churches. After a while, the architecture and art seem to get repetitious.  However, Piazza San Marco and Saint Mark's Basilica are a "must see" in Venice.

After leaving the piazza we thought we would like to see the island of Morano, famous for its blown glass manufacturing. We decided to walk to a vaporetti stop opposite the Grand Canal on the Venetian lagoon. It was an interesting walk along the back canals as opposed to backstreets. We stopped at a small shop and bought an apple each. All produce is priced by the kilogram and sold by weight. The narrow sidewalks were deserted as we ventured far from tourist attractions. Here we found small piazzas call campis.  Colorful laundry hung overhead to dry. Students were hanging out at the University of Venice. Eventually we made our way to the vaporetti stop and boarded it for Morano, 1.5 kilometers away. We passed the cemetery island on the way and were soon at the pier of Morano.

The first thing you see is shops selling ornamental glass. Virtually anything you can imagine is crafted in glass. We entered one of the showrooms. (I thought the factory was in the back of the showroom.) There was a beautiful display of ornamental glass.  We noticed well dressed men in business suits sort of "attaching themselves" to customers and ushering them to a waiting boat. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. Customers would be transported to the factory for a glassblowing demonstration and then the salesmen would put the pressure on to buy.  Needless to say, that wasn't our cup of tea, and we just continued to window shop. One thing we found were some beautiful meringue puffs in a bakery shop window. We bought two and consumed them with an €,80 bottle of water. This was quite cheap.  We've found in Europe that the farther you are from a tourist attraction the cheaper the bottled water.  In Venice the price range seemed to be between €,80 and €4. Morano is a city of canals as well, and we strolled along window shopping. We had some lunch at a waterfront cafe. I had lasagna and Claudette tried the gnocchi. In Italy  the food is vaguely similar to its American counterpart. We were back in Venice and at Piazza San Marco by twilight time.

The piazza at night is almost a magical place. People peer into shop windows at jewelry, clothing, leather goods, and the ever-present masks.  The brilliantly decorated masks, some non-human appearing, stare back sans eyes. The crowds move slowly.  It seems that all people are represented

here.  The young; hugging, touching, kissing, and the older; many reliving their youth. We walked slowly absorbing the ambiance. We heard the sound of a piano accompanied by a cello. The musicians played under a canopy surrounded by tables decked with white tablecloths and flickering candles. On the opposite of the piazza another band was playing slow jazz with a lot of brass.  Children chased each other in the waning light, and Pakistani peddlers threw baseball-like objects into the night sky where they would glow in multi-colors before returning to earth. We found a bench from which to people watch for a bit.

We caught the Number 1 vaporetti back to the island of Lido and our hotel. Of course there was that stop at the gelato stand for a cool treat. Gelato, like hotel rooms, is less expensive on Lido.

It had been a good day, and we were ready for a good night's sleep. Fortunately, the singer at the bar down below had a good voice. I guess it's good to fall asleep with a crescent moon beaming through the window and the sound a singer accompanied by a guitar wafting through the night.

We slept late.  Eight o'clock is late for us. We had breakfast at the hotel, brioche and cappuccino. Breakfast was included with  the price of the room.  I was excited about visiting the Italian Naval Museum. My wife is fortunate to get to visit many aircraft, automotive, naval, and technology museums. But then, I get to see a lot of Shakespeare and such. Museo Storico Navale is located in Campo St. Biagio in  a building that was once a grainery. The museum was created after WWI and is near the Arsenale, the famous Venetian shipyard. In the forty-two rooms on the three floors of the museum Italian naval history is represented. Venice controlled the eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic sea and at one time had over 3000 ships and a shipyard that could produce one ship per day! There are  literally hundreds of ship models representing watercraft through the centuries. Cannon are there from the earliest to WWII vintage. A ship requiring 130 oarsmen is represented in model form. But the two-man submarine from WWII is an original. There 

is one room dedicated to the vessel most often associated with Venice, the gondola. I could have stayed in the museum all day. It takes a bit longer when you have to translate display captions. The museum is quite similar to the Spanish Naval Museum in Madrid. Both are owned by the respective navies.

We walked the city the rest of the day and took a cruise on the Grand Canal at night. Many of the buildings are illuminated at night. It was a warm night, and we sat back on the fantail of the boat.

It was a good visit to Venice.  Like other attractions it was crowded with tourists, even in the "off" season.  But I had seen Piazza San Marco and the basilica and taken a gondola ride with a woman who puts up with all my eccentricities.