Pompeii - a Window into an Ancient World

Pompeii - a Window into an Ancient World

It was the orange juice that did it. Freshly squeezed (not from a carton or a can), and poured into a glass, it filled my mouth with the sweet taste of Italian summer. Busy vendor kept collecting change while his young apprentice, deeply tanned and clad only in a pair of blue shorts and dirty apron was feeding orange halves into a juice squeezer. Oranges were picked this morning and brought to Pompeii to quench thirst of hundreds of tourists waiting under merciless sun for the museum to open.

Pompeii does not need extensive advertisement: American students become familiar with the place in the course of elementary school unit on natural disasters. Indisputably, for a history major this Ancient Roman resort becomes an irresistible magnet. The easiest way to get to Pompeii is by Circumvesuviana train from Naples. The train stops at Herculaneum and Pompeii (for the museum you will need Pompeii Scavi station). If you plan to visit both sites, consider staying overnight. Our hotel Villa dei Misteri (http://www.villadeimisteri.it/) was only a short walk from both the museum and the train station. It turned out to be a popular spot among archaeologists: a large group from Great Britain made it its home base. After a busy day of museum exploration the hotel's swimming pool, and a quiet dinner on its terrace were all the luxury we needed.