Our first port of call was Naples. There were shore excursions to the area beaches, and of course to Pompeii, but we decided on the tour to Herculaneum. Why? Everyone goes to Pompeii. Any time you travel to that region you can easily pick up a guided tour of Pompeii. Herculaneum was a smaller seaside resort for the wealthy that was also destroyed by the 79 C.E. explosion of Vesuvius. The site is smaller, having been excavated less, and having the modern day town of Ercolano still on top of it (literally – they can’t excavate some areas because they go under people’s houses), but it does have some things to recommend it. Primarily, it was buried by mud, not ash, so is much better preserved, including original timbers that charred and fossilized, but did not burn away. Having a classics minor, and knowing an expert on the area (she was in a PBS special narrated by Leonard Nimoy!), we took more pictures here than at any other spot, I think. I’ve posted the gallery up at http://picasaweb.google.com/laurion of course.
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| From Herculaneum |
