December 29, 2021 – January 7, 2022

After our fun day at Heraklion, Crete and our wild and crazy New Year’s Eve party on the Viking Sky; it was off to Turkey! Our first stop was the town of Kusadasi. Kusadasi has been occupied since 3,000 BC. During the Roman era it was their provincial capital. During the early years of Christianity it is believed that John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary lived here.

Nearby is the town of Ephesus, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The area has been occupied since 6,000 BC. It is famous for the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, built around 550 BC. The temple includes the Library of Celsus and a theater that could hold 24,000 people. It is quite likely that the Gospel of John was written there and it is one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the book of Revelation.

The original itinerary of our cruise had us only staying one day in Kusadasi. However, due to ongoing conflicts between the Greek and Turkish governments, we had 2 stops in Turkey cancelled (the Turks didn’t like the fact that we originated in Athens; picky, picky). These stops were Troy and Dobrum. We really wanted to see Troy. Oh well, next time.

So, we spent an extra day in Kusadasi, which was still very interesting, then had a sea day on our way to Istanbul.

We started off with a visit to the Temple of Artemis. The temple includes the Library of Celsus, which held 12,000 scrolls in it’s time. It used to be the third largest library in the world, ranked only behind Alexandria ( in Egypt) and Pergamum (in Turkey). Also of note in the Temple of Artemis is a 24,000 seat amphitheater and a brothel. I guess you could mix sex and religion together back in those days.

The Temple of Artemis was one of the most beautiful and largest buildings in the world when it was built. Over the centuries it was destroyed and rebuilt 5 times. The last destruction being in 265 AD by the invading Goths.

After Ephesus, we went into Kusadasi for a bit. They took us to a rug dealer. Remember, we are in Turkey. Turkish rugs; get it? Well, we got it all right.

Someone in the Goodell household (not me) went way over the Istanbul cruise Turkish Rug budget. She wasn’t even drinking the Raki. They better last for 150 years like the guy said they would.

The next day we are off to Selçuk to see the Basilica of St. John. Yes, we are talking about the Apostle John. As this area was one of the major cities of the world at the time, he came here to spread the word of the gospel and the teachings of Jesus.

In this same area is the Isa Bey Mosque. This mosque was built in the 14th century during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. The mosque was modeled after the mosque in Damascus. It is one of the most important archeological remains of the Anatolian Beyliks period of time. These Beyliks were an assortment of scattered tribes that were governed by a chieftain.

We also visited the Ephesus Museum. Again, it was interesting, but no Athens Archeological Museum. It’s primary claim to fame are the statues of Diana of Ephesus. She is a Goddess with many breasts, symbolizing fertility of course.

View post on imgur.com

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First up was the Ephesus Museum.

Then on to the Isa Bey Mosque.

Then on to St. John’s Basilica.

Overall, a very nice and interesting day. Then it was back to the Viking Sky to head north into the Aegean Sea on our way to Istanbul.

December 29, 2021 – January 7, 2022

We left the Piraeus, the seaport in Athens, Greece, heading south in the Aegean Sea to the island of Crete and the City of Heraklion. The Island of Crete was home to the Minoan Civilization from the 16th century to the 14th century BC, or about 3,500 years ago. The Minoans built the Palace of Knossos, which was one the primary cities in the world at the time. The Minoan civilization was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of the Greek Island of Santorini in 1,500 BC. The following centuries were very dismal for the island of Crete until the Romans took over around in 66 BC. They established the city of Heracleum and held it until it was overrun by the Byzantine Empire. After the Byzantine Empire collapsed in 1453, the Island of Crete was then overrun by all the various European world powers for hundreds of years.

The name Heraklion was first used in 1821 during the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire and officially designated by this name by the Ottoman Empire in 1869. Today, Herkalion is a very crowded city, similar in feel to Malta. Once Greece joined the European Union, the population started to increase dramatically, causing the town to become very developed, some say overdeveloped.

