Window On Ancient Rome

We docked in Napoli - Naples. The air was clear. The sky was blue. There was music in the air, I swear. Seemed like most Italians could sing and sing well. Some would bellow out some arias at the drop of the hat. They grew up with all these operas!

My first time in this beautiful land! 
Naples is not like the more touristy cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, or the others. However, it is one of the largest municipality in Italy after Rome and Milan. It has its own charm.

Would you believe the famous tourist attraction was the Cemetery? Yes, it is true! After 18th century, the churches were too full for burials, so notable families built chapels and crypts in more secular locations than in the churches. The famous cemetery of Poggiorcale is laid out like a garden, like an estate. There were some of the most breathtakingly beautiful marble statues all over the place. (I think in some way it rivals the Rodin Garden in Paris.) Some of the statutes had more of the Grecian grace than the Roman masculinity.  And the many magnificent towering cypresses! The manicured lawns and hand-clipped (I should say hand-crafted) hedges! The profusion of blooming flowers! The sculpted shrubs in various animal or organic shapes! Only Italians had the imagination to make a cemetery such a serene and artistic place for the dead! 

Like any touristy cities, there were vendors trying to sell you souvenirs. They flocked towards you as soon as you got off the ship. I encountered young boys with trays of cameos for sell. Some of the cameos were quite nice. I did not buy any though.

We must have stayed in Naples for more than one day. Because, we had time to go to Pompeii. Window on Ancient Rome!

Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of the still active volcano Mount Vesuvius in A.D.79. The excavation and restoration is still going on today I believe.
I had seen pictures of the fossilized man and dog in my history books. And  here I was staring at the real thing! The twisted body. The expression of utter fear on the man's face. It was unbelievable!
At that time, a fair part of the streets were restored and a number of the partial dwellings were preserved. By looking at the artifacts, we could imagine how people lived during that time. There were Roman baths, there were aqua-ducts - the Romans had running water. There were murals depicting daily lives of the people who lived there.

Now then, when we got to one part of an intersection of the streets, we women and girls were told that we could not go further with the group - Men only!
I was not very happy and wanted to know WHY. Later, we learned that the murals that were shown to the men were considered a bit too "risque" for us women. Bah! I think now they have changed the rules. Those murals probably would not shock even the teens today.
Well, I did not get to see the paintings of the orgies.
The ruins on the whole was very impressive and interesting.
 But I still want to know what the men saw though.

We left Pompeii and Naples way too soon.