(originally posted to facebook July 9, 2013)
What a disappointment! Pompeii is almost entirely closed to visitors due to budget cuts and political wrangling. I kid you not- probably at least 80% of the interiors, and a good 50 % of the streets are entirely closed off. We saw a grand total of 4 interiors today. Half of the Villa of the Mysteries is inaccessible, most of the houses along the Via Abbondanza, and just about everything else. We visited the House of Menander, The house of the Ship Europa, The House of the Golden Cupids, and what we could see of the villa of the Mysteries. That's it- and I had a list of about 20 houses that are high on my interest.
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| Even with lot of closure, the Villa of the Mysteries has a lot to offer |
The street closures made it really difficult to navigate too, even with my familiarity of the layout of the place. Our friends had warned us about this, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I felt really bad for anyone who had never been there before- you could walk away from it today without having seen much of interest at all. Very frustrating day! On top of that, I stubbed BOTH my big toes and then sliced my index finger while cutting a lemon tonight so I have a big bandaid on it- not easy typing.
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| When life gives you big lemons... |
We're contemplating a quick run down to Stabia tomorrow to get in another experience more like Oplontis. I don't know if we can swing Herculaneum as we would have our luggage with us and the site is a bit far away from the station. We might try to get back to Naples early enough to see the museum paintings before they close.
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| Oleander in the gardens at Pompeii |
Maybe if I hadn't had such expectations of seeing some of my favorites today I wouldn't have been so down. Looking at my pics (I still managed to take 319 photos today) there are some nice ones, it's just that I know what was hidden by those closed doors everywhere, and it hurt! Maybe a gelato will make it feel better.
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