Pompeii Day Trip

 We headed to the coast for a day trip to Pompeii. The bus stopped in Naples for us to look around a bit. Poor Naples is pretty beat up--and still being restored. It would have been cooler if it was put back together post war. But still cool to say I've seen it.

 Loved the pretty flowers in Pompeii. And I can't believe that people actually live there now! Seems like tempting fate...

 I loved Pompeii! It is so well preserved since it was buried for so long.

 Overlooking where the Gladiators trained.

 Mt Vesuvius just right there on the horizon. It honestly kinda felt threatening!

 Old original road! who else has walked here?

 And so ironic that one of the best preserved places in Pompeii was a whore house.....but Jon and I seriously hoped they had something soft to go over those rock beds.

 The forum.

 Bath house. So much detail carved into the walls. And the bright colors that still are painted on the walls made it so fun! When I picture old times I don't picture pretty colors on the walls--but now I know I need to!

 I LOVED the deep wagon ruts in the road. Visual proof of all the traffic that has traveled this road.

 A well preserved rich man's house. Crazy mosaics and paintings.

 And the shelves and shelves of pottery and artifacts! And the castings of bodies. Humans and one dog that was chained up so he couldn't run away.

 And all the pretty temples. And fun to picture that the water used to come right up to the wall in this picture. Time changes so many things.

 Then we had to say goodbye to Italy. But after 9 days it was time. I missed my kids more than I thought I would. But that 11 hour flight home was KILLER Then Jon and I both had another 4 hour flight back home. Way too long at airports. I absolutely cherish the time I got with my husband. He really is my favorite guy, and I'm lucky to have him forever! And I'm so glad we went to Italy when we were still relatively young--so we could still have some energy to enjoy everything.

Colosseum/ Roman Forum

 We took a tour of the Colosseum and Forum. It was great to have someone tell us what we are looking at.

 I loved realizing that the Colosseum as we see it now is the skeleton. It originally was wrapped in marble and had details and molding and statues everywhere. It would have been great to see in its peak!

 They found dice games during excavation. Proof that people other than my mother in law have been carrying dice with them for years and years! And I found my fav jar in Italy, something about the iridescent colors I liked!

I loved the Forum! Walking on roads that Caesar and other famous people walked. So cool.

 We come to bury Caesar not to praise him!

 And I loved knowing that the floor above our heads is the height of the ground during the middle ages. To think that people just walked on top of this for ages! Ah! So cool.

 And this is what happens when your husband's friend tells him to work it during a photo shoot...

 And my Roman Holiday is complete!

 Loved the catacombs under the church Cosmedin. Legend says the current church was built on top of a temple Hercules built! How cool!

 And we threw rocks at each other at the Circus Maximus. That place was HUGE!

 Then our last stop for the day was the Baths of Caracalla. I loved them-- it was so big! And I loved all the mosaics. All the tiny attention to detail was so fun. I would have loved to see all of this in its real time. I can't image all the bright colors!