A tale of many Kings in a Kingdom of Smiles

Finally we have access to the internet again - you can't start to understand how frustrating it is for someone like me to not be 'connected'.  Even in the air it is frustrating 😄 

The flight in to Bangkok from Sydney wasn't too bad - it was not full, so we had a bit of spreading room.  We are on an older 747 without a nose or body camera, so you can only follow your trip via the map - ho hum!  
 
So I take to the movies and watch The Zookeepers Wife and then A Cure for Wellness - two very different, but good movies.  We feast on Chicken in Pa-Nang Curry with rice, and a crab meat salad and carrot cake.  All very nice.
And an hour before we land we are fed again - this time, fruit salad, Stir fried Udon noodles with chicken in Black Bean sauce and Wattle seed cookies.

For some reason, we seem to always arrive on flights that land at the furthermost gate from the airport entry.  In Bangkok, this meant a walk of 1000 metres - measure in 150 m increments from the gate to customs.  Crap!

We arrived in Thailand in the peak of the monsoon season, but it had not rained at all on Saturday.  This meant that the humidity was near 100% the whole eight hours we were there - you could feel it as soon as you stepped off the plane.  That was, until you stepped out in to the carpark - at which point I think I began to perspire in a constant stream.

Our guide Suttira met us as planned and introduced us to our driver Jack who had a late model HIGH SUV.  Very comfortable once I managed to climb up into it backwards.
And off we set to do a whirlwind tour of Bangkok by car.  It is a huge metropolis and much like other big cities, is filled with lots of skyscrapers and in the midst of a growth spurt of numerous more. However the new ones are far more interesting in design with many demonstrating gravity defying shapes - there is one that is almost done that looks like an unfinished 3D jigsaw puzzle.  Not sure how I would feel about working or living in one of the extruded pieces.
What you see in large cities in this part of the world though, is high levels of poverty abutting the wealthy areas.  Some of these areas astound you in the fact that they are still standing - most look like they should have fallen years before.
Suttira was explaining that the 6th King of Siam (don't recall his name) after a visit to Europe came back to the then Siam and told the population that slavery was no more, and that the wealthy who had held power in the ownership of land and slaves, freed their slaves and divided the farmlands with them, encouraging them to stay there and farm with them.  This has resulted in the phenomenon of the wealthy sitting comfortably beside the poor.

We drove through Chinatown which could be transported to Chinatown in any other city, before driving through the flower markets that operate 24 hours a day to provide opportunities for the local population to buy offerings for their Gods.  I have never seen so many flowers - ever.  

There were streets and streets and streets of sellers.  Predominantly orange marigolds, but flowers of every colour and type.

As each new King builds a new palace/s, they are all over the city. Palaces and temples.  And at the moment, everywhere there are photos of the former King, for whom they City is still in mourning - King Bhumibol - the People's King, and his successor - King Maha Vajiralongkornralongkorn, who will be crowned following the funeral of his father in October.

At this time of the day (5 pm onwards), all the tourist attractions are closed, so we can only see them from outside (thankfully in an air conditioned car!) - but it is enough to give us a fairly good idea of the size and bustle of this eastern port.
On the way back into the city centre, we see the street vendors setting up for a nights brisk trade.  Once the shopping areas are closed, the footpaths are given over to this ad hoc trade.  Predominantly food, you see sellers of all varieties of meat and seafood as well as fruits - durians were on every corner and every second stall in between.  Suttira tells us that after eating durian, a 'hot' fruit, you should eat mangosteen, a 'cool' fruit to keep the body balanced. She seemed surprised that we knew of both these fruits!

From here, it was around to a 2000 seat auditorium where we had seats to watch the Siam Niramit show with more than 100 performers and 500 costumes which told the story of the history of Thailand. A true spectacle in every sense of the word!
Suttira had suggested that we eat here at the buffet restaurant, but I had asked her to take us to a local restaurant, rather than one that caters to the tourist palate.  So after waiting 1 1/2 hours for the show to finish, she and Jack drove us around to the Kohl Lanta restaurant - a 'posh' restaurant that locals frequent. It is now almost 10 pm and we four are their last customers - we insist that Suttira and Jack join us.  We feast on fried groper, chicken with cashews and broccoli and mushrooms in oyster sauce, with rice.  I am happy to report that the local Thai restaurants in Maryborough and Hervey Bay offer authentic foods if what we eat here is any comparison!

