Pompeii among other things -- June 11-13

Well, the very cool temperatures we have been having seem to finally have broken today, and it was quite warm, although the swallows have been flying very low and I hear that means more rain to come (apparently the pressure caused by impending thunder storms causes the insects they eat to fly lower, and so the birds come down as well) so we will see what the rest of the week brings.

I think I mentioned in my last post that I was going to Pompeii on Saturday. I did, with Taco, Jason and Melissa, and it was amazing. The weather was perfect -- about 70 and breezy, which it almost NEVER is in Pompeii! We saw everything we wanted to see and it was not crowded, another anomaly. It was also awesome to see the site with people of different specialities -- Jason does geology as well as archaeology, so he could tell us what types of building materials were used for which structures, and what that told us about dating them in relation to each other. Taco is an ancient historian which is useful for obvious reasons, and Melissa and I are both art historians, so we were able to contribute as well. we all picked each others' brains and had really interesting discussions and debates.

Afterward we walked a few blocks from the train station in Naples and had some completely amazing pizza. Celia and I had been last week to the place in Naples that is supposed to have the best pizza in the world, but it could not hold a candle to this place! I think they brushed the crust in butter!

We were pretty tired the next day, but Taco and I decided we could not waste a day in rome sitting around (although I did have to get some laundry done), so we went to the Mausoleum of Hadrian, which is now the Castel Gondolfo. Much of the original burial structure is still visible, and you have to walk through it (a massive winding ramp) to get to the upper portion of the castle, which was built for and used by the popes as a fortress. It is connected by an underground passageway with the Vatican about a half mile or so away.

Many of the rooms are frescoed and are quite amazing, and it also houses many examples of medieval weaponry, plus the view from the top is incredible -- it looks out over the Tiber and old Rome. Taco was a little disappointed because we could not get up to the very top section of the tower, which is the setting for the closing scene of Toscana, his favorite opera, but it is not open to the public.

Afterwards he and I hunted through winding streets for Santa Maria in Trastevere. It is the oldest church in rome, built in the 3rd century when Christianity was still a minority cult. It has been redone extensively since then and made much bigger, especially in the 11th century. We had to sit outside for awhile because some special service was going on. They seemed to be giving some kind of blessing to the children, but I couldn't exactly figure out what they were celebrating, so if anyone knows please fill me in!

We finally got inside and were able to look around for awhile. There is a nice 7th century painting of the Madonna and Child, but it has darkened quite a bit with time. Still, it was an interesting church to see, and the neighborhood is very quaint and attractive (and very easy to get lost in).

When we got back to the hotel we met some friends for dinner and decided to go out for a very un-Roman meal of Thai food, which was just what we needed!

Today (Monday) we had a rare opportunity -- a lecture by a very famous archaeologist and classicist, Professor J. Packer (I don't know what J. stands for!). He has been studying the Theatre of Pompey for years, and excavating when he can get permits, which he has for this year. There are no visible above-ground remains of the Theatre, which was the first major public entertainment complex in Rome, built in about 62 BC. It included a new meeting-place for the Senate, which was later the site of the stabbing of Julius Caesar. We went in and out of many buildings, apartments, restaurants, and clubs, to get at what can be seen of it now. It was a bit like a scavenger hunt, and I am not sure I understood most of what he was saying, but it was an excellent example of how archaeologist cannot just go in and do the research they would like to. No one wants to see the neighborhood, which grew up in the Medieval period literally over the theatre, torn up to get to the remains, so they do what they can in basements, etc. Dan and Christina surely will remember eating amongst some of the ruins on our last night in Rome back in 1997, and that was one of the restaurants we visited again today.

After we broke for the afternoon Taco and I tried to visit the Baths of Caracalla, which was quite a hike and was closed for basically no reason when we got there, so we will have to try again on another day. We will have to be extra careful though, as Professor Packer is nursing a sore leg from being bitten by something poisonous there about three weeks ago!

Since the Baths were closed and museums are closed on Mondays, Taco agreed to visit some more churches with me, which is really not his area of interest. We found San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) which supposedly houses the chains that fell from Peter when he was miraculously freed from prison in Jerusalem. More interestingly to me, though (since I don't believe most of the relics are legitimate in these churches) was the famous Michelangelo statue of Moses which was really very amazing. We stood and contemplated it for quite awhile.

Next we spent a lot of time and energy finding San Giovanni in Laterano, the Lateran, which is the official basilica of Rome. It was built by Constantine in the 4th century and has some excellently preserved Byzantine mosaics, especially in the baptistry.

Also, I have been told by Catholic friends that if you visit St. Peter's, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls (which we have yet to find) all of your sins are forgiven so that if you were to die in that exact moment you would get to skip Purgatory. Of course I am not Catholic, but since I am halfway there anyway I figure I will see the other two just to say I completed the famous pilgrimage. I could spend weeks just seeing the churches here.

Well, I have to get some sleep now -- we have an early day tomorrow as we have an early-morning appointment to see the house of Augustus, which is a site that is not open to the public, although Alden bribed our way in when we were here with Baylor so I am probably the only person in the group who has already seen it. But I am sure I will get different info this time.

Hope all is well everywhere with everyone!

Ciao,
Candace