Rainbow over Pompeii

We awoke to a slightly cooler and drizzly morning on the day of our side trip to see the famous ruins of Pompeii.  The high-speed Frecciarossa train took us from Rome Termini to Napoli Centrale station, where we transferred to the separate station for the local Circumvesuviana commuter train to Pompeii.  While waiting for the local train, I noticed the tracks were  covered in a sea of cigarette butts…or maybe the butts are what the track is actually constructed from?

By the time we got off the train for Pompeii, the sun was trying to peek through the clouds and the rain became more sporadic.  We had a quick bite to eat at one of the eateries lining the walkway towards the entrance to the ruins, a surprisingly good pizza and sandwiches at prices that were fairly reasonable given the location.

Walking up the entrance pathway, we were treated to a lovely rainbow over the ruins!  This seemed appropriate.  Sadly many people lost their lives and an entire town was wiped from the map.  Yet they weren’t ultimately lost as centuries later we now have learned so much about that time period from the excavations there.  And the timeless stories of the lives of Pompeii’s citizens live on through the eyes of those who come to visit and pay homage to the past.

I’ll post more pictures later, but for now a couple from the forum/basilica area, which is one of the first areas after the main entrance.