Rome and Pompeii, 19th-22nd November 2005
Flights to Rome were very cheap at this time, so we took the opportunity to go there - somewhere we had both really been wanting to visit.
We spent the first day wandering around, looking at the architecture. It's quite amazing just how many interesting buuildings and monuments there actually are, on pretty much every street and corner. I'm afraid our snaps really don't do it much justice
There are obelisks everywhere.
Outside the Pantheon
The Four Rivers Fountain at Piazza Navona
The view from Castel Sant' Angelo to Saint Peter's Cathedral and the Vatican
Fontana di Trevi that evening
We went to a market the next morning, then wandered outside the city walls and back through this gate (Porta San Sebastiono, I think)
And on into the ruined Baths of Caracalla
Then on past the Arch of Constantine, to the Colosseum...
...which could really do with a bit of renovation
The Forum from Palatine Hill
The Arch of Titus
The original 4th century bronze doors to the Temple of Romulus. The porphyry columns on either side are made of a rare stone, worth more than its weight in gold. Of course, there is more of this porphyry used in the Vatican than anywhere else!
Statues of Vestal Virgins. The Christians smashed the heads off all but two of the statues - the two who converted to Christianity
The next morning we got up early and took the train to Naples, then to Pompeii. It was a long journey, and we wasted a couple of hours getting the wrong train from Naples (there are three lines which diverge, and only one goes to Pompeii). However, it was well worth it
Casts of those buried by the eruptions from Vesuvius. This rapid burial in dry ash is what preserved so many of the paintings so well
An intricate mosaic
Roman toilets
The horrific and deeply moving Garden of the Fugitives - all these people died in the eruption. Their casts seem to show them variously trying to flee, to shelter or to protect each other
Looking from the Garden to Vesuvius - quiet for the moment
Most of Pompeii is still buried under fields, as a walk around the perimiter reveals
Beware of the dog
Amazingly well preserved paintwork in the Villa of Mysteries
Temple of Jupiter
We got back to our hotel pretty late, and got up early the next morning for a tour of the Vatican
It really is an amazing place. The sheer decadence and volume of treasure and artwork that has been created, assembled, gifted and plundered to create it is incredible - the result of the spilling of vast amounts of sweat and blood
The sheer scale of Saint Peter's Cathedral is hard to grasp - and even harder to capture on camera!
We wandered around again that afternoon, and headed for home in the evening
Jen got a snap of these swarming birds as we neared the station. One of them crapped on me, of course...