Pompeii and Herulaneum

These two famous sites are worth two days time. The crowds were thin, and we rarely were crowded, often we had a particular building to ourselves. The trade- off is that we were quite cold, and wore lots of layers.
The sky was clear and the snow covered summit of Vesuvius dominated the skyline with Beauty and majesty that belies its deadly fires. Pompeii is tremendous in its sheer dimensions and location on top of a hill -- it is easy to imagine the crowds and commerce that went on within its walls. Herculaneum, on the other hand was amazing, we were transported back 1950 years. The detail and preservation of the frescoes, mosaics, and even the charred remains of wooden beams is astounding and is a testament of the heat of the volcanic avalanche that sealed the towns fate. Looking back at the excavation of the ancient city several meters below the the street level of the modern Ercolano, one has to wonder how many people would be killed if Vesuvius were to come to life today.