Tag: Campania

  • Pompeii

    pompeii, napoli, naples, italy, romans, ruins, historic, landscape, photos and the city, statues, fresco

    The year before I had already visited Herculaneum so it was about time to visit Pompeii, the ancient Roman city.

    The city has re-emerged from the darkness of centuries precisely as it would have been when it was unexpectedly buried in the thick layer of ash and lava which poured down from the devastating eruption of Vesuvius. It was the year 79 A.D. (Pompeii Online)

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    Buried in 79 A.D. and rediscovered in 1748, when a group of explorers discovered Pompeii almost intact under the layers of dust and debris.

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    Situated about eight kilometres from Vesuvio Pompeii was a flourishing resort for Rome’s most distinguished citizens and attracted many wealthy visitors.

    Elegant houses and elaborate villas lined the paved streets. Tourists, townspeople and slaves bustled in and out of small factories and artisans’ shops, taverns and cafes, and brothels and bathhouses. People gathered in the 20,000-seat arena and lounged in the open-air squares and marketplaces. (history.com)

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    Pompeii remained mostly untouched until 1748, when a group of explorers looking for ancient artifacts arrived in Campania and began to dig. They found that the ashes had acted as a marvelous preservative: Underneath all that dust, Pompeii was almost exactly as it had been 2,000 years before. Its buildings were intact. Skeletons were frozen right where they’d fallen. Everyday objects and household goods littered the streets. Later archaeologists even uncovered jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread! (history.com)

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    Pompeii (like Herculaneum) offers a snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment and shows the everyday life of its citizens.

    The walls of the houses are covered with electoral propaganda messages or risque jokes aimed at particular citizens. The signs on the shop doorways indicate the activity carried out there or the name of the owner. Alongside the elegant villas belonging to the nobility and the luxurious residences of the middle class, stand modest houses where several families lived.
    The peasant dwellings on the other hand are situated around vegetable gardens or small plots of land. (Pomeii Online)

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    The House of the Venus in a Shell.

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    I think I spend almost the whole day walking around Pompeii and still haven´t seen all of it, there is so much to explore and to visit. And it´s a kind of strange feeling walking around an area where so many people have died but also very interesting – very mixed feelings about this.

    Even I visited Pompeii in October there were still many people around and the parking place was very full, I would recommend using public transport to visit. There are trains and buses going there. And bring sunscreen, water and comfortable shoes!

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  • Minori & la Grotta dello Smeraldo

    grotta dello smeraldo, amalfo coast, campania, italia, travel, ursula schmitz, minori

    Good morning Amalfi Coast! Early morning the traffic wasn´t that bad so I decided to stop in Minori for some caffé and cornetto. The Amalfi Coast was already loved by the old Romans, there is a more than 2000 years old Roman villa at Minori, the Villa Marittima Romana. But I only went for a little breakfast at the tiny harbour.

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    My second stop kind of happened by accident. I actually just wanted to take a picture and saw a free parking space. Pulled in I was greeted by a lovely man who informed that this was the parking for the Grotta dello Smeraldo and if I want to visit it. An elevator brought me down to sea level and I entered a big cave. It was a short boat trip around the cave and a nice break.

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    On one side the cave is flooded with brilliant blue (green) water and was discovered by a fisherman in 1932

    Unlike the Blue Grotto located a few kilometres to the west on Capri, the Grotta dello Smeraldo has no natural outlet above the waterline. The only opening to the outside world is just below the water level. Refracted sunlight entering the cavern through the opening gives the water its characteristic emerald glow during daylight hours. (Wikipedia)

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    grotta dello smeraldo, amalfo coast, campania, italia, travel, ursula schmitz

    And again, traffic on the Amalfi Coast…. I had planned to make another stop in Sorrento to visit the Vallone dei Mulini (Valley of Mills) but just when I arrived it started raining and I just drove on in the direction of Pompeii, my next stop.

  • Positano

    positano, italia, roadtrip, campania, amalfi coast, dream holiday

    Ciao Positano!

    I think it was about here, that the already narrow coastal road got even more narrow with all the parked cars. At least the slow driving and often standing made it possible to enjoy the view and take a few pictures.

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    And from the other side – looking for a parking space I passed the city by driving by and decided on this point to turn around and just drive into Positano. Which was a good idea as there were a lot of garages – I just took the first one and walked the rest down.

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    Picture perfect Positano – main “actor” of many movies and the “front cover” of the Amalfi Coast. Stunningly beautiful (esp when seen a little bit from afar) it´s the centre of attraction for many, many people.

    positano, italia, roadtrip, campania, amalfi coast, dream holiday

    The fashionista history runs deep – moda Positano was born here in the ’60s and the town was the first in Italy to import bikinis from France. (Lonely Planet)

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    Positano was a sleepy and poor fishing village until the mid-century and started to attract larger numbers of tourists in the early 1950ies, especially after the publication of John Steinbeck’s essay in Harpers Bazaar 1953:

     “Positano bites deep”, Steinbeck wrote. “It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.” (Wikipedia)

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    Movies and celebrities on vacation made Positano to a dream destination for many!

    Positano has been featured in several films, including Only You (1994), and Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), as well as more recently in Kath & Kimderella (2012) and being mentioned in the 2009 musical film Nine in the song “Cinema Italiano”. …

    Mick Jagger and Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones wrote the song “Midnight Rambler” in the cafes of Positano while on vacation. (Wikipedia)

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    Hidden beaches almost everywhere on the Amalfi Coast.

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    Positano – the vertical city – Ciao!

    positano, italia, roadtrip, campania, amalfi coast, dream holidaypositano, italia, roadtrip, campania, amalfi coast, dream holidaypositano, italia, roadtrip, campania, amalfi coast, dream holiday

    Traffic along the Amalfi Coast…