Pompeii

Look at me! I'm keeping up! Let's see how well that goes.
I'm waiting on my teammates to finish watching a movie (Gamer? They started it last night, so I don't want to start watching halfway through) so we can get some studio work done. Then its off to working on a paper and a book that I have to write for a class. Its gametime now with the end of year projects piling up. Next weekend, we leave for our second 9 day trip, to Basel (Switzerland), Verona, and Venice. I am really excited about this trip as I have never really been in the north of Italy. Also, there is an amazing architectural complex just over the border of Basel into Germany, the Vitra Campus. Also, I'm going to be meeting up with a good friend who was an exchange student in Lewisburg when I went to high school. She lived with some good family friends and it will be great to see her!

And, Pompeii.

I love Pompeii. There's something about its history that draws me in. The place is so somber, so quiet, so whispering and full of memories. It's tragic.

Let's start this cultural/historical/architectural lesson by beginning with my history with Pompeii. I studied Latin in high school. How much Latin I might remember is beside the point (for the record, from time to time, I can read or at least mildly decipher inscriptions if I am really on my A game). Our Latin book was centered around a family in Pompeii. The first book was a series of stories that took place in the city. At the end of the book, Vesuvius erupts, and some members of the family are displaced as others sadly perish.

In high school, I took a trip to Spain and Italy with my Latin class (along with some Spanish students) to Spain and Italy, and while we were in Italy, we visited Pompeii, and took a pilgrimage to Lucius Caecilius Iucundus' house.

Let's see. Corey, Leif, David, Sprouse, and I in the Spring of 2007. Its weird to think that this was so long ago...

So, having already been to Pompeii and studied it thoroughly (I could almost make it through the city without a map by that point, as well as describe every minute detail of Pompeian culture), I was a little nonchalant about "visiting" the city, but interested to see how I would revisit it with an architectural vision.

First, some history:

Pompeii was originally a bit of a haven for celebrities and the more affluent Roman citizen. The city was one of those "Happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" sorts of cities. There were gladiator games (which were often far more than what you're thinking... read a little about them), lavish parties (with rooms designated to vomit so you could eat and drink more), large gardens, slaves, bars, red light districts... The Romans themselves were pretty wild, but in Pompeii, it took a turn for the bizarre.

On August 23-24, AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted (exploded), destroying the entire city, burying it (along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis) in a sea of ashes and pumice, until its accidental discovery in 1592.

Proper archaeological excavation began in the 1700s and continues to this day.

We arrived in Pompeii around 9 am that Sunday to some rain. We were not exactly excited about the rain, considering our trip was to last all day, outside. As we pulled up to the ticket office, the rain stopped, and a cold, misty breeze took over. I looked over towards the ancient city walls and said, "Oh, look, you can see the rain just over there. That's weird!"
At that moment, we were assaulted with hail.

Hail on the ground outside the city

The tragic aftermath

Thankfully, it didn't last TOO long, and we continued our trip. We laughed at the "omen" of the hail, and made some off-color volcano and imminent destruction jokes, and the sun came out.

The weather was beautiful the rest of the day.

Walking through the city (again, and at a much more leisurely pace than the time I was in high school, as well as much more geared towards my personal interests) was extremely enjoyable. The weather was gorgeous, the ruins were beautiful. Since I just got a new camera for Christmas, I was able to play around with the settings on my camera and get some good shots of the beautiful sky and the ruins.

Some good lighting inside an ancient house-- they had the ceiling open in the atrium to allow light inside and to collect water in the central pool- impluvium- for basic household needs. In the picture, we have Jamie, Tyler, Kelsey, Rich, Lindsay, and Evan (from left to right)

The House of Menander's courtyard. I did a sketch of this area that turned out really nice. I should be scanning it in a few days and I will put it up with this, just not right now. Our scanner is so, so slow.

Inside the baths. Once again, they created windows aligned with solar angles to capture light in an otherwise pretty dismal looking place. The effect is so dramatic!

View through a doorway into the forum and onto the very tail end of the Appenes (I hope I spelled that right, I am having severe problems with that word)

View of some modern buildings built around the ancient walls. Originally the stretch of green went all the way into the bay.

It was a very beautiful day and a great day to visit. Our tour guide was patient with us and gave us time to sketch and talk and really enjoy the ruins. Like I said earlier, I am definitely planning on putting up my sketch from the House of Menander. Here's a sketch I did of a column detail. We were leaving the city and I noticed a column in the ancient basilica (courthouse, not church) that had been broken in half. You could see the structure and building method of the column, which I appreciated.



Another fun moment was the free time we had in the forum, where we took a series of "RUN! THE VOLCANO IS ABOUT TO BLOW UP!" That I didn't capture on my camera (I was in a majority of them, but I'm sure you could find them on facebook if you were willing to wade through the massive amount of pictures people love to tag)... I also took a picture with Sam in the exact same spot that I took a picture with Sprouse in 2007.

March (or April? 2007)... Much warmer... I think I actually got a sunburn that day

EARLY February 2010... post-hail