After docking the Viking Sky in the port of Heraklion, we went with the Viking Sky tour group to the Crete Archeological Museum. As you would expect, the exhibits spanned thousands of years and were quite interesting, although the facility itself was very understated. Let’s face it, once you have seen the Archeological Museum in Athens, not a lot can impress you.

As we went outside after visiting the museum, Randy made a new friend.

Now, if you have been keeping track of the dates of these posts, you will realize that it is now December 31, 2021. Yes, New Year’s Eve!! We boarded the Viking Sky and left port to head north in the Aegean Sea. We were on our way to Kusadasi, Turkey.

The ship was ready to party!! When we got back to our statement, the crew had left us a little present.

We even put our our fancy clothes and joined the party!!

We had a good day in Heraklion and a great time at the party! Off to Kasadasi, Turkey.

December 29, 2021 – January 7, 2022

After our Madrid to Tomar trip, it was time for the big adventure. We had booked a cruise on Viking Ocean Cruises on their ship the Viking Sky. We really enjoy the Viking Ocean Cruises as they are much smaller ships than the typical cruise line and are more upscale and have fewer passengers. They max out at 900 passengers while the Royal Caribbean, and other big lines, can get up to 4,000 – 5,000 passengers on one ship. The Viking Cruises include excursions in every port in the price of the cruise. We usually do these excursions as they are very interesting. But, if you want, you can go off and do your own thing, or just hang out on the ship.

We flew from Madrid to Athens. As usual, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza at the Madrid airport the night before our flight. We had left luggage there as we did our trip to El Poble Nou de Benitatxell on the east coast of Spain on the Balearic Sea the previous week. We picked up our luggage, said goodbye to our new friends at the hotel, and headed off to the Madrid airport.

Off to Athens. This would be the 4th time we have been in Athens. We really enjoy this city. The culture and history is all around you. You can walk down a sidewalk in the street and step over a glass plate that shows you a Greek or Roman antiquity beneath. You walk along the street where there are railroad tracks and see pieces of 2,500 year old buildings just scattered all over the place. This is not to mention the site of the Acropolis, the Forum, museums, and other very well preserved ancient sites.

We got our transport from Viking to our ship the Viking Star. We spent the night on the ship and had a bus tour of Athens the next day.

We decided to take a bus tour of the overall city of Athens. We had already seen the major historical parts and wanted to see a bit more diverse look at this amazing city. We got a nice overview of the historical parts of the city driving on a bus, with various stops, from area to area. The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was very special.

After our bus tour, it was time to get back onto the Viking Sky and head out to sea. We left the port at night, which was really cool. We sailed through the port, told all of the little boats to get out of our way, and headed south to Heraklion on the island of Crete.

December 13 – 29, 2021

Andrea and I have been discussing the possibility of moving to Portugal during our retirement years. As she grew up in England; she really enjoys the European lifestyle, so we seriously started investigating the possibilities. We have been to Portugal several times, staring with our Viking River Cruise on the Douro River in

2017. We flew into Lisbon, spent a couple of days there, and then moved up to Porto to get on the Viking River Cruise boat. We spent 7 days on the Douro River. We went east to Spain and then back again. Our daily excursions included small villages along the way ending at the City of Salamanca in Spain. We really enjoyed the country, the people, the food, and the overall feel of Portugal. At the time I spoke Spanish, as well as English, and was able to struggle through communicating with the locals with a combination of Spanish and English.

Since that time, our research into how to obtain a European Union citizenship revealed that, for us, Portugal was the fastest and easiest way to do this. We decided to get the D7 visa, which is their Pensioner Visa. With a guaranteed lifetime income of at least $1,100 per month, for a married couple, we would qualify. Our retirement income, between social security payments and other investments, is much more than that. After 5 years of residency, we would be eligible to apply for Portuguese citizenship. So, we decided in 2021 to seriously investigate Portugal to see where we wanted to at least start to live. The other option to obtain Portuguese citizenship is their Golden Visa. You must spend at least $600,000 on a piece of real estate, own it for 5 years, and you would then qualify to apply for Portuguese citizenship. This option was not really viable for us.

