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In Which I Am In Ruins

May 30, 2008 by Mike

Pompeii

Route: Naples - Ercolano - Pompei

Today's couldn't-make-it-up driving: that'll be the Englishman on a long voyage besidetheseaside who rode out from the centre of Naples during the morning rush-hour in the lane reserved for the trams. In his defence (*cough*) he was only doing what a dozen other bikes and cars were doing: instead of burning to a frazzle in the early heat, stuck in gridlock on the Via Christoforo Colombo, he rode up on the tramlines instead. Now, he would argue (*cough*) that the road surface he should have been on was terrible -- pot-holes and slabs of stone, rather than the asphalt of the tram's lane -- and he would also point out that one police car was doing the same, and two groups of police paid no attention as he and the others rode past (because they pay no attention to any bad or illegal driving here, in case you haven't noticed). He'd make the point that people clearly do this every day. He'd stress that he at least kept in the correct lane.. most of the time.. until he needed to overtake a slow tram.. and found himself playing 'chicken' with a tram coming in the other direction. (I'm glad to report that both survived unscathed..)

That stretch of lunacy took me out to the pot-holed eastern suburbs of Naples. Having now finished Gomorrah, I'm recognising mafiosi, hitmen and capos at every turn. In fact, I didn't see a single local who I didn't peg as a senior and Very Dangerous And Violent criminal who would shoot me and drop my still-dying body down a well or into a cement mixer just for glancing in his or her direction. If they didn't run me over in a High Speed Car Crash Brought On By Their Obscene Overtaking.

As you can tell, I'm really getting to love and respect the Italians.

Let me be more precise: the modern day Italians.

Their Roman ancestors, on the other hand, really WERE fab.

The 'modern' town of Ercolano lies on the foothills of Vesuvius. It's a bit crap. The roads are a disgrace. Rubbish is piled high & smelly in the streets. The local police are overweight, long-haired shirkers and ne'er-do-wells. The houses are on the decidedly unromantic end of the decaying spectrum -- falling slowly apart because nobody cares for them. Mangy dogs lope. It's a Camorra (Mafia) stronghold, but even they look like they've given up on the place.

The only reason to stop here, other than to have my prejudices reinforced, is that on 24th August AD79 Ercolano was a posh resort on the Gulf of Naples that became subsumed by lava from the erupting volcano high above. It's a smaller, less well known version of Pompeii -- but there are many who claim Herculaneum (as the British know it) is the more astonishing and worthwhile of the two. I get to see both.

In fact, so badly maintained are the modern buildings, it can be hard to distinguish where they end and the 2000 year old ruins begin:

The first traces of the ruins of Herculaneum were uncovered in the late 18th century, initially ravaged for buried treasure but within the last 80 years excavated for scientific, historical research, and for the benefits of tourists like me.

Pompeii was buried in ash; Herculaneum was subsumed by lava. Being more solid, faster, the lava preserved more detail than the Pompeii ash. Most notably, the upper stories of some of the buildings have survived. I visited Pompeii 25 years ago and my memory is shot to pieces, so I can't compare yet. But Herculaneum, on this showing, will take some beating.

It's compact -- much of the ancient town can't be excavated because modern homes lie on top of the lava field. (I say knock 'em down and do us all a favour.) But until then, the small scale allows the visitor to take it all in from the panoramic viewpoints above the ruins.. and then pop down and walk the streets, peer through doorways and round corners, poke about and generally have a good nose: much as I do every day of the trip. If it was a modern town, I don't suppose I'd even have got off the bike -- just ridden through and ticked it off my list. But it *isn't* a modern town -- even though it's built in a thoroughly modern style, and every feature is recognisable, from the fast-food joints to the pavements -- and it's hard to tell the difference between the roads of Herculaneum and those of Ercolano:

So a big part of the attraction is the simple fact that so old a place can look so new. We recognise ourselves in the ruins. Whether or not they would recognise anything in us is another matter, a question we might not like to have an answer to.

I reached Pompeii this afternoon, far too late to go in and see anything of the ruins before booting-out time. But I have managed to bag a spot in a campsite within sight of the ruins. But then I pitched the tent in the other direction, so the view from my bedroom window tomorrow morning will be the toilet block, rather than one of the great wonders of the world.

It occurs to me that it's probably a good thing I'm travelling on my own.

Beside the Seaside

In Which I Am In Ruins

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