Then or time in the Venice of the East is at an end and we are driven back to the airport for our 00:50 flight to Munich.  
This flight is fuller than our flight in from Sydney and we are cramped with two others in to the centre seats.  Hopefully, we can sleep.  We now sooner take off than we are pumping zzz's only to be woken and offered a meal in under an hour - and you know how hard it is to get back to sleep after you are woken!  We weren't hungry, just tired, so declined this meal.

Someone near a window opened their shade in the wee hours and at 4:22 am I witnessed the most beautiful dawn looking to the east. Meal time again, and this time we are served, omelette, sausage, tomatoes and hash brown, with brioche rolls and jam.  And coffee.  Had. to. have. coffee!
This morning I began watching Jackie - but the thought of arriving looking like I had bawled for the entire flight put me off, so I turned over to Collateral Beauty - not much better really.  And finished this leg off with Just for Laughs - GAGS - hilarious and laughed myself stupid.

And before long, we were landing in Munich.

Will need to post photos when I work out how to get them from the camera to the laptop!

The cost of parking a car in Split is Kn 430!

This morning the storm has blown through. Last night we heard glass breaking - turns out it was one of the tables from the terrace where we enjoyed our breakfast yesterday morning - thankfully, when it landed at the end of the car park, it had missed all the cars!
Apartments Johnny is the best of both worlds - extra space in the apartment rooms but with the provision of breakfast so you can relax! Breakfast is served in the eating room in the back yard as it is still too blowy to eat outside. We have to wait 5 minutes as there is not enough room for everyone at one time. Ztravka again cooks us lovely omelettes and we share our meal with a Finnish family also staying here. In fact, for the off season, these apartments are really quite busy.

We have been seeing these revolutionary style signs proclaiming Torcida 1950 along the roadsides over the last few days. Well we finally checked it out on the web and after a number of misses due to me mis-spelling the name, we finally learn that it is a football (soccer) fan club that is known for their vocal and violent and intimidating behaviour of opposition teams and their fans. Guess its all political to them!

We head into Split intending to have a look at Diocletians Palace. Parking is the worst we have ever come across - there is absolutely nothing in the immediate or even nearby areas at all. After making two turns through the city and Frances not coming good (where are you when I need you?) we opt to come back in the afternoon when hopefully there will be some parking. We had read in the guide books about Primošten to the north a little (about 1 hour) so figure we will go take a look there first.

Heading out we go again through the area of Salona on the motorway before turning to hug the coast. We travel north following the coarse looking dolomite and limestone hills that erode in long narrow strips. There are Churches high on those hills with no apparent way of getting up to them other than to scramble like a goat over loose stones and steep mountain sides. Out to our left though, it is all blue water and further out, the islands are visible. We pass through tiny little hamlets that hug into the hills, on cling to the craggy rocks down to the shores of pebbly beaches.

There are millions of dollars worth of sailing and jet boats moored at a number of marinas along the coast. And in the pristine waters of the bays that surround these towns there are a myriad of what looks to be oyster farms, but could just as easily be any of the other molluscs as well.

Primošten is a medieval walled city that juts out on a spit into the bay with pristine water on three sides. It has narrow little roadways and alleys that climb up to a point where of course the Catholic Church of St George is located - locked of course, in case anyone wants to steal their Madonna icon on a silver tablet - pity the worshippers. But it commands wonderful views over the bay and is surrounded on three sides by seats - all looking at the Church of course! Walking up and down, we pass tiny little old houses and much newer ones side by side. The newer ones have weather sealed windows and air conditioning, while the older ones are lucky if they are weather proof, without holes in roofs or walls!

It is very windy here still today and the seas are choppy with whitecaps out in the bay and breakers splashing against the rock walls. Once we are back near the Marina we want warming up, so we sit in the sun with coffees and thick hot chocolate (like the Spanish serve it). Doesn't take long before we are thawed out sufficiently to continue our exploring.

