It’s just hard to know where to start.  Pompeii was like nothing I had imagined. 

apparently while excavating, they found weak spots – these were spots where there had been bodies they had decayed and archeologists filled the dead holes with plaster…fascinating and shocking at the same time.

After all of these thousands of years – many of the painted walls still showed colors and some with quite a bit of detail.  This is after being under 30 feet of ash for 1700 years and then slowly excavated for another few thousand.

Kitchen/fast food restaurant – holes for the pots.

entry mat to a house  – beware of dog…can you believe the condition of these mosaic floors.

One of the things I found fascinating is that an earth quake hit Pompeii shortly before Mt Vesuvias blew – so there were carvings and marble coverings which were not completed between the rebuilding after the earthquake and the volcanic damage.

Another well preserved mosaic floor.

perhaps just not finished?

Window in one of the houses.

The detail of the carvings and the colors – breathtaking

the area where gladiators practiced and their quarters

an arena

lead water pipes!!!

These last two pictures – the theater…imagine them sitting around in Togas and sandels watching a play….

OH…and this is what I followed around all day.  This won’t embarass him at all 🙂

Somewhere in my mass of pictures, are pics I took of the cobblestone streets with ruts in them – possibly from chariots?  Frequently, I would try to close my eyes and imagine what it was like to be walking the streets in 79 AD.  Many places you could look up and see Mount Vesuvias just 5 miles away.