5-27-06
Though the cheese and wine were good, they did not sit all that well for waking up early and hoping onto a bus for a long lurching drive to Pompeii. The first stop we made was at a cheese factory where they made fresh Mozzarella cheese from buffalo milk. I was interested to learn that they had to take a piece from the intestines of a calf to start the curdling of the milk to make the cheese. It was really neat to see them pulling the cheese into tiny balls and drop them into the trough of cold water, though my analytical skills were still a bit off from all the cheese the night before and the smell was a bit nauseating for that same reason.
After the Cheese factory we crowded back onto the bus and headed off to Pompeii. I hate to complain, but I was really disappointed with Pompeii. I would really have liked to spend a lot more time there looking at the best preserved ruins we have of an ancient city. Every where we went we were rushed through like chattel. I had never felt more like a tourist than I did there running around with my little earpiece on from site to site. I didn’t get to explore half of the interesting places and things Professor Martemucci pointed out, and was still about 30 minutes late getting back to the buss, mostly because I got lost in the ruins.
I wonder how much of the ruins had been excavated when Mark Twain visited Pompeii. Professor Martemucci told us that we now have about 40 percent of the ruins unearthed. There was a completely different feel to being in Pompeii than I expected. Partially because we were rushed, partially because there were so many other people there, and partially because portions were closed off for excavation. However, I think most of it had to do with all of the people there. It didn’t feel like a ghost town, like a deserted place, because everywhere I went there were people, people milling about, looking at maps, peering into buildings. It was a lot like being in Rome, everyday life going on in the midst of ancient ruins. I’m not sure if I want to go back or not. It would be interesting to see all of the places that I missed, but I would rather go when I could feel the emptiness of the place to hear the echo of Pliny’s words whisper down the streets “behold, the world is passing away!”
After the Cheese factory we crowded back onto the bus and headed off to Pompeii. I hate to complain, but I was really disappointed with Pompeii. I would really have liked to spend a lot more time there looking at the best preserved ruins we have of an ancient city. Every where we went we were rushed through like chattel. I had never felt more like a tourist than I did there running around with my little earpiece on from site to site. I didn’t get to explore half of the interesting places and things Professor Martemucci pointed out, and was still about 30 minutes late getting back to the buss, mostly because I got lost in the ruins.
I wonder how much of the ruins had been excavated when Mark Twain visited Pompeii. Professor Martemucci told us that we now have about 40 percent of the ruins unearthed. There was a completely different feel to being in Pompeii than I expected. Partially because we were rushed, partially because there were so many other people there, and partially because portions were closed off for excavation. However, I think most of it had to do with all of the people there. It didn’t feel like a ghost town, like a deserted place, because everywhere I went there were people, people milling about, looking at maps, peering into buildings. It was a lot like being in Rome, everyday life going on in the midst of ancient ruins. I’m not sure if I want to go back or not. It would be interesting to see all of the places that I missed, but I would rather go when I could feel the emptiness of the place to hear the echo of Pliny’s words whisper down the streets “behold, the world is passing away!”
posted by Harvy at 4:50 AM
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