The previous post in this series is here..
After visiting Herculaneum, I drove in peak traffic to Pompeii. There are a lot of one way roads and once in Pompeii, there was no parking. Finally we found parking. When we got out, San and the kids were tired. It was a 100 F outside and Jr. said she was not feeling well. This was our healthy child ! Was it because of the two hour soak in the sea the previous evening? In any case, they decided to go find a place to eat and message me. Was given one hour from entry to exit in Pompeii. There were a few people in front of me in the line who did not share my sense of urgency and were blocking all lanes in hopes that one of them would get to the counter. The girls whose job it was to order the crowd to the limited ticket counters were useless and just sat there gossipping. Once I got my ticket, I just ran through the entire site. Clicked a few selfies on the way, and followed the crowd all the way to the amphitheater.
The rooms and roads of Pompeii give you the same impression as Herculaneum, but the homes seem not as lavish. Seems to be a larger crowded place. These are some unique things that caught my eye that were different from the previous site. The amphitheater at the end of the site that could house 10,000 people was just amazing as was the gymnasium courtyard. All of it gone in the blink of an eye, thanks to a volcano!
Only 360 pano shot I took in this place standing in the middle of the amphitheater.
A video highlights reel of my run through Pompeii.
When I started coming back, took a weird turn and ended up at a different exit.
I got lost in the end and saw no one for a minute and panicked.. finally two ladies who had a map told me there are multiple entrances to the place and the one where my family stayed back is most likely on the other end of the complex but was a straight 10 minute walk. That saved me..
It is better to do Herculaneum first than Pompeii. Glad I went there first and earlier in the morning. The place gets very hot. Maybe allot more time and do one site in the morning and the other in the evening?! In any case, the photos and videos here tell you the story!
Finally realized that my family had not given me their location because I had no data plan and was in airplane mode! Then found out that they had already finished lunch and were waiting for me at a nice place. They watched me eat a full pizza in record time and we started our walk back to the parking lot. It was a long drive in traffic back to our hotel in Sorrento. Came back to the room, showered again and went down to have some hot tea. Then had to take a power nap before leaving again on yet another adventure!
All said and done, do not miss visiting this site. Just allot more time, take an umbrella and a bottle of water and then roam around at a leisurely pace!