New Year's Eve in Germany

Joe and I were all set for a quiet New Year's Eve at home. We bought a bottle of champagne at the local grocery store, and while we were there we noticed they were selling fireworks. I was looking for some party poppers, but there were none to be found. Apparently, shooting off fireworks is a tradition.

When I was growing up we would buy fireworks for the 4th of July at set them off at my Grandma's farm. She lives near in Ohio near the Pennsylvania border, and PA sells fireworks. Regardless, the most dramatic fireworks our parents would buy us were roman candles and bottle rockets. But here, in Germany, people were setting off legitimate fireworks. They looked like real fireworks, but they were smaller.

When I say people, I mean random people. This was not official. It was just everyone in the area. We were completed surrounded by fireworks. Our balcony connects two buildings and either side of the balcony people were setting off fireworks. People on the floors above us were setting off fireworks. People in the balconies across the street were shooting off fireworks. The air was so thick with smoke visibility decreased to 500 feet.

Also, being on the 5th floor, the fireworks were not that high above us. In fact, firework detritus was falling on areas of the balcony. Luckily, we also had a roof, which we were able to hide under when the explosions got too crazy. So our night was pretty far from quiet, but it was lots of fun. All the neighbors were outside talking and enjoying the fireworks.

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Pictures from New Year's

Mount Vesuvius

The trail up Mount Vesuvius was REALLY steep.

We climbed this volcano. It was really steep and it pretty much kicked my ass. Since we visited in the off season we were able to park near to the top, but there was still a 30 minute hike up into the sky. The mountain is 4200 feet above sea level. When we hiked it, we were above the clouds. If there are no clouds, there are views of Naples and the Bay of Naples, but the day we went it was overcast, so we could only see the crater. To my husband's dismay, the rocks were not hot; in fact, due to the altitude, it was pretty cold.

The crater of Mount Vesuvius. It's still smoking.

There used to be a funicular that climbed up the side of the mountain. It was closed in 1944 after the most recent eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The ruins of the funicular station are still at the top of the crater. Along the path there are tourist shops selling beverages. Also, on the windy road up to the mountain we drove by numerous hotels, homes, and restaurants. Why are people still living not only in the shadow of, but also on the slopes of this deadly volcano? Right now is the longest period of non-eruptions, so it could happen at any time. I guess one reason could be the fertile soil. There are several unique varieties of wines grown in the region.


Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Official Website for Mount Vesuvius Park
1944 Newsreel about the Eruption
Local Wines of Mount Vesuvius
Live Webcam of Mount Vesuvius

Paestum: Greek Ruins in Italy

Temple of Athena at Paestum

I've wanted to go to Greece for a while, but Joe keeps saying no. Something about political unrest and concerns over protests. We'll table it for now. But, there are some Greek ruins in Italy, in a region called Magna Graecia. This region was colonized by Greek settlers in 8th and 7th centuries BC. 

The swimming pool maze.

We visited the Paestum ruins about an hour south of Salerno. It was much cleaner in this area and quieter. It was very peaceful strolling amongst the ruins. There are 3 stunning temples that are from the 6th century BC. I find it amazing that they are still standing. There is also an unusual pool that was used for training the soldiers. It has a maze! Talk about a drowning risk! It’s a close as I’m going to Greece for now, and as far as I know, it’s a great substitute. 

Temple of Hera

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Pictures from Our Trip!

Paestum at Sacred Destinations

Herculaneum & Pompeii

Map of Herculaneum. The yellow are is the archaeological site.
The blue line is the old coastline, and the small red balloon
is where the modern coastline is. 

In 79AD Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried a lot of the surrounding countryside with ash and mud. The city of Pompeii was buried, but it wasn’t the only victim. Other cities such as Herculaneum and Oplontis also suffered from Vesuvius’s wrath, but Pompeii receives the most press coverage. So much ash and mud fell in the area that the coastline actually changed. Herculaneum and Pompeii were coastal cities before the eruption, but since the eruption, they are farther inland. Herculaneum is .31 miles inland and Pompeii is 1.24 miles from the coast.

Intact murals at Herculaneum

A mosaic from Herculaneum

We visited two cities buried under ash and mud from Vesuvius: Herculaneum and Pompeii. These cities are famous because they were cut down in their prime and were completely preserved in that moment in 79AD. Excavation of both sites began in 1700s and has given us the most complete view of average Roman life. Even the sewers below the towns were preserved, enabling studies of their diet. I was watching a documentary where the archeologists reviewed their findings. Some of the citizens were the poorer residents, but they still had a healthy diet. The scientists also found peppercorns in 2 separate places, indicating 2 separate households had access to this exotic spice; at the time, pepper was only imported from India. Archaeologists have also found furniture, jewelry, and currency; everything as it was prior to volcanic smothering.  There are ruts in the roads from cart and wagon wheels. It was pretty awesome. We’ve seen a lot of Roman ruins in a lot of countries, but these were far and away the most intact. At Herculaneum 2nd stories of homes and businesses were preserved, including some of the wooden beams. Herculaneum is much smaller than Pompeii, and it can easily be explored in its entirety. It’s estimated that only 25% of Herculaneum has been excavated while about 66% of Pompeii has been excavated.

A shop filled with amphorae.

When giving his permission to excavate Pompeii, the King of Naples is reported to have said bring me the best of everything. This resulted in many of the significant finds being brought back to Naples and placed in the National Museum, so at times Pompeii can seem a little bare in comparison to Herculaneum. Pompeii is huge; I recommend buying a map to navigate to the principle sites. There are lots of houses and shops in Pompeii, but they are not all noteworthy or even intact. Without a map, you might find yourself on a street with row upon row of unadorned houses. But when compared to other Roman ruins around Europe, even looted, Pompeii is a treasure.

