The Hefner's Adventures in Italy: Pompei and Mount Vesuvio

Our hotel offered a few tours through an outside company, so we decided to take advantage of it. The first trip we took was to the ruins of Pompei and Mount Vesuvio (Vesuvius). It was amazing to see this city that was here such a long time ago. We learned a few facts. I will tell you a little bit about the city through some pictures. First of all, did you know that Pompei wasn't actually destroyed by lava from the volcano (Mt. Vesuvius)? Sure, the volcano erupted, but the lava didn't actually reach the city of Pompei. It was the ash from the volcano that destroyed the city. Life was very different back then. Some of the things they did or believed in probably seem unusual or outrageous to some. It makes me wonder how people will look at they way we live in the next thousand years. Will they find our beliefs or professions outrageous and unusual? Or will history repeat itself and some of the things that they did during the time of Pompei be done again? Of course, I kind of doubt this. I'm sure it will be a bit more advanced. Maybe they will finally be driving (or should I say flying) around in Jetson cars by then. ;)

Okay, now on to more facts about some aspects of Pompei!

This is an old sign from back during a political election in Pompei. It is still around! Obviously, they have a plastic box around it to protect it. This was the politician's name.

This is where laundry was done. Sounds nice and clean right? Well, sort of, at least we probably think it's a bit nasty. They would use their own urine first to clean the clothes. If I remember correctly, I think the tour guide said this was to kill the germs. I think I'd rather have the germs. ;)

People in Pompei didn't actually have windows to prevent the weather from coming in and because of burglars. So, they did the only logical thing and painted windows on their walls.

This is one of the old water pipes. It was made of lead. In other areas, this would be a problem. People would get lead poisoning and essentially lost their minds...literally. However, this wasn't a problem in Pompei because there was something (I can't remember what it was now...oops!) covering the inside of the lead pipe that prevented the people from consuming lead into their systems.

If you look closely, you will see a penis. Yes, a penis. A penis during these times was considered to be a symbol of good luck, good fortune, and good fertility. Now, the people of this area (including Naples, etc.) wanted to keep this symbol of good things around, however, now it isn't considered the best thing to use as a symbol. So, they use this long red chile as a symbol now. :)

Ah, the brothel. This is one of the beds in the local Pompeian brothel. We would probably call it a whore house. Now, during these times being a prostitute was considered a noble profession. It meant a woman was providing for her family. It wasn't considered anything bad. Now, if a woman (who wasn't a prostitute) had an affair with a man is was shameful, but doing it for a living for looked at as a good thing.

Yes, you are seeing what you think you are seeing. Each room in the brothel has a picture above the door that displays a different, well, um, sexual position. Each prostitute specialized in a certain position. So, the pictures above the doors let "customers" know which prostitute specialized in the different positions.

Do you remember when I talked about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius earlier and how it wasn't actually lava that destroyed the town? Well, what happened is some people died during it and the ash formed a cast around the body. The corpse eventually decayed by the cast remained. These are some of the bodies (cast of bodies) they found. This man was sleeping when he died.