Pompeii, Italy

The story of how Mt Vesuvius erupted early one morning covering the city of Pompeii in molten rock and volcanic ash is just about the only story that Robin recalls from ancient history class. This disaster made Pompeii the best preserved ancient city in the world. As you walk through the city, you can look up and see the magnificent volcano that destroyed and preserved the ancient city of Pompeii. We walked through several houses, the bath house, the court, a temple, the theater, the stadium, and finally through some vineyards that were in the same place that they had been in 79 A.D.

After a sweltering day in the city of Pompeii, we headed back to Naples to go have a look at the national museum, where many of the findings from the Pompeii excavations are on display. The museum also houses numerous Greek and Roman sculptures that are quite impressive. We felt as though we fit right in with the sculptures.

There is a must see secret room of the museum that housed ancient phallic artifacts and paintings… in those days hanging a sculpture of a penis on your business door was a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Imagine walking into your dentist and seeing this painting on the wall: