Pompeii, Italy

I was warned by several people that Pompeii is not the best place to see if you have a toddler with you. Ever since pouring over the National Geographic on the uncovering of this place as a child I have been fascinated by it. I am not accepting defeat.

I do not recommend a stroller. We strap our munchkin to us in a baby carrier and wander the streets. We tour it a bit faster than we may have on our own, but I think this only means we are not utterly exhausted by the end. It is a good day out with a very well behaved child. Lucky us.

One really gets the idea of what living in this Roman town might have been like as far as the layout and meandering the streets.

The Roman bath house is in a well preserved state.

It has one of the only original ceilings left in Pompeii.

There are casts of the bodies found in the baths.

Outside the baths is a courtyard with grass. I think this is the essential key to seeing this place with a toddler. We have to let our munchkin run around and let off steam. He is fascinated by all the little stones and inadvertently puts one in my pocket which I find when we return home.

I love the Roman speed bumps. I wonder if the UK copied the idea of the three bumps to slow traffic from the Romans.

The deep grooves made by the Roman chariots are quite evident.

This would have been one of the entrance ways into a house. It would have been enclosed with the roof slanting inwards to a hole that would pour rain into the small pool below. The water would be used for household use with a table on the far side. Many of the houses in Pompeii had remnants of this setup.

I was very interested in some of the frescos that had been preserved through the years.

A marble counter.

These receptacles on the counter were used to keep food warm.

We come to the coliseum on the edge of the town.

We enter from one of the two main gates. There is only one other small entrance that leads into the arena and I wonder if animals and gladiators passed through it.

We nip over quickly to the new town of Pompeii to see the grand church there before heading back to the Pompeii ruins.

There are two well preserved theatres in Pompeii. Above is the small one.

A statue adorns the seating.

We head back to the exit as we see the rain clouds coming in and are about to make a dash for our train.  It is a very easy direct train from Sorrento to Pompeii.

On the way out we spot all the artefacts piled high.