In December 2021 we spent about 2 weeks in Portugal, prior to a cruise we had scheduled on Viking Ocean Cruises to Istanbul, Turkey; to really explore the town and surrounding area of Tomar, Portugal to find an apartment or house. We started off with our flight from Miami, Florida to Madrid, Spain. This was a direct flight, very reasonably priced. We spent a few days in the heart of the historic area of Madrid, near the Plaza del Sol.

One interesting point of a personal nature was the Holiday Inn we stayed at in Miami the night before our flight out to Madrid. As readers of this blog may know; Andrea and I are retired from the hotel business. I started in the hotel business at a Holiday Inn off I-95 in Miami in 1983. This Holiday Inn went through many changes over the decades, opened and closed several times, and just went through the typical issues of a hotel built in the 1970’s in Florida. Andrea made our reservations and lo and behold, we were at my old hotel! It had been totally remodeled and was in very good condition after being closed (yet again) for a few years. I told the Front Office Manager at the hotel that I had worked there 38 years ago. She found that extremely interesting and amusing.

The next day, we were off to Madrid on Iberia airlines. A direct 8 1/2 hour flight, very comfortable. We checked into a Crown Plaza by the airport and took the day to sleep and get used to the time change. We had been in this Crown Plaza several times during the previous summer. The staff remembered us as the nice Americans who actually tipped them a bit along the way. We were to use this hotel several times over the next few weeks.

We set off to explore the city of Madrid. We had been there before the previous summer and really enjoyed it. This time it was Christmas time, so all of the decorations were up. It wasn’t like New York City, but still pretty nice.

After a fun couple of days in Madrid, it was time to head west into Portugal. We needed to go to Lisbon for a few days to meet with our attorneys and banker regarding our D7 visa application. It was a 6 hour drive from Madrid to Lisbon through the countryside and a few major highways. Over all a nice easy drive. The only issue about driving in Spain and Portugal is the highway tolls. They are everywhere and really expensive. It cost almost €100 in tolls from Madrid to Lisbon.

After our meetings we found a great restaurant in the Lisbon neighborhood near our attorneys office. This is the Kanuck Restaurant. Felipe, the owner, is a Portuguese/Canadian proprietor with a great sense of humor and made time to make you feel like you were sitting down to a family dinner in his home. Oh yeah, the food is really good.

**Note – as this blog is being written a few months after this trip, I am sad to report that the Kanuck Restaurant has closed. Really a shame.

During our exploratory trip to Portugal in the summer of 2021, we decided to initially move to Tomar. This little town was the base of the Knights Templar starting in 1160. The castle and attached convent were built by Gualdim Pais, the founder and head of the Portuguese order of the Knights Templar during this era. It is a great little historic/resort town with the typical European shops, restaurants, bars, and quaint historic areas scattered through out the town. Our mission was to find an apartment or house to rent so we could qualify for the D7 visa application. We needed to find a place with at least a one year lease.

As it was Christmas time, the town was all done up with lights and holiday spirit.

We spent 5 days in Tomar looking for a place to rent. We finally got lucky when the lady we rented our Airbnb from found out we were looking for a place to rent in 2022. She was currently living in a rental apartment while her house was being renovated. The timing was excellent as she was moving out at the end of January 2022 and we wanted to start a lease somewhere around that time. She made arrangements with the landlord to reserve the apartment for us after she moved out. We signed the lease with the landlords after we returned to Portugal after our cruise to Istanbul in the beginning of January.

After our time in Tomar, we had originally planned to go to the UK and spend Christmas with our friends Mike and Steph. However, the Covid pandemic really spiked around that time in England. We were seriously concerned that if we went to England, we would not be able to return to the EU because of the Covid restrictions. So, we booked another Airbnb on the Eastern Spanish coast in a town called El Poble Nou de Benitatxell, about 50 km south of Valencia, Spain. We had a 5 bedroom house on top of a mountain for about €50 per night. As this resort town was primarily a summer vacation spot, it was really cheap in the winter months.

The little town at the bottom of the mountain had some interesting sculptures with a definite shopping theme!

We were able to explore some of the small coastal towns near our Airbnb. Very quaint little fishing and vacation villages.