Near where we parked the car just outside the city gate, there is a statue of Joseph and Mary on the donkey - maybe a local one? We have passed a number of donkeys on the way in to town - one that was just grazing and the other one was sitting maybe exhausted after recent activities! A little further around the park we see another very tiny church with a statue to Don Ivo Šarić - obviously someone important to the locals, but I can't find any information on him!

So it is time to head back towards Split. High on the rocky crags that look down over Solin (formerly Salona) and Split is Klis Fortress. We have seen this each of the last couple of days and as we near Solin again, I turn to head up to it. It is directly above the town of the same name and looks so inhospitable that it is amazing to think that anyone would ever want to attack it - let alone successfully take it. But they have! Read all about it at the link above...
Donna and Michael climbed a million steps - I waited in the warm car! Michael introduced Donna to a genuine garderobe - thankfully she didn't need to use it! There are restoration works being undertaken and like in many other parts of Europe, the WH&S practices are non-existent - one slip mate, and you are gone - way gone, way below! From high up above they could see the only lawn that we have seen in Croatia - on the school grounds below.

So back in to Split where Frances, following Donna's great advice (she always did get me in to trouble) found us a spot (in a tow away zone before 5 pm - its now 4:40 pm), where there are lots of other cars parked. So we park.

We are a couple of blocks away from the closest entry into the Palace area. School must have just finished - we pass a high school just as the last of the kids stream out the door and dash away. The light is starting to fade to that amazingly clear late afternoon light that is so good for photos of old buildings. We enter into the long little narrow alleyways that hug the city walls towering over us.

The footpaths are all marble through here - polished smooth by the feet of 1700 years crossing. New shops fill old spaces and overhead some of the formerly separate buildings have been connected with walled passageways. We wander down one street and then another, admiring the magnificent old architecture. The clock tower especially looks good in the late afternoon light.

Finally we turn a corner into one of the squares to find the Cathedral of Split. Now, this cathedral originally held the remains of Emperor Diocletian, and was called the 'Monumental Mausoleum of Diocletian'. During his reign as Emperor of Rome, Diocletian had it in for the those upstarts referred to as 'Christians'. Openly maltreating the Christians, through the 'Diocletianic Persecution' (or Great Persecution) which represented the last and most severest brutality in the Roman Empire. However, the Christians eventually had their 'day in court' against Diocletian....ah...after his death!

As with most of the Roman Emperors, Diocletian enjoyed a diet of megalomania, so during his reign he had his Palace constructed (3rdC AD) in Split so he could live out his retirement in luxury. On the 3 December 311AD, Diocletian gave up his ghost and made his way towards the marble gates of Elysium. Around the 12thC, it was decided to toss out Diocletian's sarcophagus (including the remains of the Emperor) and convert the mausoleum into the Cathedral of St. Duje. The portal to the Cathedral is flanked by two doors of the most beautiful examples of Medieaval wood carving. The doors were made around 1220 by the painter and woodcarver, Andrija Buvina. We found the mausoleum quite impressive and during the time of Diocletian, it must have been quite a jewel.

Attached to the cathedral is the monumental Cathedral Belfry Tower which was built onto the prostasis (entry to the temple) during the 13th and early 14thC's. Built in a mixed Gothic-Renaissance style it is presented as a very elegant edifice. Michael climbed the 189 to the tower's summit, and obtained some magnificent views of Split. Anyhow, at the risk of becoming tedious, we suggest you follow the links!

Oh, before we left the mausoleum, Donna and Michael made use of their entry tickets to view the Cathedral's treasury, but because it was up more steps, I waited in the Church.

I don't know who suffered more from megalomania after viewing the Treasury? However, without seeming crass or disrespectful, apart from the vestments, hardware, silverware, relics and the remains of saints (you had better believe it!) - it was the works of the Illuminators, Scriveners and Calligraphi which stood out. The choral manuscripts were just breathtaking and regretfully we were prevented from taking photographs - this included non-flash shots as well.... Should you, dear reader, have the opportunity to visually experience 'illuminated' works - we strongly recommend you do so!

