It was always my dream to go to Pompeii. Since I was a child, the idea has fascinated me - being able to walk among the streets and see life captured frozen in time from 2 and a half thousand years ago - how incredible!
In the shadow of Vesuvius, there it was.
Getting there should have been easy but it was complicated by the random lack of signage in the Napoli train system. Things are somewhat haphazard in Italy after Germany! Anyway, we asked a nice couple of women, who were Swiss tourists - and got it sorted. The train was a bit dumpy and very crowded. We arrived with thousands of tourists - it was between Christmas and New Year - and most of them seemed to be Italians! In typical Italian style they had run out of maps - in ANY language. So we were pleased to have the Italian one from the B&B. Otherwise it's impossible to orient yourself.
We took a guided tour. Which started late (typical!) but was pretty good. She only showed us 5 main sites, which is barely scratching the surface as Pompeii is HUGE. It is a town and as such involves a lot walking.
The streets are strange. They are narrow and mostly huge boulders used as pavers. There were narrow walkways to either side, but a lot of it was boulder hopping. Apparently carts would trundle up and down these roads - you could see the makes they left behind! It would have been a very bumpy ride indeed.
On either sides you see the excavated ruins of buildings. Of all types; residential, commercial and some very fancy villas.
Pompeii has been a tourist attraction for over two hundred years, so the archaeology has been extensive over that period. Even so, they believe there are STILL things to discover.
We saw an amphitheatre where gladiators fought, a theatre, commercial shops, baths and a bordello. They make a fair bit of the bordello as there are raunchy mosaics inside indicating what 'services' a visitor could purchase. Declan loudly declared as we left: 'I don't know how anyone would want to DO that!'
There were something like 25 bordellos in Pompeii, which seems like a fair few given the size of the place...I guess the Roman men had a pretty nice time of it there. For women, it was either a life or servitude or rich boredom.
We finally found a quiet area and although I could see a side street was closed off, something made me want to walk up there to look...well it was the best thing I could have done. At the very end was a gate and it was partly unlocked! A caretaker fellow was inside with a bunch of keys and only three other people were there! 
It was the Villa Frontone, one of the prestigious villas that is roofed and intact. Where most other villas have had their interior paintings removed for gallery exhibition, the Villa Frontones are in place. It was incredible to walk among the rooms and stand beside paintings 2 and half thousand years old! A terrific way to end our Pompeii visit.
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