Closely Watched Trains

[bcholmes]

So I'm sitting here on the train from Naples to Roma (and then on to Florence), and they've got free wireless, here. This is the way to travel, let me tell you. This train is hitting speeds around 250-290 km/h. Zoom. Zoom.

Another interesting thing that I noticed was that one of the "info" screens on the train was starting up some flavour of Linux. I'm on the geek train. And I feel good about that.

Sio and I went to Pompeii, and then went to see the foggy spot where Mt. Vesuvius was supposed to be. Pompeii was absolutely fascinating -- a snapshot of what the world was like 2000 years ago. It's a bit sobering, knowing that 20,000 people died there. Things I didn't know: aparently the people mostly suffocated from gases from the volcano. They were dead within two and half minutes. The ash covered everything, and when their bodies decomposed, the left person-shaped holes in the ash. Some time in the 1800s, someone came up with the idea of injecting plaster into the holes, so you can see almost-perfect casts of the Pompeii citizens in the positions in which they died. It's pretty morbid. Naturally, Siobhan took lots of pictures.

Then we went up Mt. Vesuvius. It was in a cloud. So we walked and walked and walked so far that we were wet from the mist, and then we walked and walked some more. And then we walked. And then more walking. And then we got to the top and looked out into a wall of fog. We took pictures. We'll file them under "Mt. Vesuvius on a foggy day". We know that there's supposed to be a crater there, but we couldn't see anything.

Siobhan and I were talking about food, today. About how there's sooooo muuuuuuch foooood, and yet there aren't the same sort of North American food weirdness. Yesterday, ferinstance, we were having pizza for lunch and there were two women at a table beside us, and each of them got a standard sized lunch pizza (probably close to what Pizza Pizza serves as a "medium" pizza). Both of them ate their whole pizzas. People aren't weird about eating. There's none of that stupid "Oh, I shouldn't" crap. Must ponder further.

Comments

Vesuvius Express

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Sio and I went to Pompeii, and then went to see the foggy spot where Mt. Vesuvius was supposed to be. Pompeii was absolutely fascinating -- a snapshot of what the world was like 2000 years ago.

When STAR WARS first came to Australian cinemas, it actually had a short on before it (golly, remember those days, when they still had short films on before the main attraction?) called "The Vesuvius Express" This was a guided tour from Milan, Pisa, Rome, to naples. It was obviously made some time in the 50s-60s - you could tell by the fashions and style of ciommentary. Anyway, it featured a tourist from Scotland, who was dressed in tartan kilt, beret, and had a classic walking stick. he climax of the film was showing this guy walk up Vesuvius to look at the crater.

Obviously Sulfar was not a problem.

I once looked at the "Vitual Pompeii" which came on a CD. It ahd a 3-D walk thru of the ruins, but being there must be so much more interesting. In an odd way, Pompeii is a Momento Morte.

[herbmcsidhe.livejournal.com]

I loved the time I got to spend in and around Pompeii. If you have the opportunity, also visit Erculano.

Pizza -- since the US Gov't was paying my way on an up-and-down-both-coasts of Italy tour (I was in the Navy at the time), I conducted a minor experiment, and ordered "Sicilian style" pizza every where I went. I don't think that I got exactly the same pizza in any two places, including Sicily! IMO, the best pizza I found, however, was in Livorno and the second best was in Venice.

[drpsycho.livejournal.com]

it's really the first time in my life that I hear or read somebody not complaining about italian trains!