nateniale's travels

{ Pompeii, Italy - May 2011 } Walking around the huge and well-preserved archeological site that was once Pompeii, it was easy to imagine the city that it once was... Pompeii was an important port, and must have been a well-to-do city. The temples and the forum must have been a lively place where the Pompeiians met, traded and socialised with their family and friends. There were shops selling everyday items, such as wine and bread, with graffiti on the walls. There were brothels with erotic frescoes and public baths. The large amphitheatre must have provided entertainments to the residents. The houses and villas were large, with many rooms and even gardens with water features. Some of the houses were right in the middle of the city, while others were further away, probably some holiday villas of rich Pompeiians. The rich pompeiian red that coloured the walls and the beautiful paintings showed that the houses must have been colourful. The bright gardens and water features, wou...

{ Pompeii, Italy - May 2011 } A Roman city destroyed and buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, Pompeii was buried for more than 1,600 years before the town was rediscovered. Thousands of Pompeiians must have died, and many more fled the town. However, the volcanic ash that buried the city allowed us to walk along the cobbled stone streets, among the walls that once made up the homes of the Pompeiians. Ever since I went to an exhibition on Pompeii , I told myself that I would go to Pompeii when I am lucky enough to be in Italy. And so, I did. We saw the treasures from Pompeii in the museum in Naples , before visiting the site. We took a train from Naples, and stopped in a station right next to the entrance. I was filled with excitement. Sure,  Rome , with the Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum and all the amazing structures from ancient Rome, was spectacular. But Rome was like the political and administration centre - the capital of the Roman Empire, if ...

What do you write about a Roman town frozen in time after a volcanic eruption buried and killed almost all of its residents? The small exhibition I saw end of last year and the archeological artifacts in the museum could not prepare me for the real thing. Walking down the streets that was pretty much the same 2,000 years ago, imagining the houses and rooms that once was, looking towards Mount Vesuvius from the town that was destroyed by it. There are so many photos to share and stories to tell. So, while I get my thoughts together, do read on my trip to Italy and  other travelogues . { Click here for more postcard from...  posts }

"... they are human beings seen in their agony. This is not art, it is not imitation; these are their bones, the remains of their flesh and their clothes mixed with plaster, it is the sadness of death that characterises body and form. I see their wretchedness. I hear their cries as they call to their mothers, and I see them fall and writhe..." Luigi Settembrini (1813-76) The haunting words described the emotions and struggles of the Pompeiians that had been frozen in time since 24 August 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city of Pompeii. The plaster casts of the victims of the volcanic eruption evoke a sense of helplessness, and it seemed appropriate that we shared some thoughts for the victims that died almost 2,000 years ago - for the volcanic eruption that buried their city, their homes and themselves provided a snapshot of Roman life in the first century. The National Museum of Singapore presents a special exhibition, Pompeii: Life In ...