We wake up in Rome and enjoy some breakfast. The objective we developed last night was to head to Pompeii instead of spending 2 days in Florence. Originally, I laid out the “itinerary” to be something of a sampling without a lot of moving. I didn’t know how my boyfriend was going to handle all of the train time and the moving around, so I went for more days in more places as opposed to my customary travel style of go-everywhere-whenever-I-want. He responded to the frequent travel much better than I thought, so we called an audible. Instead of heading north to Florence for 2 days, we turned south and made our way to Pompeii. I’m so glad that we did.

I love Pompeii. I went there for the first time back in 2008 and it absolutely blew my mind. Evidence that many people are so stuck in their own world, I believed as a younger person that Pompeii was just one room full of the people who were caught in the lava when Mount Vesuvius erupted. Tragic, yes. Boy was I wrong.

Pompeii is a city in Rome that people still live in today. There are shops and restaurants, hotels and museums. The ancient city of Pompeii is what most people would think of when you think of Pompeii. The ancient ruins are 160 acres of beautiful landscape that housed thousands of people for hundreds of years. There is so much history there, it is well worth a trip.

I’m sidetracked, let’s return to the chronological account. So, we get on the train in Rome and travel south to Pompeii. We get off of the train and walk around until we stumble upon the Hotel Diana, conveniently located near the main drag through town and a short walk from the ruins. The lady there was very kind and helpful. There was one feature that was unusual to my travel partner. There main site was booked up, but their secondary facility had a vacancy. It is important to note that some hotels have back up buildings that house guests, but have only cleaning staff in them. We went to that one. It was a lovely room with plenty of room for both of us and an immaculate bathroom. I love a good tub when I’m traveling. Nothing takes the edge off of walking twenty miles in a day like taking a hot soak.

Hotel Diana in Pompeii, Italy complete with balcony

After settling in the room, we decided to make for the ruins and get to know some of the more ancient secrets the city holds. We walked from the hotel to the ruins, less than half of a mile, and began our next adventure

Now, just a spot of history here for you. Pompeii was covered in ash in August of 79 A.D. with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. There it remained buried until it was discovered by accident in 1748. This means that the streets, the buildings, the peoples’ remains, were all preserved for over a millennia and a half. This is considered one of the best snapshots of what life looked like in ancient Roman cities. It is really a fascinating place. The street stones were worn from the running of wagon wheels in the same places for hundreds of years, the buildings’ walls were intact in most places. Roofs didn’t survive under the weight of the many feet of ash dropped on them, but the ovens and storage and counterspace inside was well preserved.

Wall frescoes still intact in Pompeii home

The mosaics on the floors and the frescoes on the walls were stunning and vibrant still. You could spend months wandering the streets of this beautiful place. Depending on what season you go, there can be a great deal of people there, but we were there in May, so it wasn’t that bad. There was a lovely older couple in front of us in the building pictured above that were adorable. The hand holding, the stolen kisses, the way they were looking at each other… and of course, the fact that both of them kept farting in a hallway and didn’t seem to notice. My boyfriend and I kept thinking how sweet they were. To be that comfortable in a relationship was pretty cool to see.

There are so many beautiful photos from this trip to Pompeii, check out the Pompeii Gallery to see more. After leaving the ancient city, we wandered through the city a little more. We found our way to the main church there, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary. Going into churches in Europe is one of my favorite things to do. We were in there on a Wednesday evening and didn’t want to interrupt Mass, so we left and got some gelato in the square.

Wandering with ice cream in hand, we made our way back towards the hotel, stopping for an early dinner at a nearby restaurant. We had more delicious Italian style pizza and even tried a little Grappa. The evening ended quietly in the hotel room on our balcony, people-watching. Ending another perfect day in Italy. Or so we thought. As a fun aside, Pompeii decided to throw us a curve-ball and launch some fireworks just behind the hotel at 11:50 PM that night. That. Was. Terrifying. Until we figured out what it was. Then we were able to fall back asleep. Pompeii, we will be returning to you again.

Hope you enjoyed today’s story, I know I loved the day. Read on to see what happens tomorrow.

Thanks, y’all!