Ercolano continued

We would be at the historic site for two hours walking up and down the straight streets, listening to our guide through headphones the better to understand what we were seeing.

Some of the larger buildings still had their frescoes visible after all this time. They must have looked very rich and vibrant back in 79 A.D.

This photo of another tour group arriving as ours was leaving will give you an idea of the scale of this building

A plaque explains what we have just seen

The kitchen of a fast food restaurant

This is the wide street that borders the new town of Ercolano (not seen, at left)

Bricks that were laid over 1900 years ago

Fast food kitchen for those too busy to sit down and have a meal

All the streets are straight, laid out in a grid

A horse trough

The interior of a pizzeria

Modern Ercolano looks down on the site

The colors have stood the test of time

We are going down some steep metal stairs to a lower area which would have been at sea level

Here are  the remains of people found huddled near the beach in boathouses

We move on

Back up the stairs

  Rich artwork

Bars on the windows-probably the town jail?

It's time to leave and return to the ship

We were blessed with good weather and a very passionate and well informed guide. After visiting the restrooms outside the site we were getting back on the bus. There was time to visit the little tourist shops or have a beer or an espresso. Gelato too!

The journey to the ship was quieter as the guide did not narrate and we were all left to sit and reflect and digest what we had just seen, looking back to 1900 years ago and the day that Herculaneum ceased to exist. It lay buried in ash until it's discovery 1748...

Here's a short video clip

Back at the docks in Salerno

Tour buses, some of which are used to shuttle passengers from the dock to the town of Salerno

It has been a tiring morning with so much walking in the hot sun, so we resist the urge to visit the town and return to the ship to relax before she sailed away.