Soon it was time to head back to Madrid to fly to Athens, Greece to board the Viking Sky, our cruise ship. Off to the Greek Islands and Turkey, our next adventure!

November 14 – 21, 2021

Once again Randy and Andrea have teamed up with their good friends Mike and Stephanie to sail on the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas. A few short years ago, the Harmony of the Seas was the largest cruise ship in the world. Now it is just a few feet shorter than the ones that claim the title now.

We decided to take the Western Caribbean Cruise out of Cape Canaveral to sail to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the island of St. Maarten. This is our first cruise since the pandemic. It is also the first time we have been out to the Caribbean since the terrible duo of Hurricanes Maria and Hurricane Irma. These hurricanes devastated the entire Caribbean in 2017, especially Puerto Rico and St. Maarten. We were curious to see how the islands have recovered from these horrific storms.

Mike and Stephanie flew over from England literally the day before we set off on the cruise. We met them in Orlando and the next day drove to Cape Canaveral to start our latest adventure.

We had taken a cruise on the Harmony of the Seas about 5 years ago. We really enjoyed the ship and the amazing activities and facilities that it has. One very important goal that Randy and Mike did not achieve on the last voyage was that they did not have a drink in all 23 of the bars on the boat. This was due to some poor planning and erratic operating hours at some of the locations. We promised ourselves we would do better this time!!

One of the first bars we hit was the Bionic Bar. Here a couple of cute and efficient robots serve you virtually any drink you want. On our first cruise, the robots were kind of “hit or miss”. The programming was not totally accurate. Five years later they have gotten the bugs out and the little guys work perfectly now.

We cruised all night to get to Coco Cay in the Bahamas. This is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise line. Only their ships dock here. It is quite the little paradise in the middle of the ocean.

The island features zip lines, water slides, several restaurants and bars, and of course, some great beaches.

As we left Coco Cay, we headed south east in the Caribbean on our way to Puerto Rico. We had a sea day, so it was time for some ship activities.

The Harmony of the Seas is it’s own floating playground. It has an ice rink, pools, water slides, wave pools, zip line, theaters, shops, and lots of lots of activities to keep you engaged.

We played some pickleball with a new friend. Andrea begged off.

After our sea day we docked in San Juan Puerto Rico. San Juan really got destroyed by Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Thousands of people lost their lives and there was well over a billion dollars in property damages. People were without power and clean water for months after the storm. Luckily the historic parts of San Juan survived, along with the El Morro Fort and the Castillo San Cristobal. We had a pleasant day, but the people and the businesses were obviously still feeling the effects of the storms and were not as outgoing and friendly as in previous visits.

After Puerto Rico we had another sea day on our way to St. Maarten. So, time for some more shipboard activities.

Mike and I did the zip line and some ice skating. The following video documents our tremendous skills at both endeavors (FYI, Mike did the zip line, but we lost the video proof some how).

The next day we docked in St. Maarten. This island was totally devastated by Hurricanes Maria and Irma. This happened in 2017 and the destruction is still clearly visible. Many businesses were destroyed either from the winds or the flooding and have not returned, probably never will.

Even with the damage to the town, the island is still incredibly beautiful.

We got off the Harmony of the Seas to spend the day wandering around the town and beach areas.

After St. Maarten we headed back to Cape Canaveral. It took 2 sea days to get back. So, Mike and Randy worked on the remaining bars on our list, we saw a few shows and generally took it easy (like you’re supposed to do on a cruise). Mike did get a little adventurous one day and did the Flow Rider pool. He did pretty good for an old guy!

We made it back to Cape Canaveral safe and sound. Mike and Steph had plans to do the parks in Orlando. Andrea and Randy headed back to Ft. Myers. Overall, a very nice trip.

Oh yeah, Mike and Randy accomplished their goal of having a drink in ALL 23 bars on board the Harmony of the Seas. In fact, we went to several more than once!

September 2 – 5, 2021

On our final day in Rome we saw a few more of the highlights of this great city.

