Travel back to 79 AD, Herculaneum style

Fall break and time to head southern Italy for us all!

Sunday the 20th marked the beginning of our trip -- boarding the express train to Naples (3 hours), then the regional train to Herculaneum (20 minutes), and finally the regional train (40 minutes) again to Sorrento, our base for four days.



We have become very efficient packers in our two small travel bags.  And we are off to Naples...very quickly!

We did the math:  185 mph!

After figuring out the Naples train station, we transferred to the regional train.

Ercolano is the modern day Herculaneum -- named for Hercules, and one of the cities that was buried when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.  Scavi in Italian is ruins.

(Actually, Adam had some language fun figuring out what scavi meant, because it was attached to both Herculaneum and Pompeii.  It's "excavation," where s- means ex-.  Skim milk here is parzialmente scremato, so part of the cream is removed.  Get it?)

A small lunch to regain our energy and we were off to explore the ruins.



Mt. Vesuvius looms over us, and will continue to all week...


After our lunch, Adam dishes up some hot food at one of the many "fast-food restaurants" throughout the town.

Unlike Pompeii, second stories did not all
collapse under the weight of the ash.

A dining room (the wall paintings are amazing) and kitchen out the back.









The streets provided a remarkable drainage system, so they could flush them out.  Stones were set at intersections to provide stepping stones from one sidewalk to another, with widths to allow chariots to pass.


















A common feature of the homes is a center atrium/garden.



Many of the original mosaic floors have been discovered.

Beautiful bright colors adorn the walls
and columns of this luxurious home.

Here you can see the height of debris (up to the top of the wall) that buried the city.  Herculaneum was buried in volcanic mud, making excavation much more difficult than Pompeii.




And a glimpse of the tragedy that remains, people captured by ash just doing their daily living.







Intricate and colorful mosaics remain.



This home is known for it's wood screened room.  It reminds Adam a bit of the temples in Japan!



This captures the depth of the old city, with the new city built on top.  Unfortunately, some of Herculaneum is underneath Erculano, making excavations difficult (if not impossible).



Life thrives in the gardens throughout the ruins.



We learned so much about a town of people who lived 2000 years before us.
Their gifts in art, city planning, and engineering were truly remarkable.



And then it was back on the train to head south to Sorrento.



Tired, but what an amazing day!






Sunset over the Bay of Napoli -- with Vesuvius waiting for us in the distance.  More of it awaits us on Monday...