Naples has always been on our radar as a place we would love to visit. Having learned and been drilled on the historic significance of pyroclastic flows since grade school there was no reason not to make the trip to see the city for ourselves. The trip turned out to be an excellent day trip through Herculaneum and Pompeii, two of the most significant city ruins when thinking about cities under the shadow of mount Vesuvius. Here are some of the shots we took of our time in the two cities, although we started our day relatively early (8 am) we still didn’t have enough time to see Pompeii in its entirety. If you’re ever in Naples be sure to consider Pompeii as a day trip, you won’t be disappointed! Also check out our post on visiting Italy on a budget which outlines how you can stretch your dollar to maximum potential.
Leaving Milan we took a train to Naples and went on a day trip to Herculaneum. We arrived at the city and were amazed by the ancient ruins
Reading about Herculaneumm in textbooks doesn’t compare to see it in person, if you want to talk about getting real about volcanic eruptions, look no further than this city. There is something to be said about visiting the remains of a historic site of destruction, whether that be a natural disaster or human created. Every moment in our trip we wanted to be present, and this moment helped us consider the historic context of the cobblestone path we walked on. Stepping out onto the same balcony many wealthy Romans spent their last days was worth every set of stairs we had to climb to get there.
These buildings were buried in the eruption of nearby Mt. VesuviusThe city of Herculaneum was once a vacation destination for noblesBuildings and walls were covered in a thick layer of ash and soot resulting in excellently preserved friezesThese roman columns once held a roof that provided shade in the courtyardWe wandered around the ruined city because there was no English map to be had for freeSkeletons were excavated long after the discovery of the city and many were discovered in the boat docks. The residents were presumably waiting for rescue when they were buried aliveWe could see Mount Vesuvius in the distanceWe arrived in Pompeii and were greeted by modern art sculptures that dotted the ruined cityThe cast of a body was made of a person in their final momentsUnfortunately, even dogs were not able to escape the flow of hot ash from the mountainThe ruins include a theater, films are projected for viewing from the stadium seatsThe amphitheater is still used and ancient looking structures that look unstable are actually outfitted with modern toilets“Garden of the Fugitives” preserves human remains in the position that they were discoveredAs the sun set on our adventure in Pompeii it was time for us to head back to NaplesThere was so much to see in NaplesWe hiked up a path to the Castel Sant’Elmo with a birds eye view of the cityOn our way up we couldn’t help but admire this dog in the windowMount Vesuvius still dominates the skyline like it did thousands of years agoThankfully we didn’t miss these grapes that were growing on the path up to Castel Sant’ElmoWe had to try one as they were too tempting, the grapes were incredibly fresh and tasted nothing like the grapes we find in the states