We started off with St. Peters’ Basilica and Piazza San Pietro. These are located on the eastern side of the Vatican. St. Peters’ is the largest church in the world. While there may be larger buildings with some of the cathedrals around the world, St. Peters’ is the largest church, or basilica. The difference is that the basilicas are considered the higher church authority and the cathedrals are governed by the local bishops in its’ respective city.

One interesting fact about the Vatican complex is that it has its’ own security force. They are the Swiss Guard. Members of this elite unit must be born in Switzerland, be unmarried, and between the age of 19 to 30. This force was established in 1506 under Pope Julius II. It is among the oldest active military forces in the world. The distinctive striped uniform has been in use for centuries.

A short distance from St. Peters’ is the Pantheon. This is one of the oldest and best preserved monuments of ancient Rome. It was built around 126 AD by the Emperor Hadrian. It started off as a temple to the Roman Gods and was converted to a catholic church around 609 AD by Pope Boniface IV.

After St. Peters’ and the Pantheon, we wanted to see some of the other sights of Rome. We were able to do this by walking and using the Metro system. We started off by going to the Trevi Fountain. Along the way we came across some fantastic street musicians. I was not able to get their names, but they are excellent!

Trevi Fountain is one of the primary tourist attractions in Rome. You are supposed to turn your back and throw a coin, or two, or three, into the fountain. The legend says if you throw one coin in, you will return to Rome. If you throw 2 coins in, you will return to Rome and find love. If you throw 3 coins in, you will return to Rome, find love and marry. Any way, there are a lot of coins thrown into the Trevi Fountain. Three times a week, at about 9AM, the coins are collected. The catholic church then donates the money to the poor. It totals up to about 1.5 million dollars per year. I am not aware of any scientific study that supports the finding love and marrying result of the coins.

After the Trevi Fountain we wanted to see the Spanish Steps. Along the way we saw another typical, great, fountain along the streets of Rome.

The Spanish Steps are another of the great tourists sights of Rome. The steps were built in 1725 to join the Piazza Spagna and the church at the top of the hill behind it, the Trinitia dei Monti.

The Piazza Spagna features the Fountain of the Longboat (Fountana della Barcaccia), built in 1629. Pope Clement XI was instrumental in getting the stairs funded and built. The stairs consist of 135 steps. You are not allowed to sit, or linger, on the steps. They actually have “step police” to keep the people moving.

We finished up another very fun day and headed back to our Airbnb. The next day, we drove back to Madrid to spend the night at the Madrid Airport Crowne Plaza for our return flight to the US the day after.

Once again, we had to deal with Covid 19 issues. The United States requires a negative PCR test within 72 hours of departure on any international flights. We had made reservations with a Covid testing locating right in the Madrid airport. So, when we landed from our Rome flight, we headed over to the testing site and got swabbed up the nose, yet again. We got our results in 12 hours.

As we waited in line at the testing site we saw many desperate people trying to get tested before their flights. Evidently they didn’t know about the requirements and were not allowed to board their flight with out the test. The next day we saw several people in line to check into Iberia Airlines with us get turned away from boarding because they were not tested. Note to all travelers!! In this age of the pandemic, be sure to check Covid 19 testing requirements at all travel spots.

The next day we boarded our flight to Miami with no issues. After a comfortable 9 hour flight, we were back in the USA! The end of a very fun 5 weeks in Europe.

September 2 – 5, 2021

After spending the day at the Vatican yesterday, it was time to head south east and see the Colosseum. This is another item on my “have to see in my lifetime” list. We have all been seeing pictures and reading stories about this magnificent building since we were kids in grade school.

The Colosseum is the largest standing amphitheater in the world. It was constructed from 72 – 80 AD. The Roman Emperor Vespasian started the construction and it was finished by Emperor Titus. The Colosseum could hold 60,000 to 80,000 spectators. In other words, it is as big as a modern football stadium, and bigger than a lot of them.

What is truly amazing is the underground sections of the Colosseum. There are pits, rooms, hallways, and entrances and exits up to the main floor. You had to have some place to stage all those gladiators, animals, and doomed Christians for the spectacles.

