Last Stop: Naples

Naples was our last port before returning home. We got up early to grab breakfast before our shore excursion. When we walked out onto the aft deck with our breakfast trays, we saw the sunirsing over Mout Vesuvius. Wow! My breakfast got cold while I snapped a few pictures, but that was well worth the resulting pictures.

It seemed that most of the ship was going to Pompeii, but Andrew and I had decided on Herculaneum. Pompeii had been covered by ash from Vesuvius, but Herculaneum, on the other side of Vesuvius, was covered by 30 meters of mud.

Our guide was a bit of a putz, but did point out some cool things to us (when we could find him and hear him). One of our first stops was a thermopolium – a shop that sold food of some kind. There were counters with huge pots embedded in them where food would have been kept and sold. Across the street was a wine shop, with similar large pots, but half-buried in the ground to keep the wine cool.

Our guide also showed us an intact store that was found, complete with a second level. The wood wall fittings still hanging on the walls and a railing on the second-level. In several places we saw carbonized wood – original wood still in place.

In addition, there were lots of mosaics that have been excavated and painted walls could still be seen. All in all, the site was spectacular.

On our way back to the ship we stopped at a cameo workshop where I picked up a beautiful cameo for myself.

Check out all of my pictures from the day in my Herculaneum Excursion Flickr Photoset