Pompeii
During the trip to Italy this summer, I managed to take in Pompeii, a place I had always wanted to visit. I was aware of the basic history of the site and the tragedy that took place during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, burying the city in ash, but that didn’t detract from the wonder of seeing for myself. The preserved remains of the Roman way of life, provide a real sense of what it was like to be part of a two thousand year old society, that was literally there one minute and gone the next.
In keeping with many tourist attractions, this site is astonishingly busy. It is also large and quite a sprawl, so organising a guide to take you round the highlights and provide some context to the detail on display is recommended. Without one, you could easily end up simply wandering around, trying to make sense of it all. The guides know what is really worth seeing and can talk to the remains, providing detail to make the most of your limited time here.
I was particularly taken with the surviving decoration and artwork inside many of the houses and could marvel how these would have looked in their entirety at the time. The scale of the Forum was another highlight for me. It must have looked spectacular in its day. A truly sobering moment was in the viewing of the plaster cast figures, frozen in time by the sheer velocity and weight of the volcanic eruption.
On a lighter note, as a Pink Floyd fan, I need to mention their ‘Live at Pompeii’ concert in 1971. I bought the feature film of this many years ago, and then later purchased the DVD (including the director’s cut) and have the 2016 remixed CD which was only available in the box set entitled ‘The Early Years 1972 OBFUSC/ATION’. I’m glad to say this finally went on general release (a two CD package) in 2025. Also released in 2025 was a newly remastered DVD and Blu-Ray of the film and it’s great to see that the live concert recording has also been made available separately in its entirety from the original film footage that was originally released. As much as I enjoy collecting obscure releases, I am delighted this music is now easily available for causal listeners. It has taken a long time for this to come out, but I have to say the visual and sound quality of this latest release is outstanding. For completists, David Gilmour returned to Pompeii in 2016, and the CD and DVD of this concert is also available.
The day trip was rounded off nicely and in the best possible way, with a visit to a vineyard, where food along with several glasses of excellent wine were on offer. As a souvenir of the day I purchased half a dozen bottles and had them shipped home. I’m looking forward to trying these out at a later date.
Another glass of wine was in order from the hotel balcony in the evening, overlooking the Bay of Naples, with a magnificent view of Mount Vesuvius. I’m aware the volcano is active but dormant, the last eruption occurring in 1944. It crossed my mind it wasn’t that long ago, and in the time it has been there, it is no time at all.