Once again, we had to buy tickets on line for a specific time period to enter the Colosseum. We did so and took the Rome Metro to get there. Just 4 blocks from our Airbnb was a Metro station. We bought two 48 hour tickets, for 24 euros for the two of us, for our travels around the city. It was a very simple trip starting on the Red line, with one train change at the Termini station to the Green line. The Green line has a stop right outside the Colosseum. It was about a 20 minute ride.

As we were not sure low long it would take us to do the Metro trip, we left really early. We got to the Colosseum about 45 minutes too early to get it. So, we wandered around, found a Geocache a few blocks away, and meandered back to the entrance. We showed our ticket, our Covid vaccination card, put on our masks, and made our way into the Colosseum.

After the Colosseum we walked over the Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum. The Palantine Hill is the most famous of the seven hills of Rome. It used to be the rich neighborhood for the Roman aristocracy. It is also the location of the cave Lupercal where the she wolf found Romulus and Remus and kept them alive. Legend says that Romulus killed his twin brother Remus and then founded the City of Rome.

The Forum is a courtyard in the valley between the Palantine and Capitoline Hills. For centuries it was the focal point for events, parades, contests, and government actions. It is surrounded by the ruins of the temples, religious statues, and symbols of Rome.

Later that night, we booked a very interesting Ghost Tour of the old town of Rome. We met at Saint Andrea’s church (not my Andrea, trust me) with the tour guide and about 10 other folks. Usually a Ghost Tour takes you into haunted houses or buildings. This tour was through the streets and alleys along the Tiber River. The guide took us to various spots that had either a really macabre story, or sites of executions etc. The only ghost we could have seen was the ghost of a young woman on the bridge known as Ponte Sant’Angelo, over the Tiber River. However, she is only to supposed to show up at dawn. Nope, not going to do that. Maybe on another trip.

After wandering around the dark, scary, streets of Rome we hailed a taxi and made it back to our Airbnb, safe and sound.

September 2 – 5, 2021

After spending the morning in Herculaneum, we headed north to Rome. We had reservations in a nice Airbnb apartment on the western side of Rome, not too far from the Vatican. We were also only 4 blocks away from a Metro stop, which we used a lot. As with all big cities, while driving around is a bit of a pain, parking is the real issue. We got lucky and found a spot in the tiny apartment parking lot and just left the car there for 4 days. We walked, used the Metro and taxis to get around the whole time we were in Rome. Every where we went there was no parking available. People were parking in the sidewalks, crosswalks, every where, and even these illegal spots were full.

The Metro is a very simple system with 3 lines. However, it does not go the the main historical/tourist area of Rome. Evidently, every time they have tried to dig the underground tunnels, they ran into an archeological site and had to stop. The Rome bus system is very extensive and absolutely impossible to figure out. You can get anywhere you want to go, but you need a guide or spend a month or two in the city to learn it.

Our first day in Rome we just got settled in and scouted the neighborhood a bit. The next day we went to the Vatican Museum and grounds.

The only way to get into the Vatican is to buy tickets online. There are no walk up ticket sales any more during this Covid Pandemic. You reserve a specific time and they mean specific. Too early you have to wait (like us). Too late, sorry, go buy another ticket and come back another time. Also, you have to be vaccinated and show your Green Pass (for the EU folks) or Covid Vaccination card for us Americans. Obviously masks are required at all times.

The Vatican Museum is massive. You really can’t take it all in in a day. Yes, you can walk through every thing and see it all, but you really can’t absorb it. There is just so much to see, it is all amazing, and it goes on and on and on for blocks. World class, priceless, artwork packed into hallways, corridors, the Sistine Chapel, and many specialty museums. Just walking down a hallway is like peaking into one of the finest art collections in the world, which it is! You have everything from Michelangelo to Raphael to Rodin to Monet to virtually every other famous artist in the western world.

The video above is just a taste of the vast collection of artwork the Vatican has amassed over the centuries. Not only do they have the Renaissance works, but they have modern art also, an Egyptian museum, and a total of 54 rooms that contain artwork and historical items.

