Pompeii was completely worth the whole day spent wandering the streets. While it was amazing to see the variety of floor mosaics and sheer size of the town, it was the little details opening a window into the daily life there that fascinated me. The ruts from chariots and wagons worn into the stone paved streets, pedestrian crosswalks made of raised stones at intersections with cuts in them to allow the wheeled vehicles to pass, hot food stands, and neighborhood water fountains with different faces carved in the back...in fact, the more famous, semi-intact rooms with colorful
plaster paintings made it hard to believe that the place wasn't much more recent, it didn't feel ancient at all in some places! We stayed a bit to the south of Naples in Paestum, home to some of the oldest (early doric) most intact greek temples outside of
Greece - and a fabulous museum showcasing the finds from this Greek/Lucanian/Etruscan area with frescos, metalwork and stone carvings.
We stayed at a working estate in the area, one of several agriturismo places we stayed. Azienda Agrituristica Seliano was the very top of the heap!
Nearly everything served was local/estate produce at the tasty, multiple course dinner, and such fantastic food (can you say artichoke season and home-made bufalo mozzarella?)
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