Day 10: Cosmos European Masterpiece: Pompeii – Rome

I was really excited to leave Sorrento today as we were heading for Pompeii.  Pompeii has been on my bucket list before the term “bucket list” ever existed.  After my “incidents” Leo asked me if I was going to do Pompeii as the ground was not the best.  I said I would do it as Pompeii was one of the reasons why I chose this tour.  I was going to do it if it killed me!

After travelling through the countryside bypassing Rome we finally pass through Naples arriving at Pompeii.  I was so overwhelmed I could have cried.  Just seeing the outside of it sent shivers down my spine.

We were met by Giuseppe our local guide who took us through a part of the site explaining everything to us.  Pompeii was certainly ahead of its time.  The residents of Pompeii had bathrooms in their homes, Giuseppe pointed out a septic tank pipe on one building and 2 of the kiwis on our trip who are Architecture graduates said the Pompeiians were using cavity walls which they said only started being used in NZ in the 19^th century.   The roads were also curved at the sides to allow clean water from fountains to flow down the sides of the street.  I wish I could have stayed there longer.  I know we were only shown a small part of it.  You definitely need a day there.  The only downside was we didn’t get to see the brothel that was intact.  I soooooo wanted to have my photo taken inside it.  Ah…. The Hoare in the brothel…. The champagne comedy!  Alas the brothel we did see was not fully intact and it was roped off, so you couldn’t go in :o(  We did learn that the people of Pompeii were not very tall.  If Jax had been alive in 79AD she would have been a giant among them!  Their height range varied between 135-150cms!!!!!!!!  Having said that, why did they make some of their steps so damn high?  Fortunately for the steep/rough patches I had help from my tour group, so no sobernfels at Pompeii!

Unfortunately it was time to leave Pompeii and head for Roma!  Driving through to our hotel we drove by some of the main sites.   On arrival at our hotel we had around an hour to have a bit of a relax before we boarded the bus for some sightseeing (on bus) including a stop at the Trevi Fountain so we could throw our three coins in the fountain and the Piazza Navone before we headed off for our dinner at a Roman restaurant.  OMG they gave us a lot of food.  We had an appetiser, 2 entrees, a main meal and then dessert!  I only picked at the last two courses as I was so full.  At the end of the meal all the ladies were given a rose and a kiss by one of the waiters.  Leo called out to me prior to me receiving my rose giving me the sign to slip the tongue in.  Hm if it was one of the young, cute waiters I may have thought about it… ha!  Driving back to the hotel the bus stopped outside St Peter’s so we could take a photo of it lit up.  Also driving back Leo mentioned at the dinner it was customary for the ladies to pinch the waiters on the arse…… ROCCO…. TURN THE BUS AROUND!  Now Leo tells us this?