"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

Monday, July 16, 2001: Heading North - Agropoli, Italy to Austria by train

Frank here…

I got up early in order to catch the next train north to Pompei, then to Austria to visit my Peruvian friend, Jacqueline and her cousin Amaru. Teresa was the only person awake, so we said goodbye. George convinced me the night before to just leave my bike in Agropoli while I visited north. I decided to act on his suggestion and travelled very light with only one small bag.

I bought a six-hour train ticket and found myself in Pompei in mid-morning as the temperatures were climbing probably into the 40 degree range.

The place was fantastic. It was unbelievable to see a city in the state that it was in 79AD. That was when the nearby volcano called Vesuvius erupted on August 24 and buried the entire city with about 7 metres of ash and lapilli (burning fragments of pumice stone). Nearly 2000 people perished in the horrible event. Just 16 years before, the city was devastated by an earthquake and was mostly rebuilt only to be taken down again.

There is a famous account written by Pliny the Younger about how his uncle met his life's end in the eruption. Below are some excerpts… "Meanwhile on Mount Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasised by the darkness of the night. My uncle tried to allay the fears of his companions by repeatedly declaring that these were nothing but bonfires left by the peasants in their terror, or else empty houses on fire in the districts they had abandoned…. "…by this time the courtyard giving access to his room was full of ashes mixed with pumice stones, so that its level had risen, and if he had stayed in the room any longer he would never have got out… "…They debated whether to stay indoors or take their chance in the open, for the buildings were now shaking with violent shocks, and seemed to be swaying to and from as if they were torn from their foundations. Outside on the other hand, there was the danger of falling pumice stones, even though these were light and porous; however, after comparing the risks they chose the latter… "As a protection against falling objects they put pillows on their heads tied down with cloths… "When daylight returned on the 26th - two days after the last day he had been seen - his body was found intact and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like sleep than death…"

Pompei, a site on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1990, was discovered by accident in 1954 during the construction of a canal with significant excavations beginning in the mid 1700's. It was fascinating to walk through this ancient town with Vesuvius in the backdrop. I started walking at the huge amphitheatre and continued along the ancient roads where I entered buildings with frescoes and some with the gruesome sights of body casts. These casts depicted the position of the people who had died in the horrible event. (Frecoes are paintings that are done directly onto uncured plaster. As the plaster dries the paint becomes more embedded and permanent compared to paintings on canvas. The artist usually had to work relatively quickly in order to paint before the plaster dried.)

I found the roads interesting. They were lower than the sidewalks and occasionally had these bigger stones crossing the road. I found out by listening in on one of the many tour guides that these stones were laid in order for people to hop across the road without getting their feet soaked if there was a big rainfall. The horse carriages were able to still ride the roads because the stones were only up to a certain height (maybe ½ metre).

I walked around for hours and finally got back to the train station after a lunch stop of gnocchi. I spent a short time at the train station in Napoli (Naples) where I bought a two litre plastic bottle of water and changed my currency to Austrian shillings.

The train was rather empty. The only excitement was being awakened in the middle of the night by the Austrian border police.

-What would life be like if we did not have to eat?

-Frank Pollari

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