Before making our way to the Temple of Jupiter (...that's what Michael prefers to call it), or as it is now known, The Cathedral Baptistery, we head for the Cathedral's crypt. You enter into the crypt through a dimly lit narrow passageway, and the further we entered the sanctorum the warmer it became! The crypt is where Diocletian was originally laid to rest, although now used as a private chapel. It is of a beehive construction with ten alcoves recessed around the base, and whatever motifs decorated the interior no longer exist - quite a sad, empty place really.

Originally there were three temples which were erected to the westside of the Mausoleum, of which only one remains - The Temple of Jupiter. This had been converted into the Baptistery, which now contains the baptismal font erected in the shape of a cross. Behind the font stands a tall stylised bronzed statue of John the Baptist. Fortunately, the exterior of the temple has been preserved which includes a headless black granite Egyptian sphynx. Above the portal and at its lintel remain carvings of the more important gods from the Roman pantheon: Hercules, Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Venus and Neptune.

And so, Diocleation done, we headed down to the waterfront to find somewhere for dinner. Surprisingly there is less open than I expected - a few pizza restaurants and lots of bars, but not too many restaurants with a more extended menu. Finally about half way along the promenade we find the Adriatic Hotel. Our very efficient waitress hands out the menus and before long is back for the order. When asked what the specials were she quickly rattled off something about cuttlefish that is served with a spinach and potato mix which Michael decides to have and a meat platter that was served with chips for two that Donna and I will have. We also ordered a plate of vegetables and got char grilled zucchini and eggplant with capsicum and onion strips - ah goody, indigestion food! She had whisked away the menus so quickly that I didn't have time to copy the items.

When we return to the car, we find it GONE. Bugger, I had had a sunk feeling while we were walking back. Michael went to a fabric shop opposite. Yes, the car has been T-O-W-E-D! Didn't I tell you Donna is a bad influence! At least it wasn't stolen. Mind you, there are still plenty of local cars parked there. When we ask the shopkeeper what to do, he says go down to the taxis and tell them you need to go to the 'Spider'! He seems to be rather enjoying all the drama. And the cabbies know where to go - straight into the dense housing estates and a parked allotment below them. The Policija operate this towing service. When Michael walks in - hey, it IS a patriachal society - and ask if anyone speaks English, it takes two seconds for them to bring up our car on their computer screen.

"This is your car?" he asked. "Yes" answers Michael. "You were parked in a tow away zone and your car must be 1 metre away from the wall, and this area is for deliveries or emergency vehicles." We wanted the car, so didn't argue - despite me knowing the car was indeed at least 1 metre from the wall because I had opened the door to its full extent, and there was so many more local cars there. But they are doing there job and being an alien we are an easy target. They were certainly pleasant enough. We ask how much is the fine and he replies "340 Kuna for the towing and 300 for the police fine", but the young policewoman standing behind him announces that she will "forgive us the Policija fine" so all up it costs the equivalent of $100 Australian when you factor in the cab fare as well. I kinda think we got off lightly and everyone agrees. At this point we just want to get gone. We toot and wave as we leave them, didn't think to get a photo at that stage - might go back in the morning! NOT.

Lost in Pompei and lost in time

The morning began well enough, albeit a little later than we had originally planned. After sitting up until 2 am'ish, it was 9 am before we lifted the weary eyelids. The staff at the Hotel Piccolo Sogno are really lovely - very helpful and friendly and full of good advice, but this morning there was no hot water in the shower and Helen did not have a good night's sleep on her 'Rock of Gibraltar' (although we loved our very firm mattress) - not a good combination! We are late for breakfast - in fact I didn't even go to have any - I'm suffering with a tummy bug. But the staff are really obliging and make fantastic coffee and bring Helen and Michael croissants and juice. Hels is happy - coffee is good.

We leave and head to the Tourist Information Centre where the lady who served us could not have been prouder of her city or more helpful. Not only that, but the amount of information in her head was amazing. She knew the times that all the places were open, the prices and the best ways to get to them. Not only the local attractions either - she gave us just the right information for our trip to the Isle of Capri in a couple of days. She knew where to buy the Buffalo Mozzarella locally that arrives twice daily from the processors in Caserta - one of the two traditional areas of production, the best and the best local bread shop to get supplies for our day in the ruins - there is no restaurant inside and she explains a little exasperated that if we leave the site we cannot return without buying another ticket.

