Pompei and its Erotica Fatale

This week I’ll be writing about an ancient city that we all studied and were fascinated by at some point in middle school.

Pompei!

For this day trip, my mother and I took a train from Rome and, if you recall one of my blog posts from last semester, it was dreadfully hot.

Anyway, our train traveled very slowly, thus giving us ample time to see the sights. One such “sight” that comes to my mind is Naples.

Now, everyone always thinks that anything Italian is just inherently better. Italy is paradise, and everything there is chic and awesome. Right?

Wrong. Naples more than disproved that.

From our train window, we saw the black sand beaches baking under the oppressive sun and kids swimming amongst garbage piles... This was a major wake up call for me and my fantastical visions of Italy.

With two hours until our train to Pompeii, however, we decided to go into Naples, looking for The Secret Museum.

Now, if you don’t what the Secret Museum is, that’s good... It means the secret is being kept. Ha. ha.

Anyway, the Secret Museum is a collection of erotic art that was found in the ruins of Pompeii itself.  

Considered obscene by various Italian leaders, including Benito Mussolini, the collection was hidden away for almost 100 years.

After being exhibited to the public briefly in the 1960’s, it was closed again and just reopened in the year 2000.

Upon exiting the train station, however, we were faced with a busy street full of very hostile-looking people.

I kid you not, we did not walk 20 yards down said street before we decided it was a better idea to turn around and bide our time in the train station.

We read later that that was a dangerous little excursion, considering that part of Naples is actually the murder capital of Italy.  

I still regret not seeing the museum, though, so I plan on returning with a plan to find it and become privy to its secrets.

Anyway, we arrived in Pompeii unmelted only to realize that it is a huge city and, to see it, one has to walk 6 hours… a day...for two days. And that’s just to walk the perimeter of it. Did I mention it was really hot?

 

 

I was also really surprised to find that Mount Vesuvius...is not there.

Seriously, I thought there would be a huge volcano in the near distance, looming ominously and giving me goosebumps, but this place was flatter than State College.

What was really cool, though, was the museum full of relics from this ancient culture. Although I really liked the fact that it was air conditioned, that was not the only factor that came into play.

On display, without glass casings or any sort of barrier, were the calcified bodies of the villagers killed in the volcanic eruption.

 

 

At first I thought they were replicas of the real thing, but these were the real thing. Pretty creepy, really fascinating.

 

We only ended walking in the sun for an hour before eating gelato and heading back to Rome, but overall one could say it was a pretty interesting day.