where they interned the ashes of their dead. I don't expect that anyone knew that ashes were about to intern them.
Today we arrived in Naples, a city that was very lucky that on 24 August 79 AD the winds were blowing toward Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius blew its top. The tour of Pompeii involves quite a lot of walking on stone paths so Joyce decided to enjoy life onboard while I explored the ruins.
At the entrance to the Pompeii ruins was the mausoleum where they interned the ashes of their dead. I don't expect that anyone knew that ashes were about to intern them.
We then entered the Gymnasium where the Gladiators performed their training. 
The walls show the variety of materials that they used, from bricks to Pumice. The Gym was adjacent to two amphitheaters, a large one used for contests and a smaller theater 
used for plays.
Pompeii contains the combination of Greek 
and Roman 
architectures. Notice the use of keystones on the Roman columns. The roofs of houses slanted inwards to trap the rain and channel it into fountains 
that drained into cisterns that held the water used for cleaning and bathing. Drinking water was brought in via aqueducts.
Evidence of how they lived their daily life was everywhere, from the chariot tracks in the stone roads 
to the the door groves in front of the storefronts 
to signs advertising help to carry goods. 
The city had its vices as well as the symbol directing travelers to local house of pleasure 
and the menu of available services 
shows.
Vesuvius now has two peaks 
but before the eruption it had only one. The entire center blew off leaving the sides as the new peaks.
When they first started excavating Pompeii they found that the skeletal remains fell apart as they were removing them. However they soon found that the volcanic ash had formed a cast around the people and if they poured plaster into the cavities before they dug them up, they were able to get a perfectly preserved image of them when they were covered.
The tour had its obligatory stop at a local artisan, a manufacturer of cameos 
and then we headed back to the ship.
After Jim returned from his morning excursion, we headed into the town of Naples to cross another "must-do" off our list. As is the case in most port cities, the area right around the pier was crowded with souvenier shops, cafe's, taxi stands and street venders. Actually the over-abundance of street venders made it practically impossible to walk on the sidewalks. But, not to be deterred we moved through the crowds in the direction Jim's tour guide from this morning had given him in our quest to have some traditional Neapolitan pizza. We found a table at a small outside cafe and ordered. For a starter we ordered what we thought were your basic mozzerella cheese sticks. When they arrived, it was more like a Monte Cristo sandwich. Between layers of bread were layers of creamy fresh mozzerella cheese and ricotta cheese, it was all dipped in batter and then deep fried. 
YUM! We asked the waiter what size the pizzas were and he assured us that they were small "personal" size so we each ordered our own. Jim had the very traditional Fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzerella and basil.
I added some "pepperoni" to mine. When we got them, it became obvious that what we consider "personal" size pizza was NOT the same as what Neopolitans consider it to be! Anyway, the pizza was delicious and I thought it would be nice that we had so much left because we could snack on it later. Unfortunately, when we came back on board, we were told that no fresh food was allowed and we had to throw it away :( Oh well, just another reason why we will have to make a return trip.
When we got back to our stateroom tonight, we were greeted by our friendly little towel-pet. 
I think I want to keep him!