We thank her, leave the office and turn left to find that bakery, almost walking past it. The shopfront is tiny and there is a curtain of beads covering the door. When we walk in it is very obvious that this is not an establishment that caters to the tourist trade, having prostituted themselves for the almighty dollar. No, this is a local bakery meeting the daily needs of it's population. Popular by the number of people dashing in and out while we are there trying to take it all in and decide what to buy. There is such an array of delicacies that we have trouble choosing. First up is a pastry encasing a wurst, patate and fromaggio - kind of like a hotdog with chips and cheese that smells just divine. Next, a packet of dry biscuits with chocolate (that later turns out to be savoury biscuits with nuts!), and the BEST choux pastry balls with little dots of icing on them. Peach juice in small popper boxes (so nice!) and chilled water completed our purchase, oh and a packet of chips - all for the pricey sum of €8!

So, set with our provisions, off we set. First stop is in the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in the main square. It sits within the area known as Pompei Mariana and is bordered by the Campanile Il Santuario. We enter in awe as the whole church is covered in the most amazing frescoes - some of the nicest we have seen. As I sit here typing the blog, we are amazed to learn that the church is a very modern one - having been built from 1934 at the express command of Pope Pius XI and was completed in 1939. Surely this can't be correct! But after checking a few sources, I guess that it is. Now THAT is amazing as the church in its entirety displays many baroque elements that I would have thought would have been lost in today's arts. For more info click here! All in all though, it is a magnificent example of the work of artists and builders. While we are here, 12 noon strikes on the campanile bells and The Angelus devotion begins in the Church. We stay for a while and Helen and I get the feeling that this is something that we have heard before (dredging up memories from Catholic school days), but as it is in Latin, we can't follow it. Anyhows, there are sites to be seen and time is marching on.

As we leave the Church, we pass the Campanile. Michael gleefully reports that there is indeed a lift to the top, so we all ride up the 80 metres to see Pompei from above. And what a majestic site it is. Below us we see the cupolas and dome of the Church sitting in the square with the modern city (as referred to by the locals) spreading out across the plains to the foothills of the Appenine Mountains. And there, in the middle distance is the Old City of Pompei with the remnant of Mount Vesuvius, clearly showing the top that it so dramatically blew off in the eruption of AD 79. This is what has brought us to this part of Italy. How truly amazing it is to stand here and see with our own eyes the evidence of everything that we have read about. I never studied Ancient History so I can only imagine how much more special it is for Michael and Helen who both studied it right through high school. And to add to the experience we are accosted by a friendly Italian who tells us that Pompei is the place of his birth and spends some time pointing out the local sites and explaining all about the eruption that made the city famous in the first place. It certainly makes us want to get down and in it.

Back down in the lift to the street, we walk towards the closest entry gate - Porta di Nocera (stopping for a dopple espresso, iced coffee and granita on the way given that we won't have a chance for anything else for much of the day). The entry is quite understated for what we are expecting. In fact the quote of the day is "We are not sure what we were expecting, but it wasn't this!" Maybe we thought we would see flattened ruins with an odd pot or standing column here or there. In fact, what we marveled at was the completeness of the City from the ground level to the first floor level. It is a city without roofs, without ceilings. It is like looking at an architect's floor plan model with the top removed - almost like a doll's house in many ways, standing on the outside and looking in through windows and doors.

The roadway into the Anfiteatro (amphitheatre) and Palestra Grande (Grand gym) is blocked and needs to be accessed from the outer perimeter road. At this point we decide to forgo this walk and instead head down passed the main Necropolis (cemetery) of the city with its now empty mausoleums and saved statues.

At first glance the city is a drab place devoid of much colour - a basalt grey with the under-skeleton of terracotta bricks showing classic roman building structure peeking through from a thick layer of plaster that had been applied. The road is a marvel of engineering set with large irregular rounded flagstones which as first glance look impassable but are surprisingly easy to walk on as they almost seem to be paced out in a regular walking stride width. There is shallow guttering, deep grooves where the wagons of time have passed and higher pavements for the pedestrian traffic. And at regular intervals and at the intersections of the streets there is the forerunner of the modern pedestrian crossing. They are raised blocks that are at the height of the pavement at stepping distance across the streets allowing people to cross easily when water was running and I guess it also provided some form of early vehicle control. The photo does not really tell the story - most of these blocks and their neighbouring sidewalks are about 1.5 feet higher than the roadway!

