Herculaneum, as seen from post-eruption ground level
More Roman ruins today. We took the local train (without incident), about an hour each way, to the excavation of the fancy ancient resort of Herculaneum, destroyed in the same eruption of Vesuvius that took out Pompeii. The difference is that the intense heat at Herculaneum seared the wood and thus preserved it, so there are wood structural elements still standing, including two-story buildings. While much smaller than Pompeii, the buildings are more complete and give a greater feel for being in a city. There are lovely frescoes and sculptures and the Roman equivalent of fast food joints on every corner. There is still much not excavated, since most of it is under the modern city of Ercolano. There is a magnificent villa underground, explored but not excavated, that has been reproduced as the Getty Villa in Malibu, California.
In the evening, the whole group of us went to dinner at the home of a big local family, including a couple kids and a cat. We went through their lovely garden and were then seated in a big dining room at a long table, big enough for all 26 of us. We toasted each other with wine made by Papa from local grapes, then the antipasti came--tomatoes with pesto, mushrooms, broccolini with sausage, sautéed zucchini, roasted peppers. More kept coming, all delicious. I lost count, but someone said we had 15 different dishes, including lemon chicken for the main course, probably not including the tiramisu dessert and homemade limoncello after-dinner drink. Mama mia! What a feast.