As a result of the failure to get the visas for Libya we were undecided what to do for the day. The weather was foul early on in the morning but it brightened up as we were having breakfast. By the time we got ourselves cleaned up the sun was out and it made our decision to visit the ruins for us.  

We settled the bill in any case as even if we did come back the caravan would have been cleaned. John and Avrl came over for a chat as they thought we were leaving and took some photoes of us and Tuah. By the tme we walked up to the entrance of the ruins it was already 1030hrs. Alison tried the same trick she did on the bus in Rome but this time the ticketing staff was sharper and asked for my passport. I didn't have the passport with me and gave my driving licence instead. She noted the year of birth and charged mre the full entrance fees of 11Euros.

No harm in trying I supposed.

The Volcanic eruption of Vesuvio in the year 79AD had apparently interupted dramatically any form of life in Pompeii. It was only in 1748 that the the excavation began under the reign of Charles of Bourbon although the discovery of Pompeii was due to the digging of a tunnel beneath the hill where it stood for conveyancing water from the river betwen 1504 and 1600. Nobody thought however to identify it with the ancient Pompeii during its first discovery.

My favourite site was the theatre and the gladiators barracks with its gym in the centre. I could just imagine the the gladiators in those days preparing themselves to kill or be killed, at the gym. The barracks are noting more than cells surrounding the gym. Life must have been pretty cheap in those days.

We spent almost 2 hours in the ruins which was hardly enough to go the distance. One would need at least 4 to 5 hours in order to see everything that's to be seen. As Adrian was getting tired of walking, and so was I, we headed for  the restaurant  just outside the campsite and this time the food was not to expectation. How we wished we had gone back to the resraurant we had our meal last evening.

As we had been told how beautiful the Amalfi coast was, we couldn't just leave without seeing it. It was rather dramatic and if not for the weather, which was piddling, we would have enjoyed the spectacular views it offered much more than we did. We ended the day back at Camping Spartacus and got the same caravan back although now it had been cleaned. We just had bread and banana for dinner and while I am writitng Alison and Adrian had fallen asleep and it was not even 2200hrs.