When in Rome!

This morning we left a beautiful countryside hotel in Sorrento. It was so quiet, and peaceful in this family owned and operated hotel that we really didn't want to leave. There was a beautiful large terrace overlooking the sea and Mount Vesuvius, and a lovely swimming pool and it reminded us of our relaxing vacations of the past.  Oh well, we were off again heading to the ruins of Pompeii.

These ruins were a little different from some others we had seen since these were buried by pumice and ash from the volcanic eruption in 79 AD. When they were uncovered 1669 years later, pottery, tables, plates, buildings and even bodies were found intact. We walked through these ruins, through a brothel of ancient days and another theatre.

Quite unbelievable to see. They even have recreated the bodies of a human, a baby and a dog found in the hardened ruins and were able to recreate their image by filling in the hollowed out pumice where the bodies were entombed. The body over so many years had deteriorated, leaving only the bones.

After this walking tour, we returned to our coach for the drive to Rome.  We had a walking tour tonight through parts of the city and some of it's attractions. 

This is the Trevi Fountain which is under renovation and with all of the tourists around it was quite crowded but we still got to throw a coin in the fountain !

Next we walked to the Parthenon in Rome. You will remember we saw the Greek Parthenon a few days ago in Athens, but this one in Rome isn't quite as old, only 2000 years!  It is still fully in tact and is currently used as a church.  What a building.

 

Finally we headed to a very large Piazza at the church of St. Agnes.  a very large square with great buildings and fountains.  We stayed to have dinner at one of the restaurants in the square before coming back to our hotel.

Tomorrow our tour of Rome continues starting with Vatican City, St. Peters Basilica and the Colliseum. We are really looking forward to this!