One interesting fact is that the Vatican uses the various rooms for special functions. The picture below is mounted on a wall outside of the Sistine Chapel. It shows the Cardinals meeting with the Pope in the recent past.

We finished up the first wing, then took the walkway over the courtyard to the eastern side. This side has the more modern items. Then it was down the really cool circular staircase to get out to the Pinecone Courtyard and then into the Egyptian museum.

After spending most of the day at the Vatican Museum, we went out and tried to walk over to St. Peter’s Basilica. Unfortunately, we went the wrong way (that possibly, maybe could have been, my fault). What we thought was going to be a 15 minute walk turned into an hour and a half, so we called it quits. We took a few Google Maps shortcuts through the neighborhood and wound up back at our Airbnb apartment in about 20 minutes. We managed to get to St. Peter’s a few days later.

September 1 -2, 2021

The next day after exploring Pompeii we headed to the town of Herculaneum (located in the present day town of Ercolano). Most people don’t know about the town of Herculaneum and the fact that it was destroyed and preserved by Mt. Vesuvius also. Herculaneum is located about 7 miles north of Pompeii. While Pompeii got covered by ash, Herculaneum got buried by volcanic lava. The town is covered by 80 feet of solid lava. As a result, Herculaneum is preserved even better than Pompeii. In 1709 a worker was drilling down for a water well. In the debris that came up from the drill bit he discovered bits of marble and other artifacts. This led archeologists to start to explore the city in earnest.

Our plans for the day were to explore Herculaneum, then drive north to Rome. We got to Herculaneum around 9 AM and immediately saw it was very different from Pompeii.

The Herculaneum site is known as the Parco Archeologico di Ercolano in Italian. Major excavations of the city started in 1738 by Charles III of Spain. He was building a palace nearby and was intrigued by ruins. He used Spanish military personnel to start the process.

Herculaneum was a very rich town, unlike the workman like town of Pompeii. As a result, the houses are bigger and more impressive than Pompeii. They are also better preserved due to the encasement in lava that occurred. Unlike Pompeii, much of Herculaneum is still under the lava because the town of Ercolano is built on top of the 80 foot lava flow.

Today, archeologists are working to preserve the city. One of the main issues is water intrusion from ground water and from the town of Ercolano itself. There are several projects going on to redirect the water, pump it out, and reinforce the exterior walls.

Unlike Pompeii where we just walked into the site, Herculaneum has a tunnel carved down through the lava to get down into the town. It feels pretty weird to actually walk down into the site.

The Herculaneum site is not as large as Pompeii, but it is much better preserved, as mentioned before. You can really get a feel for how these people lived 2,000 years ago.

As the houses here are bigger and better preserved than the houses in Pompeii, you can really see the artwork, terrazzo floors, and temples in very good condition here in Herculaneum. To me it was quite interesting to see the fresco work in virtually every house. They didn’t have wall paper, so they just created art within their living spaces.

The street scenes of Herculaneum are incredible. The walls are still standing, there are a lot of preserved roofs, and woodwork also. It is also very interesting to see the town of Ercolano situated right above the boundary of the town. As we know, towns have been built over the ruins of older towns for thousands of years. Here you get to see it for real, right in front of you.

After a very fun morning in Herculaneum, it was time to head north to Rome. Off to see the Vatican, the Colosseum, and the other great sights of this fantastic city!

September 1 -2, 2021

After we visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we headed south to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. As every one knows; Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and buried the town of Pompeii under volcanic ash. The town was rediscovered by a surveying crew in 1748. Archeologists were able to dig through the ash and discover the town preserved like a time capsule.

We have seen a lot of ancient towns and buildings in our travels. Usually you see the foundations of the buildings and maybe a wall or two. Pompeii is amazing. You seen the actual streets, homes, and shops with complete walls and even roofs in a few cases. A lot of the squares have survived intact with their statues and artwork. There is even one home, the Villa dei Misteri that is totally complete. The interior artwork, frescoes, and terrazzo floors are really impressive. Granted, this was the house of the really rich guy in Pompeii, but it is still incredible.