But it is not long before we begin to see signs of the magnificent decorations for which the city has become eternally known. The first real sign is of a mosaic guard dog in the entrance doorway of a home that led into more intricate patterned mosaic floors. Perhaps he is was a warning to those entering without the welcome of the home owners!

Just a little further up the street is the first of a number of bakeries that we see with their ovens still complete, awaiting the first loaves of the day to feed the population that was at its peak nearing 20,000 souls. And at the remains of the Taverns, whose counters are cased with large mosaiced pieces of coloured marble into which are set rimmed holes into which scraps of food would be thrown. Helen longs to use some of her precious water to wash the dry dust from the counters and see the marble in its true beauty of colour. But common sense prevails - the day is hot and there are few opportunities to refill our bottles from public fountains within the ancient city. Hmm, and me with a tummy bug, think I will stick to the commercially bottled water, although normally I would be very happy to drink the local water.

We continue to walk up Via dell' Abbondanza, one of the main streets through the ancient city stopping time and time again to wander into the insides of the former buildings that once played home to the people from a time long past. There are inner courtyards with atriums, building facades with layers of columns adorning the various floors in various stages of conservation works, evidence of richly frescoed internal and external walls, and gardens that would have been the private joy of the family. Some of these gardens have been restored, but as to their initial plantings there can only be guesses - these were destroyed long ago under the 10 m of ash and lava that fully encased the city in the famous eruption of AD 79.

There are thousands of tourists here right now, most being led along in big groups, tagged with their group number like sheep in a flock and following the bright umbrella or silly looking fake flower of their 'shepherd' guides. (I have often wondered at what would happen if more than one guide had the same silly flower!) And just about now, we become separated. I know that Michael is behind me with the camera, trying to soak up every littlest facet. Helen I am pretty sure is ahead of us. She will sit down at some point and wait for us to catch her up! When Helen and I do meet up about half an hour later, she was unsure of whether we were still behind her or not and as the crowds continue to grow, was getting a little worried that we might miss each other. All's good though.

But she and I are growing tired of the sore feet, the sore stomach, the sore eyes and the sore heads! We have nearly reached our fill and yet I know that Michael is really only just beginning to warm up. So we make a pact . . . we will walk with him past the Forum, the Temples of Apollo and Venus, the Basilica and the municipal buildings to the Porta Marina where we will leave him to return to the hotel. He on the other hand will stay and drink his fill!

These are all remarkable buildings that can only just start to give us a glimpse into a time of great wealth and prosperity for the old city. And as we explore around the around surrounding the Forum we come upon the store of excavated articles that can be seen within their covered and enmeshed enclosure. In this little treasure trove there are included the casts of some of the discovered corpses, caught during sleep in the middle of that terrible night so long ago when more than 10,000 people perished. There is even a dog, twisted in the throes of its pain trying to stop the burning.
And so at about 4:30 pm we reach the Porta Marina and turn to walk dwn through the exit to either try for a bus or to walk the mile and a bit back to the hotel (and you guessed it, no bus, so we walked!)

Now I'll hand you over to Michael to continue with his tale of discovery - I'll get him to keep it short-ish (given that I have already taken so long)!!
After saying farewell to Maria and Helen I strike forward along Via della Fortuna towards two Villas we were encouraged to visit: Villa di Diomede and Villa dei Misteri. The frescoes in these villas are regarded as being the best preserved in Italy. Turning right into the Vicolo di Modestro the vision is one of amazement as the street is wide and with the heavy signature cobblestoned roadway.

The street then forks at a 'Y' junction named the 'Angulus Tabernus' (Corner of Taverns), where the remains of five taverns indicate a time when trading was brisk with patrons. Taking the left fork, I venture onto Via Consolare where dwellings change from humble lodges into residences of opulence. There are too many to provide adequate descritions, suffice to say I was entering an area which once boasted wealth.

