Gritty Naples and Pompeii

I warned Jackson the first two days of this trip would be particularly tiring because of the time difference, number of sites, and length of time we would spend sightseeing. Also, city life is exhausting. After the first couple of days, I knew the trip would slow down, as we planned to rent a car and slowly meander through the countryside.
So today went as promised. We packed it in. After a full day exploring Rome yesterday, we left the hotel before 7 a.m. today to make the Frecciarosa (fast) train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale. We had an Italian breakfast at a "bar" with a couple of cappucinos and some pastries.  Normally a three hour car ride, the train from Rome to Naples was supposed to get us there in 1 hour and 5 minutes.

The wrong one

The right one

I told the boys I was weary of planning all the details of the trip, then navigating pretty much everywhere and everything over the past three days. It's not like they need me to lead them around;  I suppose this is silly and bossy teacher behavior bleeding into my personal life. So today, I tried desperately to keep my mouth shut and allowed them to follow the rough plan I wrote down and navigate for me. They were doing pretty well getting us on the fast train, following the train tables and directional signs, waving off a couple of half-assed pickpockets, and noting the circumvensia local train stops list, which was posted inside the train car that resembled the New York City subway pre-Rudy Giuliani days. Gritty.
So Jackson noticed the Pompeii stop was next. We confidently disembarked off the full train along with another family of three. No one else exited. This station was clean and new. I turned around to see the full train pulling away. Something seemed very wrong.

A brand new stop was added before Pompeii, but the sign was not changed inside the train. So we waited with the family of three from Virginia inside the station. Next train to bring us to Pompeii? 25 minutes later. Poor Jackson and Chris! Ugh. Unproductive time LOL

Of course, when we got to Pompeii itself, the entire site was quite incredible. Artifacts were frozen in time...79 C.E., to be exact. This is when Mount Vesuvius blew its top and choked the town with a layer of ash. Excavators poured plaster into spaces left behind when this ash killed all living things. The casts show visitors the position adults, babies, and animals were in the moment they died. Many buildings were partly preserved, including the forum, basilica, lunch counters, and what one would call both middle class homes and mansions.

Of course the highlight was the brothel, where sailors could point to the menu depicting exactly what they wanted for the evening and would be led to stone beds in separate rooms. I also liked the mosaic tile floors! Many of these were removed for preservation and placed in the Naples Archeological Museum. Yes, we got to spend a couple of hours there, too. Many of the best artifacts from both Herculaneum and Pompeii were brought to this museum.
We got Jackson to try original Naples pizza (an entire pie folded up...thin and delish). After eating we surprised him with a cab ride out to Fontanelle Cemetery. To make room for new "visitors" and also for practical reasons after a plague wiped out half the town's population, the skulls and bones were stacked neatly inside an underground cave. My vote for creepiest site ever visited in my life.

As we tucked ourselves in at 10:30, we agreed today was an outstanding day. But we are looking forward to slowing down a bit tomorrow. Tuscany and Umbria here we come!