Per advice of our friends we decided to visit the town of Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. It’s better preserved, less visited, more opulent, and was also 25 mins less on the pickpocket train. 🙂 This post will have a lot of pics for the history buffs out there.

Naples, and especially it’s trains, are NOTORIOUS for pickpockets & thieves, and we were not dissapointed! Shawn actually got his back pockets felt-up twice on the train!! But we’re no foolish touristas, so of course they didn’t get anything… I think shawn was amused that they tried though, cause hay, who doesn’t like strangers touching their butt?

Waiting for the train one of three in Torregaveta:

Looking down on Herculaneum before we enter:

This photo gives you perspective on how much this town was buried by the ash, rocks, and dirt (up to 60 feet) from Vesuvius. This used to be the towns edge on the beach, but now the beach is about 3/4 mile away. Also, this used to be sea level, but look at the high cliffs above which is now current ground level!! This town was discovered when a farmer was digging for a well, and tunneled in to the theater building instead.

Serving up some drinks from the bar. The holes are actually clay pots that were used to hold food and drinks at this establishment. Like today, people walked up to the counter and ordered.

Shawn on one of the main streets:

Looking at the old boat-shacks that used to be on the water:

Walls and ceilings used to be covered in vibrant paint, frescos, and art. The floors used to all be tiled with mosaics and colorful stone:

The mosaic floors and art are amazing! I can’t imagine how long it took to lay and arrange these teeny-tiny stones..

Leaving after a long day of sight-seeing, with Mt. Vesuvius in the background: