Day 49: A spontaneous visit to Pompeii

At the campsite in Vieste, for the first three nights, our pitch neighbours were an older Italian couple, kind and slightly crazy, and it was the two of them who told us about the Area Sosta Camper “Zeus”, right outside the gates of Pompeii, a perfect base for the excavations and for trips to Naples and Sorrento. We actually thought Pompeii would be too much with Lavinia and Valentino, but after the drive from Matera Pompeii offers itself as the perfect stop and when we simply go there, they still have room. So we follow the flow and do it. On the way we stop for lunch at a motorway services, and because we are in the middle of Campania and have heard too many stories about crime, we do not let Enea out of our sight for a minute.

The zebra crossings of Pompeii

It works out far better than we expected. Of course we move more slowly and our attention goes to the things the children can grasp. Their highlight is the zebra crossings, meaning the raised blocks of stone that let you cross a Roman street without getting your feet wet. Lavinia balances along them with her arms spread wide. The bakeries with their ovens, the shops with jars as tall as a person and the thermopolium (the Roman street kitchen, with its round openings in the masonry counter) delight the two of them as well, and they learn a great deal along the way. Walking through a Roman town that has survived almost intact is truly impressive. With the Thule (the trailer the children travel everywhere in) it is not easy at all, because back then nobody thought about accessibility. The trailer itself seems indestructible and holds up without trouble. What occupies Lavinia most is Vesuvius, omnipresent at the end of every street: “How exactly does the volcano work and how does the fire come out?”

At night the Circumvesuviana goes past

The pitch is practical but not particularly pretty – at least the part where we are standing. Right behind the camper runs the Circumvesuviana, the train from Naples to Sorrento, and in the evening a maintenance vehicle works the same line, very loud and very slow. Quiet is one thing it is not …quite the opposite. Lavinia and Valentino, on the other hand, are thrilled by the trains and run out of the camper every time one comes. Our neighbour from Denmark, a warm-hearted woman, gives the two of them two little turtles she crocheted herself 😊