Archaeological Museum of Naples and Herculaneum.

College football has ticked me off and I'm getting up early tomorrow to go to Mass at the Vatican, so I'm saving Pompeii till later. On the Wednesday of Campania, we got up, left the villa and went to the Archaeological Museum of Naples, which houses most of the physical finds from Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Looting has long been a problem at all the sites around Vesuvius, so this is a combination of the most well lit presentation space and the safest space to hold the artifacts. Afterwards, we headed to Herculaneum, a somewhat lesser sight that was also covered by the Vesuvius eruption. Here's some of what I saw:

In the backyard of our villa was an unexcavated Roman theater. How cool is that?

If you saw Atlas, holding the world, what would you tell him to do?

Pompeian red. Get used to this color 

Famous fresco of Sappho

1:1,000,000 model of Pompeii

Kinda glad the statues lost their eyes. These would be pretty creepy in your house 

The statue on the right is called "The Drunk Dionysus" I can see him saying "I'll have another beer for me and this deer!"

The Alexander Mosaic, largest in the world, google for a better image

Farnese Hercules

Herculaneum

That white building is the modern level, look how low the ancient city was

Only clouds, no smoke from Vesuvius

Bones hanging out, waiting to be studied

Naples and then Benevento

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone! I've got a lot to be thankful for including you, my readers, who keep picking up what I'm putting down and sending me love and support. So thanks! Hope you had a great day yesterday filled with food and family time. Anyhow, back to the travel log.

Day 3- Day long art history trip to Naples

We spent the third day of Campania in Naples. Naples as a city has the reputation for being the worst city in Italy. It's known to be the seat of the mafia, the dirtiest, most dangerous, and least welcoming to tourists. While they may deny this, I think the other Italians dislike for Naples dates way back to the ancient days. Naples was founded as a Greek colony and was one of the centers of Greek culture and all things Greece for a long time. The Italians also speak poorly of Southern Italy, which was also Greek for a long time. Could it be possible that stereotypes die hard? I mean, the Northern US still considers the Southern US to be less intelligent (we're making huge generalizations, work with me here) and the South still considers those of us in the North to be Yankees, and this is long after the Civil War. My theory is that the negativity towards Naples and Southern Italy are Roman hold overs from when Rome and Greece were still at each others throats. Anyhow, I went to Naples expecting to be held at knifepoint.

This didn't happen. This could be because I'm 6'3 and not worth the trouble, or maybe it was too cold for the mafia to come outside, but I loved Naples. The streets were quaint and had lots to see, the food was superior to anything I've had so far in Italy (shocking, I know) and there seemed to be a generally pleasant atmosphere. For class, we spent the whole day with the Art History Professor going to see the relevant art sites in Naples, which are numerous and extensive. Here's the photos:

Colors are hard (yes I get that red and black are the colors on the cards, but still) 

That's the second creepy circular statue thing on this trip

Casual Carvaggio

Castle from the days where Naples was a major medieval naval port

Huge mall, under construction like everything else in Italy

Former imperial palace

Either die an emperor or live long enough to become a pastry shop

My favorite comedien 

So that's where it is

The definition of small dog syndrome-Napoleon Boniparte

Ivory

Vesuvius. Not bad, for modern art

This dude was in every panel of the painting, and his forehead got bigger in every panel

Day Four-
We traveled outside of the bay of Naples on day four to Beneventum, an ancient town up in the mountains to the East. It was ok, the usual, museum, church, Roman stuff, leave town. Truth be told, the town didn't seem to be worth the visit and I would have preferred an extra day elsewhere in Campania, but I'm not in charge, so I just went along for the ride.

Medieval Armor

Either a hedgehog or campfire in the middle

Smiley

Triumphal arch for building a road

Tomorrow, Pompeii!! Talk to you all soon!

Back in the Saddle Again

Yes I made it safely back from Campania. Here's a brief lay down of what we saw, with a little interpretation. For the most part, this post and the next will probably be mostly photos. There is of course descriptions and stories from everywhere we stopped on the Campania trip, but the pictures cover most of the necessary storytelling bases. This post will be day 1 and day 2. 

Day 1- 

We left Rome at 8:30 on Saturday November 15th.

Arrived in Terracina around 10:30, spent three hours there. This is another Italian hillside town. The modern town is at the base of the hill, but the ancient town was at the top, since it was the most defensible point in the area. Thus, we bused up to the top of the hill and saw what was left of a temple and portico underneath the temple:

It rained long enough for me to get this photo and get my jacket out

Underneath the temple

Skeleton says "Today me, tomorrow you" and on that cheery note, how do you feel about Catholicism?

Another church

Bananas! I was kind of surprised to find these here. Guess I don't have a future as a biologist

We came down the hill, saw the skeleton, church and bananas and then hopped back on the bus and headed to Sperlonga.This was the site of the Emperor Tiberius' villa (the guy immediately after Augustus) and he had a cool dining floating dining room built into a grotto. I suppose that with all the wealth of the Roman empire backing you, architectural feats didn't become an issue. There was also some pretty spectacular sculptures found inside the cave, all having to do with the Odyssey. 

Looking into the grotto

The dining area would be on that platform. The pipes are for the giant fish who live in the water and would hide in the shade when the Italian sun got to hot in the summer. There's still huge fish in the water

Looking out of the grotto

Odysseus blinding Polyphemus the cyclops

We then got back on the bus and headed to Minturno. There was an amphitheater there and some other ruins, but due to the lateness of the hour all of my photos are dark and blurry. We stayed at Villa Vergiliana, which is run by the Director of my program's family. Cool place, but more on that later. 

Day 2-

We spent the day hanging out around the Northern edge of the Bay of Naples. We left the Villa at 8:30, and went to Bacoli and Miseno, two cities centered around the ancient Roman port in the area. 

First stop, a cistern. I'm underground in this photo, with the ceiling being ground level. The ancient aqueduct flowed into here and the Romans used it for water storage. This entire place was filled with water, and a hydraulics system that could pump the water from the floor to the ceiling. 

This photo is ironic for all the wrong reasons

1st of many photos of Vesuvius

I think this guy looks like Joffrey. Thoughts?

That's the first two days. Tomorrow (or Friday, depending on how Thanksgiving festivities pan out) I'll post the photos for the next three days of the Campania trip. Be well! Happy Thanksgiving to all those reading in the USA!