Amazing Pompeii

 It is absolutely inconceivable that we hopped the same stepping stones and walked the same streets and villa floors as the ancient Romans, albeit in GoreTex and under umbrellas, and taking pictures with iPhones.  It’s not just a few structures, it’s an entire town.  And there’s so much there in amazing condition, thanks to the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius 2,000 years ago.  Pompeii and its lifestyle were ‘preserved’ in 20 feet of pumice and ash.  It’s a Greco Roman city frozen in time, just the way they left it.

There are intact mosaic floors, paintings, coins, fruit and loaves of bread, as well as weapons, pottery and cooking utensils.  And you even see the eerie forms of human bodies in their final moments, recreated in plaster made from casts of their voids.  A horse, too.  Yikes!

We hiked up to the rim of the still-active volcano and viewed the yawning crater to see the source of the big event.  It’s ironic that an epic tragedy made for incredible preservation.  And now it allows us to walk in ancient footsteps.  Perspective is a good thing; I come away feeling very small in the arc of time.

It was absolutely inconceivable that we hopped the same stepping stones and walked the same streets and villa floors floors as the ancient Romans, albeit in GoreTex and under umbrellas, and taking pictures with iPhones.  And there’s so much there in amazing condition, thanks to an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius 2,000 years ago. The town and its lifestyle were ‘preserved’ in 20 feet of pumice and ash.  It’s a Greco Roman city frozen in time, truly just the way they left it.

There are intact mosaic floors, paintings, coins and loaves of bread, as well as weapons, pottery and cooking utensils.  And you even see the eerie forms of human bodies in their final moments, recreated in plaster made from casts of their voids.  Yikes!

We hiked up to the rim of the still-active volcano, and viewed the yawning crater to see the source of the big event.  It’s ironic that an epic tragedy made for incredible preservation.  And now it allows us to walk in ancient footsteps.  Perspective is a good thing; I come away feeling very small in the arc of time.

It was absolutely inconceivable that we hopped the same stepping stones and walked the same streets and villa floors floors as the ancient Romans, albeit in GoreTex and under umbrellas, and taking pictures with iPhones.  And there’s so much there in amazing condition, thanks to an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius 2,000 years ago. The town and its lifestyle were ‘preserved’ in 20 feet of pumice and ash.  It’s a Greco Roman city frozen in time, truly just the way they left it.

There are intact mosaic floors, paintings, coins and loaves of bread, as well as weapons, pottery and cooking utensils.  And you even see the eerie forms of human bodies in their final moments, recreated in plaster made from casts of their voids.  Yikes!

We hiked up to the rim of the still-active volcano, and viewed the yawning crater to see the source of the big event.  It’s ironic that an epic tragedy made for incredible preservation.  And now it allows us to walk in ancient footsteps.  Perspective is a good thing; I come away feeling very small in the arc of time.

It was absolutely inconceivable that we hopped the same stepping stones and walked the same streets and villa floors floors as the ancient Romans, albeit in GoreTex and under umbrellas, and taking pictures with iPhones.  And there’s so much there in amazing condition, thanks to an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius 2,000 years ago. The town and its lifestyle were ‘preserved’ in 20 feet of pumice and ash.  It’s a Greco Roman city frozen in time, truly just the way they left it.

There are intact mosaic floors, paintings, coins and loaves of bread, as well as weapons, pottery and cooking utensils.  And you even see the eerie forms of human bodies in their final moments, recreated in plaster made from casts of their voids.  Yikes!

We hiked up to the rim of the still-active volcano, and viewed the yawning crater to see the source of the big event.  It’s ironic that an epic tragedy made for incredible preservation.  And now it allows us to walk in ancient footsteps.  Perspective is a good thing; I come away feeling very small in the arc of time.

It was absolutely inconceivable that we hopped the same stepping stones and walked the same streets and villa floors floors as the ancient Romans, albeit in GoreTex and under umbrellas, and taking pictures with iPhones.  And there’s so much there in amazing condition, thanks to an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius 2,000 years ago. The town and its lifestyle were ‘preserved’ in 20 feet of pumice and ash.  It’s a Greco Roman city frozen in time, truly just the way they left it.

There are intact mosaic floors, paintings, coins and loaves of bread, as well as weapons, pottery and cooking utensils.  And you even see the eerie forms of human bodies in their final moments, recreated in plaster made from casts of their voids.  Yikes!

We hiked up to the rim of the still-active volcano, and viewed the yawning crater to see the source of the big event.  It’s ironic that an epic tragedy made for incredible preservation.  And now it allows us to walk in ancient footsteps.  Perspective is a good thing; I come away feeling very small in the arc of time.