We decided to catch the bus to the train station. Unfortunately we were given poor information
from the hotel, so instead of buying tickets from the tobacco shop before we
boarded the bus we got on thinking we could buy them on board. A friendly passenger saw us looking uncertain
and started chatting to us. She told us
that we risked a 78 euro fine if caught on the bus without a ticket and as it
was a peak hour the likelihood of being caught was quite high. Great!!
We decided to get off the bus at the next stop and walked the rest of
the way, about ½ k.
A bit more confusion in buying our tickets for the correct
destination, but eventually we were on the correct train heading for Pompeii. It was an interesting trip – the train and
the stations were so covered in graffiti it was nearly impossible to know what
stops we were at. The train windows had
been covered with painting and all of the signs announcing the station names
were completely painted over as well. We
counted the number of stops and hoped for the best. We need not have worried as other tourists
all got up at the same station so we knew we were right. Phew..
WE bought a book and a map of the site and also some frozen
water, and got to the entrance.
Pompeii is huge, lots to see and more than could be covered
in a day. We saw the main things. Disappointing that our map was not correct,
but we managed. The city had been a
thriving, large and well to do with all of the forums, court houses, shops,
boarding houses, even a brothel. Most of
the houses we saw had a portico and then a central courtyard with rooms set
around. The walls decorated with
rendering and then paintings. Most of
the walls were down to just brick. They
were square bricks laid in a diamond pattern.
The forum baths was the best and most interesting for me, as well as the
Amphitheatre and the arena.
We had been there 5 hours and still hadn’t covered the
whole site, but decided it was time to go back to catch the train home to
Naples.
A bit of fun to find how to get to the correct side of the
rail line to head home. We couldn’t find
where to validate our tickets so we just boarded the train. At Naples station the ticket inspector looked
like he was going to fine us but a tourist friendly inspector came along and
said it was ok. Another phew….
Back to the hotel by taxi.
The taxi driver was a nice man, he said the traffic was light compared
to normal – to us it was bedlam. Time
for a rest then dinner in the hotel.
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