Pompeii (My greatest regret and the biggest disappointment)

During my last time to Italy, I had wanted to go and see Pompeii but never had the time to get there.  When we decided to take a cruise and it included a trip to Naples, I was very excited to skip Naples and hit Pompeii instead.  I remember learning about the lost city in school and seeing the pictures of this place where people's last moments were forever preserved.

I could not wait to get my learning on and explore this site. After all Pompeii's story is just so incredible!  A whole city buried under a layer of burning pumice stone in AD 79.  This is a place you do not want to live (sort of like Tornado Alley in the States).  17 years before the volcano erupted and buried the city, a earthquake took place and devastated the area. Much of the 20,000 population had moved after the earthquake.  Because of this, only (only!) 2,000 individuals perished from the volcano.

After that catastrophe, Pompeii receded from the public eye and was forgotten until 1594 when an architect stumbled across the ruins while digging a canal.  Proper exploration and excavation did not begin until 1748 however and continues to this day.

With all the great history, how could a trip to this UNESCO site be disappointing? Well it was.  The biggest disappointment is that you pay to enter the ruins and you walk around and look at things.  And as you walk around for a bit, you start to think, "Hey, that could have been a cool building or something.  I wonder what it was?" Then after awhile of thinking this, you start to think "I'm, not getting anything from this.  I don't even have a map.  Everything looks the same: old ruined buildings with bits everywhere." Then, if you are like me, you start to get frustrated and wonder if Naples has anything interesting to go see (sadly, that answer is no).

The site is not cheap to get into and not even a map is readily available so you can at least find your way around the area (and it is a big, ruined area!). Shea, seeing my frustration, did go and ask for one back (wwaaaayyyy back) at the entrance gate.  It sort of labelled things but not to the point that you would be able to tell what the building was used for (most of the buildings are labelled by what was found in them. For example, House of the Faun is where a faun statue was found).

After awhile of wondering the sites, we did see some cool things.  I truly believe that this UNESCO site is missing out on a major education opportunity though.  Put up a sign to tell people about the more important buildings, for example.  It is a huge site and unfortunately, becomes very boring when you don't know what you are looking at.

So you will notice with the pictures below, my descriptions are very vague. Pompeii's reputation, in my mind has now moved from being my biggest regret in not seeing it back in 2005 to my biggest disappointment of 2013.  I would go so far as to say, don't go see it unless they add a sign or two.

This is the long entrance walkway to get to the major areas of Pompeii.

Some ruins at Pompeii

I think this might have been a temple (temples are always big)?

A street with the volcanic mountain behind (called Vesuvius Mountain).

Another huge disappointment!  I always thought there were 100's of these victims at Pompeii.  In actuality, there are 5. And they are not actual bodies. They are plaster casts. When these people suffocated on ash and their bodies left a cavity left in the bed of ashes. The excavators went in and poured the plaster into the cavity to get the shapes. I was so misled as a child! 

A stadium (based on its architectural similarities to Rome's Colosseum).

Inside the stadium.

Been there, done that, not going back!

Now I mentioned that we could have done Naples instead of this.  Well, because we did not spend a whole day in Pompeii, we went back to Naples.  That is a city that I will never return to!  It is dirty, loud, unorganised and there is not a lot to see there in the first place. 

A street in Naples.  The traffic was crazy! None of them stop for pedestrians.  Can you spot the garbage?

This building was kind of cool.  No idea what it is though. I didn't have the patience anymore to explore!