Herculaneum

Hi everyone,

One of the places I visited on my trip to Italy last month was the roman town of Herculaneum.

The Roman town of Herculaneum

Herculaneum was also buried under a swage of volcanic ash and lava flows from Vesuvius back in 79AD.  The town was believed to have around 5000 inhabitants, but the place was more of a holiday town that a thriving city centre.  Ancient records show that many wealthy people from Rome and other major cities had second homes here.

A typical shop, which may have sold grain, olive oil or wine

Site of a villa with orchard style garden

The ruins have fared somewhat better than their counterparts in Pompeii, as the distribution of ash and lava differed.  Herculaneum was offered more protection from the prevailing winds around the bay of Naples and temperatures weren't as fierce.  As a result, you can still see carbonised wood in situ on some of the buildings.

Part of the main square

The carbonised wood

Near to the port, there was a gruesome discovery - lots of skeletons hidden in the fishing huts.  These have only been put on public viewing in the last few months and you can see why - there is evidence of people of all ages trying to escape the noxious gases and falling rocks.  They probably hid in these huts by the old port in the hope they would survive, but chances are they were poisoned, or it was too hot, or the incoming tidal wave crushed them into the back of the huts.  Whichever way you look at it, it wouldn't have been a pleasant ending.

The excavation team have managed to uncover approximately one fifth of the city, with the rest hidden under our modern world.  Itr is doubtful they will ever excavate further as a result, but they may be able to gain insights into the rest of the city by using modern archaological techniques.

Interior of the college

While the place is much smaller than Pompeii, it is still very impressive and worth a visit.

This shows how high the lava level was, with the new city thriving several metres above.

Still to come - a trip up Vesuvius and the Villa Oplontis.

First Stop: Sorrento

In September, my friend and I decided to visit the Bay of Naples and the Amalfi Coast over 9 nights.  My friend was celebrating her 50th birthday and had always wanted to visit Pompeii, so I was glad to oblige as her annual travelling companion.  We have been holidaying together since 2007 and seem to enjoy similar stuff; we only fell out once when we got lost driving round Verona, but that's another story for another time!

I flew EasyJet from Liverpool to Naples and my friend flew in from Geneva (she lives in the French Alps so we don't travel together, just meet up when we get there).  Apart from the horrendous hailstorm when we first arrived, it soon became sunny and warm and Italy quickly showed off its splendours.

The steps to our apartment - we were on the third floor.

View of the steps from below, the ironwork is beautiful

Our first stop was Sorrento - staying in the Marino Piccolo Apartments.  Hotel accommodation is also available, but we liked the fact that we got a bedroom each if we chose the apartment.  It was right down by the ferry harbour and as a result, was really bustly with lots of comings and goings; we had a lot to see from our balcony windows!

Waking around Sorrento

Everywhere was really steep, with lots of steps, but for those who don't fancy all the climbing around you can take the lift up into Sorrento main town and, at only a Euro each way, is definitely worth it to keep your legs in good order.

Chillies at a market stall in Sorrento

Sorrento is a lovely town, with an old market town with lots of tourist shops and market stalls dotted around.  Further out are the main high street and designer stores.  I don't think you can go wrong with the restaurants here either.








One thing we did do was go to the fish festival, which was on the final Saturday in September.  You bought a ticket from a desk for 5 Euros, which entitled you to a main course and a drink, either soft drink or glass of wine.  Anne and I are greedy, so we got 2 each!  One stand was selling some grilled swordfish, which was absolutely wonderful.  For our second course, we had to go for the deep fried fish selection, with kalamari and mini octopus thrown in.  We had a great time.

Beach huts by the sea

View of the harbour from on the cliff

The beach!

On the final morning, we headed straight to the ferry terminal for our next stop - Capri.

On my next instalment I'll fill you in on our trip to Pompeii, with further updates on Herculaneum, the Villa Oplontis and our trip up Vesuvius.  We also spent time in Positano, Capri and the off to the Amalfi Coast.

View upwards from our apartment

If you would like to know where we stayed, or information about trips and taxi services, please leave me a comment and I will send out the links.

Welcome

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