Pompeii - 15th May

Last night the rain poured down! – the thunder thundered! – the lightening lit up the skies! – Today – well today is a miserable day – save for the reality of purchased tickets the planned excursion to Pompei would be cancelled.

We plan for our departure – I realise quickly that my wet weather packing was as inadequate as Bernie had warned! – no umbrella! - no substantial wet weather coat! – I make do with some thermals and bike jacket – be optimistic – it will not rain for long!

It rains all the way to meeting point – a respectable walk.

Be early we are warned! – we are scheduled to leave at 8:10 – we arrive in advance one of us bone dry and the other somewhat damp! – we join a throng of people waiting for tours of all durations and to all locations – confusion reigns supreme – buses come and go – is this ours? – No! – they come and go over and over – still No! – 8:10 comes and goes – 9:00 comes and our bus arrives – 

A jovial driver – he laughs and jokes – sings and whistles - a guide that quickly announces he is a learner – “you will meet real guide at Pompei” says he in broken English – “first we pick up others” says he.

We depart on the collection phase of the journey to Pompei – by now it is peak hour in Sorrento – roads are nose to tail with Fiat 500’s and cars of similar proportions – the nose to tail stream approaching us is escorted by a stream of motorised scooters that pass them up the centre of the roadway – they pass when ever they can and dive for cover into the nose to tail stream whenever there is a very significant risk of collision with us– a significant risk of collision is insufficient for these dare-devils to seek refuge – it appears to the foreign observer that the risk needs to be something more than just significant!- on the other hand the jovial bus driver does not perceive any of their actions as either unusual or particularly risky – he simply continues to sing – occasionally lifting his foot from the accelerator to give the scooter time to achieve cover in the on-coming stream – occasionally tooting his horn not in anger but as a coded message only known to native Italian road users.

We listen to the chatter in the bus – other fellow travellers are by majority English – they are vociferous but generally cheerful.

As we approach our last pick up point communication between the driver and the guide become rapid and punctuated with hand movements and changes in volume – mobile phones messages are received and animated conversations are held over the mobile networks – we stop on a cross road  – our stoppage halts all following traffic – more phone calls – more good natured but animated conversation ‘tween driver and dispatcher – no sign of the guests – the bus drivers recognises that even he must move to allow the following traffic to proceed – in Australia that would involve turning right and finding a place to park – fir our drive though the solution is simple – pull out into the traffic stream of the cross road – immediately stop and engage reverse – pause just a second to allow the traffic to realise that he is about to reverse – wait just a second more for the traffic behind to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate a reversing bus – back up and reverse into the street opposite! – never once did he stop singing throughout the entire manoeuvre – a genius!

Eventually we are on our way – the dispatcher has dispatched a car to pick up the errant guests!

We battle the traffic though Piano di Sorrento – I smile – we pass another bus – bus company name? - Syrenbus – tag line?– “pleasure on wheels” – the jovial bus drivers negotiates a stop sign and proceeds to turn right into a heavy traffic stream – his actions lead me to interpret the rules around stop signs as being the following – “ignore the sign – move towards the traffic stream – be aware of the traffic coming from your left using only your peripheral vision – under no circumstances make eye contact with the approaching driver – if, and only if, your peripheral vision indicates to you that the approaching driver is intent upon exercising his right of passage, then you will pause only to challenge the commitment of next driver in the stream.”

We eventually clear the narrow streets of seaside towns and reach the freeway – a long, long tunnel – emerge to a freeway masquerading as a parking lot – the chatter of the English passengers much reduced – people already tired – some already nodding off! – 90 minutes from the last pick up and two and a half hours after our scheduled departure we are at Pompei

The guide introduces herself – she introduces two other “learner guides” – she introduces the young techs in-charge of the AR (augmented reality) system that comes as part of our tour.

The guide commences the tour with “my dear group” – a term she used whenever she addressed the group -  "piano piano my dear guests - watch the step" repeats our dear guide over and over and over again! - her English tolerable – her efforts professional! – her information interesting – could it have been better obtained by time spent on a web site? – probably!

We stop in the gladiator’s barracks – a arrangement of broken columns and colonnades – impressive but difficult to imagine the original structure- we are instructed to don our AR glasses – the effect? – stunning – look up – look down – look around – the barracks and training square appears as it would have in its glory days - column stubs turn in towers - open skies turns in ornate roofs - an understanding  emerges! 

The rain comes and the rain goes as we move around the site all the time obeying the incessant directions of the guide - "piano piano my dear guests - follow me - watch your step"  – the crowds wax and wane – crowd size tolerable in this shoulder season - school groups a challenge.

Our tour? - conventional! – squares – fountains – artefacts in the visitor's centre -  -  roadways – colonnades – temple ruins – ruins of all kinds -  insulated walls of bath houses - stepping stones to keep feet clear of Roman and animal wastes,

Pause a while - be a intrigued - the paving stones worn by the passage of the wheels of multitudes of chariot carrying the goods and chattels of Roman traders, gentry and centurions  – I muse – will the cobblestones of P.Regionaldo Guilliani in Sorrento be similarly eroded by the passage of a million rattling wheels of suit cases carrying the chattels of the 21 century tourist hordes?

I pause again unable to resist the temptation to photograph the direction signs set in the pavement pointing the way to the ladies of some repute!

We finish the tour – it would rate as being “just a tour of some ruins” save for the AR glasses – they are a “work in progress” – only four or five locations within the site are active – the guides not yet aware of how to position the group to make best use of the crude technology and the technology not yet sufficiently developed to allow movement of the glasses around the location – nevertheless their effect was enlightening – a delight – the future of such tours sites.

We are returned to Sorrento  - we are tired - we rest.