Using the ancient stepping stones. They kept you raised
above whatever nasty stuff was flowing in the street.

Useful Links!
Herculaneum Pictures!
Pompeii Pictures!
Homepage of Pompeii Archaeological Site
Homepage of Herculaneum Archaeological Site
Smithsonian Article about Pompeii
BBC Documentary about Herculaneum

Toilets

I realized that toilets here aren't standardized. You never know what you're going to get when you walk in that door with the lady on it. I really can't answer for the men's rooms. I've collected a few pictures to illustrate some of the different styles I've come across.

Stomp on this foot pedal to flush. I'm not sure I would have figured this out without the sign though.

Both of these buttons work. I think they are supposed to do different things, but I didn't notice a difference. 

This one comes with options. You can push the button if the black sensor doesn't work.

Push the button to flush, push it again to stop the flushing. 

Once again, push the button if the sensor doesn't work. Also, for some reason, this toilet seat was permanently up. 

Push this strange lever to flush. It's a bit camouflaged. 

This one is really subtle. That thing at the top is the button. Push the it down to flush.

I've only seen a couple of these: pull chains! Pull the chain to flush. That tank is about 8 feet in the air.

Push this tiny little button thing. 

This one is easy to figure out.

Push the rectangle! 

For some reason the tiles came out differently in these pictures. The tank is suspended 8 feet in the air, and to flush, push the wall button. 

Naples

When we told people we were going to Naples, Italy, they kept asking “Why?” In short, we wanted to see Pompeii, and that means flying into Naples. We didn’t actually spend much time in Naples itself, but judging from the car window, it looks like the recession and austerity measures have taken their toll on the city. It was dirty; there was trash everywhere, and many buildings were vacant and boarded up. Also, the air was thick with the smell of smoke, all the time. And recently I learned why, the mafia has taken control of the trash situation in Naples, and is burning it around the city. When I think about this trip my feelings are pretty neutral. We had fun touring Pompeii and the other sites, but it was a very stressful environment; the good was tempered by bad.

We were cautioned against parking on the street as it increases the risk of theft. When the rental place gives you this information, you know it’s happened often. We actually saw lots of cars with broken windows. Furthermore, the drivers are completely insane. I heard more beeps over the weekend that I have in the past year, or even two years.

Traffic laws of any kind are completely ignored. At 20kmph over the speed limit, Joe was still being honked at like a little old lady. Lanes seemed to be optional and up for debate; cars and scooters constantly smushed into any space available. People passed in the intersections, went the wrong ways on roundabouts because it was faster, and drove in reverse for reasons unknown.

At any intersection stopping is frowned upon and hesitation is punished by repeated honking. You are expected to jump in front of traffic and hop for the best (continued survival and an unscathed car). For example, we were turning left from a side street onto a main road with heavy traffic. Our side street did not have a traffic light, so we were waiting for a break in the cars to turn onto the main road. In Naples, this is wrong; instead, the locals just go after a nanosecond pause, assuming the other people will probably stop.

This type of cavalier driving does in fact take its toll on the vehicles. I don’t think we saw a vehicle without any scratches or dents. Perhaps they don’t care about their cars. Or they haven’t realized that driving like maniacs results in vehicle damage. Either way it was the most stressful driving experience we've encountered – including driving in London on the opposite side of the road.

Useful Links!
Newsweek Article about the Trash Mafia

Our Day in Portugal

Walking to the Beach

We didn’t spend much time in Portugal, so I’m not officially crossing it off our travel list. I really wanted to see the Alhambra palace and the cheapest way of getting there off season was to fly to Lisbon and then to drive. As such, we only spent 1 day in Portugal.

After touring the Donana National Park we drove to our hotel in Portugal. We were staying near Albufeira which is a thriving resort town – in summer. In the winter about 80% of the stores and hotels were boarded up. It made finding meals a little complicated and I’m glad we had the car. Our hotel was on the beach, well sort of. The beach is at the bottom of some cliffs and our hotel was at the top, so if we were on the same elevation the hotel would have been right on the beach. Still there was an easy walking path down to the shore and it was very convenient.

Portuguese Beach in Olhos de Agua

Portugal has some truly gorgeous beaches; the water is turquoise, the sand is white, and the cliffs provide seclusion. I can see why the place would be hopping in the summer time, and why most of the people we encountered were retirees. They were also British. Not sure what that’s about, but it seems the Algarve is the place to have a tropical beach house if you are a well to do Brit.

Cove we found hiking near Benagil Beach, Portugal

While the weather was lovely, it wasn’t quite warm enough to swim or even to sun bathe, so we only walked on the beach. We also had plans to visit this cool cave. If you want to see the cave you must drive to the closest fishing village and convince a fisherman to take you out there. Recently it’s become very popular to see the caves and there are now 2 guys who only take tourists out – no fishing. Regardless, when we showed up, those 2 guys weren’t there, and the gents in the snack shop weren’t sure anyone would be going out. The sea was a bit rough, and the waves were too large for the boats we would be taking – think 12 seater row boat. Slightly disappointed we left, but decided to stay in the area and check out some other beaches. After an hour or so we returned, but our would-be guides were still nowhere to be found. We realized we wouldn’t be seeing the cave this trip. Instead, we followed a hiking trail along the top of the cliffs. We got to spend time in the sunshine and staring out into the turquoise waters – not a bad day

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Pictures from Our Trip!