seen these in all their glory! A lot of the great statues and artwork are now in the Naples Museum - one of the reasons I was so keen to go there. So after seeing these baths and getting very lost on the wrong side of the city wall for a while, I met up with the others outside the Pantheon. Went for a bit of a walk around the Piazza de Popolo and up Via Del Corsa - the shopping street. We had learned that there were lots of great places to eat in South Rome so went for a tram-ride down there. Found absolutely nothing. And with 2 frustrated and whingey boys, with no food in their stomachs, it was not a particularly fun search for food. But, eventually of course we found a great restaurant - very Italian, no one knew any English. Even me not using an Italian accent when asking for a Coca Cola got me nowhere - needed the accent CORCA CORLA!!!
Pics from the Caracalla Baths
Piazza Popolo - only seconds before I took this pic of one of the fountains that third seat along also had a kissing couple on it. Have definitely seen lots of Italian loving in public!!
Great big pizzas in Rome.
Yes headmistress, I have made my bed.
The next day we left our great hostel (that used to be a school) and headed off to Ostica Antica (which Ive already mentioned). Me above the baths of Neptune
So we visited Naples on Friday 10th. Caught the train in & were immediately 'culture-shocked'. Naples is crazy, dirty, yet full of life. I really enjoyed it - I guess it reminded me a bit of an Asian city. People on scooters everywhere, shops including pet shops with all these crazy critters (eg. geckos, squirrels, gophers, hamsters), cake stalls, heaps of pedestrians, piles of rubbish - some of it for sale (jumble sales on the footpaths)!! Just lots of stuff going on & it was obviously a poorer part of Italy. We headed to the museum (after figuring out the buses - I really want to know more Italian!!) and it was fantastic! I think the best museum I've been into. Not a huge variety of stuff but lots of stuff relevant to what I've seen such as the Caracalla baths and Pompei, which we were destined to see. I never realised the huge influence that Egypt had on the Italians and that so much trading was going on between them. Makes sense really but cool to find out that Pompei had a temple to Isis and one to Apollo and when Pompei was excavated they found heaps of Egyptian jewellry and tiny figurines of the gods. So amazing to me.
I can't remember if I've already said this already but I am in awe of the mosaics found in Pompei and other areas. They are just so intricate and beautiful. I have decided if I ever have a house, I will make sure I have mosaics somewhere... Maybe I'll do a course when I get back to Bris.
Yesterday (Sat 11th) I was nursing a terrible hangover (I blaim the combo of 9% beer and vodka) so while Lei and Dan (my other drinking buddies) limped up Vesuvius with Johnno, I felt sorry for myself for a while. Although I was homesick for my own bed to recover, I went into the ruins of Pompei. What an amazing place!! Life seemed to have been great back in 79AD for Pompeians. They were really quite advanced and some of the houses were beautiful. In many places the walls are still painted with the colourful frescoes. There are mosaic floors and gardens with pools. The brothel was quite interesting too! Erotic paintings adorn the walls for either the patrons' pleasure or for advertising of the products on offer. There is a 'Secret Room' in the Naples museum that houses all the 'obsene' art and sculptures, only accesible by those of 'mature character' - Johnno and Dan should not have been allowed in :))
One thing that Italy has is lots of dogs. They are quite friendly though (just like the cats in Cinque Terre, they probably see us and think 'woohoo, potential food'. There are lots in Pompei too and the first night, we were trying to get into our hostel, these 2 other backpackers turned up with about 7 dogs in tow from the train station...
Photos from Naples
Street in Naples
Stunning building on Piazza del Plebiscito, ahh sunset!
In the museum: A statue of Hercules - this was originally in the Caracalla Baths. (Nice bum!)
Lei trying to understand the significance of these legs. When they originally took the statue to the museum, it was without legs so these (below) were made and attached. When they found the originals, they removed the fakes but kept them and they are displayed along with some of the comments made by emperors etc. on the subject of how the fake legs could never compare to the originals etc.
Another statue from the Caracalla Baths.
A lovely mosaic from Pompei, and a close-up
Some Egyptian stuff found in Pompei.
Dogs, dogs everywhere
Us at the 9% beer bar in Pompei (with the boss).
Pompei Ruins photos
Casts of some bodies found in a garden.
Some of the painting found on the roof of a room
The streets of Pompei - original stones of the street
One of the houses where columns were used to support the roof
The forum area (Vesuvius in the background with what looks like smoke coming out of it)
The forum area (Vesuvius in the background with what looks like smoke coming out of it)
Some of the erotic art on the walls of the brothel
1 comment:
Certainly amazing pictures, I really really enjoyed them to the max, though I didn't read everything :p
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