Pompeii

It was a long way to get to Pompeii from Atrani (where we are staying) so we had to catch a bus and a train. We caught the bus and the road was really windy. Mum kept saying that the cars coming the other way would have been freaked out because the bus took some of their lane. The view was really nice because you could see all the villages on the cliffs and the sea but I didn’t feel very well.

We got to the train at Sorrento and it was packed and hot and we saw some Aussies on it too.

When we finally got to Pompeii we lined up to get our tickets and someone asked us if we wanted a guide. Mummy and Daddy said yes. So we went into Pompeii and the guide pointed out Mount Vesuvius which is the volcano that erupted. He told us that no lava came to Pompeii - it was a combination of a heat blast and big hot rocks that rained down on Pompeii for 4 days that killed everyone.

The city was lost for a long time as it was buried under all the rocks and ash. People were living on the hills which were covering Pompeii. But it was because of this that the city was so well preserved and we could walk around it today.

The guide showed us the paved streets we were walking on which are the exact stones of 2000 years ago. He said imagine all the people running to get away from the volcano.

First we went into a temple where they used to sacrifice sheep for the gods. They didn’t eat the meat, they just left it. You can see the volcano from the temple.

He also showed us the big stepping stones that people used as a crossing. They were designed so that people pulling carts could still get through because there was a gap.

Instead of the Mums going to a café for coffee like they do today they all talked when they were going to get water from the many fountains around Pompeii in their terracotta pots. It was where they could gossip.

He showed us a rich house and it was made out of stones like a real house of today and we found a shady spot and the guide told us about the pictures on the walls and ceilings called frescos. The houses had no windows to keep the owners safe so when it was summer they lived and slept in the garden. When it was winter they slept inside.

We saw the Forum or the market square which everybody got their food, clothes, cooking stuff and everything else from. It was the major centre of town. You see they volcano from there.

This is where they had the bodies of the people who hadn’t made it out of Pompeii and they were frozen in the position of what they died. We saw a man who was putting his hand over his face and a pregnant woman was lying on the ground trying to save her baby.

There was a body of someone who they thought was a slave - he said you can tell from the belt around his waist because only slaves wore these belts to hold up their togas.

I felt really sad for everyone in Pompeii.

Our guide took us into one of the 5 bath houses that were in Pompeii. This one was one for the boys. He said cover the light from the window with your hands and look at the wall under it. We could see the face of Neptune who was the Roman god of water. Also in the bath house there was a fountain from a politician that said on it his name and how much it cost which was a fortune. The guide said it was a gift from the politician so that people would vote for him.

He showed us a common persons house and it was just small and plain. It had a cooking area which was just stones. I said I’d rather live in the rich house.

We saw some bars and he told us where the circle was they used to have a terracotta pot there which they used to keep the wine and drinks cool. Emma and I pretended that we were serving to Daddy and Mummy in one of the bars.

We also saw a bakery and you could see the grinder for turning wheat into flour for bread and the oven where it would have been cooked.

Then we found the colosseum and we went in there like we were gladiators and had a pretend fight.

I really really really liked going to Pompeii. I was worried it was going to be another one of Mummy’s cutsie villages but I loved it even more than Mummy, it was awesome.

I rate it 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 out of 10

P.S. If the volcano didn’t erupt we wouldn’t have got to see Pompeii so I was happy and terribly sad for the people.