We who are about to die...

Roma Victor!

Enough with the quotes already!

We've returned to Roma now, after our three-day excursion to the Bay of Naples. Pompeii was even more incredible than I could've ever anticipated. Unlike any of the other ruined cities that we've visited, Pompeii is so perfectly preserved that you can easily imagine Roman life there. Walking through the streets over the original paving stones with the wagon ruts still worn into them, seeing original Roman wall painting, chills ran up and down our collective spine because of the overwhelming REALITY of the place.

The highlight was most definitely the amphitheater, which was almost perfectly preserved, save for some grass growing on the bleachers in some places. You enter at a steep angle from a darkened tunnel, only illuminated by the bright floor of the stadium itself. Descending, the power of the building is palpable and I'm almost positive that I heard a crowd roaring, somewhere. Imagine...

When we walked out onto the floor, each of us was totally blown away by the sight. It's one of those things that is very hard to properly explain. We were struck speechless for a time, and I could feel the pace of my breathing increase. The simplest explanation I can come up with is that we were THERE, in the very place almost exactly as it was some two thousand years ago. Check out this vid...



All right, I'm off... Hopefully I didn't clog the tubes too much with that video. Those VHS's get stuck so easily!