By this time in the late morning, the crowds had swelled on the streets of Pompeii. We pressed on and turned towards the area of the Stadium/Amphitheater and other excavated homes and a bit away from the “commercial area”. It was here that we found the BEST tile mosaics and preserved wall frescoes.
Most of these homes were from upper class families and had some very beautiful courtyards with fountains, statues, frescoes, and porticos.
But even the rich are finite and misfortune and disaster did not discriminate in 79 A.D.
We did make it over to the large amphitheater, but sadly, we couldn’t really see into it as they were setting up for a performance. Can you even imagine seeing a modern performance of… anything….in there?!
This side of the city seemed to highlight the homes’ courtyards and gardens a bit more. It was easy to imagine the fruit trees, flowers, and little benches to enjoy the perfect weather strewn about the grounds.
Very near the amphitheater was a rotating display of curated artifacts. Some were absolutely stunning in color and craftsmanship!
Amusingly, the display-du-jour was this one: (click at your own risk!!!) Let me just say, it was fantastically AWKWARD to have run into this with my daughter! We ended up sort of separating for the length of the exhibit and found each other outside afterwards. Egad!!
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/exhibition-erotic-art-pompeii-images-2103132
It was very interesting to be sure. But this I actually found MORE interesting!
https://greekreporter.com/2022/08/07/pompeii-chariot-2021s-greatest-archaeological-finds/#:~:text=Nearly-Intact Pompeii Chariot Among the Greatest Archaeological Finds,-By Patricia Claus&text=The Pompeii chariot, once drawn,in a cataclysmic volcanic eruption.
I love that the archeologists are STILL finding amazing things and learning more about the ancient way of life of the Romans of the time. I was continually blown away by how advanced they were in terms of plumbing, water delivery, sanitation, etc…
Eventually, we’d had our fill and the crowds were becoming a bit unmanageable, so we decided to start working our way to a further region up towards the direction of the mountain. Unfortunately, it was a ‘zone’ that was closed for the day for archeological work, so we turned and headed for the park exit. It was already 2:00 or so and we both felt ready to call it a day. Besides, our tummies were starting to do the talking; it was definitely lunch time!
While I’d love to say that this particularly looming figure standing over the city of Pompeii is an ancient treasure, it is not. Instead, it is a gift from a Polish artist donated in 2017.
Below is an article that tells you more about Mitoraj’s Daedalus donated to Pompeii:
https://poland.pl/culture-and-art/visual-arts/igor-mitoraj-sculpture-remain-pompeii/
Eager to find something tasty, Pompeii’s little “strip mall” outside the park seemed to offer a nice variety of enticing lunch options.
After a bit of browsing, we settled on a little café that had internet, tables in the shade, and most importantly, bathrooms!!
The server handed us our menus and then asked if we were sisters. I about burst out laughing but accepted the complement with a smile. Sadly, I think he was mortified, and we were then served by the older, presumable, owner. Neither of us were in the least offended, finding it more amusing than anything else.
I ordered up the Pasta Putanesca:
…and Anara finally, FINALLY got her sandwich she was craving.
We were both extremely happy campers! My pasta was absolutely outstanding. I finished every last bite! I also ordered up a glass of red wine, I believe, because I did almost every chance I got. It’s cheap and (usually) amazing and who knows when I’ll ever get the chance to sip wine under the warm Italian sun again. Completely satisfied with every aspect of our day, it was time to head back into Italy’s ghetto-city on our Cicumvesuviana SlumTrain for some rest and re-charging.
The very, very old kissing the not-so-super-old:
On the walk back to our room, I took a few more photos of the Presepi; most shops in the Armenio neighborhood didn’t shut down until WELL after dark making for a crowded, noisy nightlife vibe. I held my bag a bit closer in as we weaved through the throngs of shoppers.
Not a presepi, but a funky memorial to someone- I’m at a loss for words:
We both laid down for a bit an then I headed out to get my nails done. Without boring you with the details, it was the worst, and most disappointing, nail fill I’ve ever gotten. But it was better than not getting a fill at all and it’d have to do until I got home. I know this sounds incredibly vain and so unimportant, but I am a horrible chew-er and they were all breaking left, right, and center.
That taken care of, I gathered up Anara and we headed out for a short nighttime stroll to find a small bite of dinner. Naples is famous for its small-bites/handheld street food and we didn’t want to miss out on trying a couple things at least once.
We ended up with these little beauties…
One was an deep-fried spaghetti with alfredo ball:
And the other was a creamy ricotta pocket that had ham and veggies in it.
