Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Tuesday, September 25, 2012:

Busy day today!   This morning a limo driver arrived to take us on a tour of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Mount Vesuvius.  On the way to Pompeii we stopped at a special wood working factory where they make beautiful inlaid tables, pictures, music boxes and other miscellaneous furniture items.  The reason for the stop was that four years ago my brother Jeff and I were on a tour and stopped at this factory and purchased our mother a beautiful music box.  Shirley had seen and enjoyed hearing mom's music box so I wanted to get her one.   

Music box with inlaid wood top.

The "old man" as he was referred to by one of his son's was busy at work making a new scene.

Since all material used is actually very fine veneer's the work is accomplished on an air vacuum table which keeps the small pieces from moving around.  You can see the air holes at the corner of the table.  He makes several copies at a time thus adding the same piece each time to each of the 6-7 copies being made. It was interesting how proud the younger son was of the work as he took time to explain in detail how they make the product.  When I was here 4 years ago his daughter, who was around 5-6 years old then was helping in the shop.  I mentioned it to him and he beamed and was happy to know how much impact she had made that we remembered her.  He was going to let her know that we remembered her.

The table shown actually comes off to have a poker table under it. Removing the poker table cover exposes a roulette wheel below, and below that layer is a craps table. All layers were with beautiful inlaid wood edges.

When we arrived at Pompeii the line for purchasing tickets was very, very long, at least an hour or more.  Bob and Markley had wisely planned ahead for us to have a guide for the tour so when we arrived the guide went directly to the teller and purchased the tickets allowing for immediate entry.

Pompeii is a very interesting site but the area is so large and the area available to the public is quite small when compared to the total site but the areas available does give you an idea as to what life was like back then.  

Bob trying out his operatic talents in the Colosseum. The center of the Colosseum is suppose to be acoustically such that a normal voice can be heard throughout.  Our laughter kept us from proving that fact, but he does have a nice voice!

A bathhouse.  The cavities in the walls were where clothes were stored.

Notice the space between the two walls.  Steam was injected between the two walls thus allowing steam to exit the thinner walls via openings and making the room a steam bath area.

Some of the artifacts excavated.  The major finds are in museums throughout Italy.

The travelers in Pompeii

Our next stop was at 

Mount Vesuvius where Bob and Roger climbed to the top where we could view the crater.  Jerry had emailed me earlier to be aware of any grumbling, but Jerry, I want you to know that the only noises I heard was from two panting males!  It is a good hike up the trail to the crater top, but what makes the climb harder is that we were continually passed by other energetic hikers, and not all of them were younger....

View into the crater

At the top!

Our last stop for the day was at Herculaneum.  Unfortunately we did not have sufficient time left to properly view the site.  This village, which was discovered in the mid 1700's is much newer and smaller therefore is more restored than Pompeii.  It was discovered by someone drilling for a well and realized that there were buildings below.

The original "take out" restaurant.  The deep clay containers were filled with food and the people would then purchase their meals from the wells and take them home to consume.

The floor of a steam bath room.

The tired travelers are back in their apartment. It is interesting but the final climb up the 109 (I counted them this time) steps is actually getting easier to do.  One less rest stop now than when we started.

Until tomorrow, good night.

73,

The Traveling Huntley's

Shirley and Roger