Continuing along Consolare, I arrive at the remains of the once splendid Porta di Ercolano (Herculaneum Gate). Built of brick and marble, it would have looked magnificent gleaming under the sun with its ubiquitous 'sentry boxes' on either side of the portal. Passing through the gate I entered the Via de Tombe and Necropoli di Porta Ercolano which represents an avenue of tombs of the wealthy including the remains of a Morticians residence and workshop!

I eventually arrive at my first port of call: Villa di Diomede...it's closed for restoration! Oh, well, one can't help bad luck? So I walk on further to my next destination: Villa dei Misteri ... it's closed as well - yep, for restoration? Both are locked up as tight as drums... Not a problem, I'll just make my way south toward the Amplitudo Theatrum (Grand Theatre) and the Ludus Gladius (Gladiator School).

I retrace my steps whereby I make a left turn into Via delle Terme for a look at the Terme de Foro (Forum Thermal Baths). It's either an awkward time of the day or year; regrettably the baths are closed as well due to an archaeological dig which is presently underway ... Undaunted, I push onward and repress my disappointment towards the theatre. As I continue my journey, Via delle Terme becomes Via delle Fortuna and on my left is a splendid looking villa called Casa del Fauna (House of Animals). The gods are smiling - what a splendid residence; from its mosaic threshhold to its frescoed walls depicting daily life and obeisance to a pantheon of Roman gods. Midway within the structure is the remains of a central courtyard which would have been adorned with shrubs and/or poplars.

Leaving this gem, I retrace my way back through the Forum and visit the Marcellum (great food market) which I had previously overlooked. Adorned with two communal altars, large quadrangle and restored frescoes; this marketplace must have been a hub of industry and close brokering. However, the clarity of Pompei's demise is brought into stark reality with the remains of two victims displayed where they had met their end.

Finally, I arrive at the Amplitudo Theatrum (Grand Theatre) and the Ludus Gladius (Gladiator School).... AND THEY'RE BOTH BLOODYWELL CLOSED DUE TO RESTORATION! Ah, shit happens - took a couple photos of the exterior of each of the buildings and headed off to the Anfiteatro (Amphitheatre). Time is getting on, so I have to hurry and return the audioguides by 7 pm as it's now 17:45. If you've ever walked the streets of Pompei, then you'll understand the need to have ample time up your sleeve.

Hop-scotching my along the via's and vicolo's I arrive at the Anfiteatro and considering this IS the oldest structure of its kind (older than the Colosseum at Rome) it is in a good state. Most of the original seating for the 20,000 spectators has gone and replaced by grass, however, this doesn't dilute the structures original use - hosting bloody Spectaculums (spectaculars/events). It was built with the private funds by two of Pompei's leading notarians Quinctius Valgus and Marcius Porcius - their generosity flamed through mercenary needs. So, saying farewell to the amphitheatre and ancient Pompei, I make my way to the stall and return the audioguides.

(Me again) As I am working on this blog, Helen is soaking her feet in the bidet, giggling as she does it, and planning to shave her legs there as well! Think she must have more than a touch of the sun today!!! Tonight we are again heading up to the Pizza and Pasta Restaurant. It is close, we have done enough walking for the day and the food is great!
We begin with the house special Antipasto Piazza with fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, Proscuito, bresaola (dreid beef), olives, fresh artichokes, tomato slices, roasted aubergine and peppers.
Then Michael gets to eat the Pasta e Faggioli con Cozze (Pasta with beans and mussels) that he wanted last night but was told took too long to cook while Helen and I settle for lighter dishes - she for the Spaghetti alla Carbonara (spaghetti with egg and bacon) and I had the Scallopinne a Limone (Veal with lemon sauce). We added an Insalata Mista (mixed salad) and a serving of Patate Fritte (chips). And when we ask for dessert, there is only one on offer - small pieces of pizza dough baked so that they puff up which are then drizzled with melted choclate and dusted with icing sugar - gosh, who needs choice when this is on the go?!

Back to the hotel where the owner Fabio is watching Napoli play the International team at football. He of course follows Napoli! And his team is losing. We chat about Australia and he tells us of his friends on Melbourne. Off to bed some time later - and Fabio reports that Napoli lost!