I wandered around and stopped to poke around this villa-I can't remember the name of it though-
This is from the Forum Baths, which is pretty famous. Unfortunately that means it was crammed with people and this was the only decent picture I got. There are lots of baths in Pompeii there, quite the popular way to spend time there apparently! These are cubbies where you would put your clothes. Way nicer then the locker at my gym-
There were also quite a few bakeries around. This one happened to be a bakery/fast food combo store. Sort of like a 2,000 year old convenience store! The pots in the counter are how food was kept warm.
There are wild dogs all over Pompeii-they aren't mean or dirty or anything it's so weird, but they are SO CUTE. This little one followed me around and I wanted to take it home with me.
Then I headed out another one of the city's gates where there was another group of funeral monuments. Fancy!
Next, I explored the old Wool Market. It's also home to some of the famous casts. But before that, it was where wool merchants would come to do business. Isn't it crazy that archeologists were able to know that?
Here are two of the casts. The way they were made is slightly creepy but interesting- when digging, archeologists would periodically hit "empty" cavities. Eventually the head archeologists realized that because bodies decay... they would leave a hallow space in the otherwise solid layer of ash that covered the city. So he started to pour plaster into them, wait for it to harden and dig them out. It worked and there are over 70 plaster casts.
I think they are slightly creepy and extremely sad. Only about 2,000 people died when Pompeii exploded, the rest were able to flee the city. I felt slightly awkward taking these photos, not gonna lie! :( The people who died in Pompeii did not die instantly- their lungs were filled with a mixture of ash and pumice, and basically suffocated them.
... on a happier note, here is another shot of the pretty wool market-
The Temple of Isis is cool looking, but the story about it is interesting, too. After the big earthquake, it was rebuilt by a rich freed slave in honor of his son. Because a freed slave could not enter elite society, this freed slave ensured that his son could by building this important temple back up in his name, even though he was 6 years old at the time. What parents do for their kids :)
Lastly-I went to two of the theaters that are in Pompeii. There is one larger one, then a smaller one right next door. Here is the large one-
Pompeii was definitely one of the coolest things I have gotten to experience on this trip. It is so crazy how similar the lives of people were 2,000 years ago to our lives now. In Pompeii there was indoor plumbing, running water, spas, fast food, theaters... I can't wrap my head around it.
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