Everyone has heard of the bodies that were found in the town. Scientists took body casts of these poor souls and have displayed them in the museum and in one case in a home. It really makes you think about their final moments as you view these casts. Scientists believe it was the volcanic gases that killed most of the people. In fact, when Vesuvius erupted on the first day, most people fled the falling ash. After that eruption was over, they returned to the town to check on their homes and possessions. Unfortunately, Vesuvius erupted again, this time with more gases than ashes. The gases killed everyone in town at the time.

We stayed in Naples in a nice Airbnb on the 8th floor of an apartment building. The apartment has a very nice balcony with a great view of Mt. Vesuvius and the town of Pompeii. At sunset, you get a remarkable vista.

The next morning we drove about 20 minutes to reach the Pompeii Archeological Park. Just walking up to the entrance was fascinating.

As you would expect, the Pompeii site has a great museum. It features artwork, household items, and most intriguing, body casts of the remains of some of the people that died in the eruption, and even a horse.

When you enter the town of Pompeii you are immediately struck by the completeness of the ruins. You are in an actual 2,000 year old Italian village. The shops, town squares, homes, and streets are all there. You literally wander down these streets, into peoples homes, shops, and side walks. There are ruts in the cobblestone streets where the carts ran for hundreds of years. It is also quite interesting how the town is laid out. The streets are very geometrically laid out with straight streets and intersecting streets at 90 degrees. There are none of the twisty curves that you see in today’s Italian villages.

At the northern end of town is a complete mansion. It is called Villa dei Misteri (the Village of the Mysteries). This is the actual name of the home as determined by signage scientists found on the premises. Many of the Pompeii homes have such signage and have been identified.

The villa was built in the 2nd century BC. It was heavily damaged by the earthquake of 62 AD. This earthquake also damaged a lot of the other homes in Pompeii. It appears that the villa was being renovated when Vesuvius erupted as there was virtually no furniture in the house. The wall frescoes that survived represent some of the finest surviving frescoes from the Roman empire in the world.

After spending a very fun day exploring Pompeii, we decided to drive up to Mt. Vesuvius and hike up to the rim of the volcano. It turned out, this was not quite as easy as we thought it was going to be. I had done a little research the night before to determine how to get to the top and where we could park.

One piece of advice was to park in a parking lot about 5 miles from the starting point of the hike, pay a shuttle fee, and they would take you up top. However, they charged 30 euros per person to take this shuttle. I figured there had to be a better way to get up there.

So, we drove through town and started up the mountain. As you can imagine, the drive up the side of the mountain was very beautiful. You see the coastline of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the town of Pompeii fading away as you climb the mountain.

We arrived at the parking lot/shuttle spot and immediately saw it was a scam. This was not an official town or state site. There was a guy in dirty jeans trying to get us to turn into the parking lot. The “shuttles” were old broken down vans. The guy kept pointing at a road sign with a car with a red circle around it trying to say that the sign meant that cars could not go past this spot. The sight of a car coming down the hill told us he was lying. So, we politely ignored him and continued to drive up to the official site where the hike was to begin. We got to the top and found a small parking lot there. It was full of buses and a few cars. We got lucky and had a car leave just as we arrived. Score!!

We then walked up to the ticket booth/ entry point of the hike and our luck went bad very quickly. As we had decided to do the hike last minute, we had not gone on line to buy tickets, as we usually do. I figured it would be no problem as it is a 1.5 mile hike up to the summit. How restrictive could that be? Turns out all of the tickets had been sold for the day, no exceptions. We even went on line with our phones to see if we could get them, no luck. Try tomorrow. Tomorrow was no good as we had to start to drive to Rome and see the town of Herculaneum (more on that in the next post).

So, the end of our day was a nice drive up, and then down the mountain, a couple of drinks at a very scenic restaurant, and this kind of frustrating story.

We drove down the mountain, went back to our 8th floor Airbnb, and got ready to see Herculaneum and drive to Rome the next day. Another item off my bucket list. Have wanted to see Pompeii since I was a kid. Overall, a very good day, even without the Mt. Vesuvius hike and view of the volcano.