My first ever selfie

Naples is pretty cool. I spent 6 weeks there back in 2003. It's nice that you were able to see Vesuvius from there. When I was around the smog was so thick that you couldn't see it.

 

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Its pretty sad my wife even has her Thai friends cook Thai food for them, she is THAT good of a Thai cook, and I don't like Thai food.

 

That's just crazy.

 

I am with @TIF...dude..Thai Food is just AWESOME, especially in Thailand... one of my favorites... We need to get you Thai-Food-savvy!

 

Mount Vesuvius was almost always visible from Sorrento apart from during a large thunderstorm that wandered through.

Here is one taken across the Bay of Naples from the port in Sorrento.



and one at dusk taken from half way up the cliffs above Sorrento

 

Pompeii was fascinating but simply too big to take it all in during a short visit. I would think you would need several days and my family put if with it for a few hours. A small selection of what I considered highlights.

The Basilica:-



The Amphitheatre:-




A marble tripod table legs decorated with lion heads



Plaster wall decoration:-

 

A wall mosaic:-



Altar of the Temple to Vespasian:-

 

Herculaneum was far more intimate and much more well preserved items in the small area:-

The ruins sit beneath the town and have largely been expored via tunnels. This is the section that has been fully excavated:-



A view looking down into the terrace of Marcus Nonius Balbus. The terrace is dominated by the Funerary altar and honorific statue of Marcus Nonius Balbus. The underground bath complex is at the right hand side of the terrace as we view it. The baths were unfortunately closed during my visit for maintenance.



The honorific marble statue of Marcus Nonius Balbus was reconstructed from fragments

 

The mosaic of Neptune and Amphitrite:-



Central Thermae
The men's baths still have the stalls for holding the bather's clothing



The tepidarium has a vaulted ceiling. The floor has partly collapsed, showing sections of the hypocaust beneath, but is decorated with a fine mosaic depicting a triton surrounded by dolphins

 

A larger selection has been added to my Roman sites gallery over on Forvm A C. This gallery covers other Roman sites in Britain too such as Bath, Chedworth, Caerwent and Caerleon.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=lastup&cat=-1262

 

Wonderful, Martin! Very nice pics, great info.

 

Very cool! Thanks for sharing your photos.

 

WOW Martin!! A month would have not been enough time to take it all in. I would have been drooling all over the place. I really appreciate you sharing your time and photo's. By the way I'm up for adoption!!

 

I would have had that (the smiley's) same look

Of those places I've only been to Colombia, and I am with you about the horrible heat there (that aside, a very lovely country).

They sell a stick to help you shoot better selfies now

 

ow wow, those are fantastic...thanks for sharing martin.

is that plaster wall decoration a cupid riding a leopardocamp?

AWESOME.

 

There are very few things in the world that I want to see more than the Villa of the Mysteries.

It looks like you had a fantastic vacation. I am very jealous!

 

Is the temple on site labelled Temple to Vespasian? There is scholarly disagreement over its identity and am curious to know how the staff at Pompeii have sided.

 

The on site maps, official site map and official guide book all refer to it as the Temple to Vespasian.

 

While you may not be into modern coins, here is a piece that Italy issued in 2009 - a €5 collector coin dedicated to the "discovery" of Herculaneum (Ercolano) 300 years ago. Image from the mint/IPZS website. One side shows a sculpture from the House of Stags (Casa dei Cervi), the other side features a nymph from a marble relief.

Christian

 

Thanks Martin. Odd that they don't comment about the dispute.