Today we took the train from Sorrento to Pompeii. Daniel had a little magnetic drawing tablet and was giving it to the people around us on the train to draw pictures. He would hand the tablet to someone, they'd draw a picture (usually a sun first, then a tree, then they'd get creative), he would take back and use the slider to erase it, and then he'd hand it to the next person. He commanded quite a crowd. It seems like a universal trait among the Italians that we met that they love kids, especially Daniel-kids. One man he/we befriended told us that he is a security guard at the Pompeii ruins, but we didn't see him again when we were there.
Getting off of the train, we needed lunch so we stopped at a place with expensive pizza and outdoor seating. When you're hungry and cheap, restaurants in tourist areas are a bit depressing.
Pompeii blows your mind in an ancient way. It's been uncovered for hundreds of years, and it's still being excavated. Many of the "modern" repairs on the buildings are older than the USA. Also, if I overhead a guide correctly, Pompeii was 30 feet underground before they dug it up. It's also quite large, and we wandered around the grids of streets, sometimes finding buildings we could walk through, until we reached the large arena in the back. Is it called a coloseum or an amphitheater? Emily remembered being allowed to go into the tunnels under the seats and climb to the top of the walls, but they were closed for us.
Daniel was awake for the first 30 minutes of Pompeii and then he fell asleep on my chest in the Ergobaby baby carrier. We disrobed him because we knew it would be warm, but still he and I were a sweaty mess. He slept the whole afternoon until we were leaving Pompeii, and so, obviously, I was exhausted from hauling him around. I felt Emily's pain, having a baby permanently attached to her front.
One area of Pompeii is a temple that was half built when Mt Vesuvius blew up and covered everything. We could see half built pillars, and it was interesting to see how they are made. Inside the pillar is red brick, and then plaster covers the bricks and forms the fancy grooves going up the pillar. I overheard a guide saying that the last step was to put marble dust on the plaster to give the pillar the appearance of being made from marble. Also, in the background of the temple, we could see the menacing shadow of Mt Vesuvius brooding, waiting to blow up and kill us all like it did to the people who started laying the bricks for those pillars.
On the train ride home, there were some young ruffians on the train... super cool, rough housing and giving off the vibe of "don't mess with us, you can't handle our machismo." Daniel was standing in my lap looking behind me over my shoulder and I heard him start giggling. I looked back and didn't see what he thought was funny. Then he giggled again harder. I looked back and realized that the cool kids were making funny faces for him. Then they came over and gave him a lollipop. Italians love kids.
In Sorrento we were starving and of course ate some more pizza. It's so good when you're starving and cheap. They make it quickly too.
Yesterday I tried to buy a SIM card for our tablet but (after waiting in line for an hour) they said I can't buy it without my passport. What's up with that? Terrorists? So today I returned with my passport and got a SIM card.
Daniel taking bold steps into Pompeii
The half built temple
And now you can see how they were made.
Repairs underway
We were both weary
The big thing in the back
A german wiener shepherd? Something went wrong.
All of this was made possible by the looming shadow in the back.
Our staple
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