October in Louisiana

South Louisiana is hot during the summer.  I mean, hot.  And humid.  Miserable.

But then October arrives and brings blue skies, cooler temps, and lower humidity: perfect weather for taking Choco hiking!

Saturday, we went to Mary Ann Brown Nature Preserve.  We met a couple of other friendly dogs with their people, and we saw birds, spiders, squirrels, and chipmunks!

 

And, to my surprise, there were still many flowers in various stages of bloom!

 

 

   

Choco wasn't sure about these stairs, and she (literally) belly-crawled up the steps without a rail on the side.  She didn't balk, though, and she didn't require any coercion.

   

Choco loved her day out, crying on Sunday morning to go hiking again!

On Sunday, we went to the Port Hudson State Historic Site, which was the site of a siege during the Civil War.

   

Long after the Civil War ended, in 1990, the Port Hudson Peace Monument was created. The remains of one Confederate Soldier and one Federal Soldier were re-interred on the grounds, a constant reminder of the past and the present.

   

When this historic site was created, about six miles of trails were created, too. Some go through, over, and around the earthworks created during the Civil War, and some go to important sites in the area. The trails and the important sites are well marked and include relevant information about what happened at each site.

   

Choco and I enjoyed being outside again today, seeing more bugs and flowers.

 


 

There were more spiders at Port Hudson than at Mary Ann Brown.

... and way more caterpillars.

At the end of the day, I felt something crawling on my leg ... and yes, it was a caterpillar! Thankfully, I didn't dance through any spider webs today.

But I did take a couple of selfies.

 

 

And of course, I took more pictures of Choco!

   

"I thought a wolf got loose in these woods!" 

Ummm, no ... she's on a leash, and she's not a wolf.  I promise!

All in all, this was a pretty good weekend, and I'm looking forward to a few more nice weekends to enjoy the outdoors before the long, hot summer returns.

Mt. Vesuvius

After spending the morning at Pompeii, we had pizza in Naples, then headed to Mt. Vesuvius.  Lunch included a drink: water, soda, beer, or wine!

 

The road up Mt. Vesuvius is narrow and twisty with steep dropoffs, and riding in a bus ... well, maybe it's best not to look out the windows too much!  Just before each hairpin curve, the bus driver would *HONK*HONK* the horn to warn any oncoming cars that we were approaching. Finally, after a terrifying drive, we arrived at the parking lot for trailhead and began the hike up Vesuvius.

Vesuvius is still an active volcano.  There have been many eruptions since 79 A.D., when Pompeii was destroyed, and another like that one will (some day) likely destroy Naples, the city at its base.  And the current activity in Vesuvius, which continues to release gases that affect breathing, leads tour guides to warn people not to hike too fast.

The hike is fairly strenuous, but not very long.  And definitely worth the work!  It was a little hazy the day we were there, but the view of the Naples and the nearby bay was pretty awesome.

The flowers along the trail are interesting, beautiful...

 

...and plentiful!

Even the flying creatures are beautiful!

And a peek into the caldera makes a hiker forget the steep and gravelly path he (or she) just climbed.

And after the long, hard walk up the volcano, the walk back down is a welcome change.

The views on the way down are equally as good as on the way up!

Of course, there's still the terrifying maneuvering of the tour bus through the teensy-tiny parking lot (I only wish I had video of this!) and then the drive back down the mountain (*HONK*HONK*), followed by a long drive back to Rome.

(Did I mention the wine and limoncello tasting on the way back to the city?  Delicious!)

By the end of this day, we'd walked approximately 14 miles and climbed the equivalent of something like 63 flights of stairs. Thankfully, we had nothing planned the next morning, and we were able to sleep late before the next adventure.

Pompeii: a love story (of sorts)

I've been interested in Pompeii since I was a little girl.  I remember reading books about Pompeii while sitting in my childhood home in the rolling hills of the Felicianas: the sheer green curtains framing the lush woods outside, the green sofa and black piano inside, lightning bugs offering special effects after dark, and maybe a novel or a nonfiction book in my hands.  

THE POMPEII COLOSSEUM

Never did I dream I would actually go there.

Later, as an adult, I was able to see the traveling Pompeii exhibit when it came to Mobile, Alabama.  It was fascinating and powerful, filled with plaster casts of people and animals killed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.  Again, I never dreamed I'd actually go to Pompeii.  I thought that museum exhibit was as close as I'd ever get.

But I was wrong.  And I'm so glad I was!

Drew and I were in Rome, Italy for a week this summer.  We thought of staying in Naples for a couple of nights, or possibly Sorrento, so that we would be closer to Pompeii and Vesuvius, with a possible sidetrip to Capri. But after much research and internal debate, we finally decided to join a Viator day tour from Rome to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius.  Our group visited Pompeii first, and it was even more amazing than I'd imagined.

A Street Through Pompeii

Pompeii, a city destroyed in 79 A.D., had running water in the homes.  Many of the pipes leading to the homes remain intact to this day, though they are made of lead and no longer used.  But the pipes are there.  We saw them.  We touched them!  Pipes that moved water into homes over 2,000 years ago!!

Pompeii had a forum, much like the one in Rome.

Pompeii had restaurants.  

Pompeii had public drinking fountains -- this one recently came back into use after the pipes were modernized.  

Pompeii had a brothel ... with very uncomfortable beds.  

Pompeii had homes, with kitchens and bedrooms and mosaic tile and wall murals and, yes, running water. 

The Dining Room, with mosaic floors and murals on the walls:

   

The Kitchen:

 

 The Courtyard:

 

Pompeii had public bathing areas, as well.  The cold, the warm, the hot: the frigidarium, the tepidarium, the calidarium.  These were used not only for bathing, but for socializing.  And they included not only running water, but temperature-controlled water!

I know, I know: you are wondering why I am so impressed with running water.  We think of ourselves as a very advanced society, yet we didn't have running water inside homes until the 1800s, and even then it was not common.  But in Pompeii, running water was almost common. 

Until that fateful day in 79 A.D.: the day Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Pompeii, killing anything, anyone, everyone and everything in its path.  

Those who stayed in Pompeii were buried in ash and mud until the city was rediscovered and excavations began in the early 1800s.  Skeletons were discovered, plus something else: voids around the skeletons.  By pouring plaster into the voids, the final tortured poses of those remaining were revealed.

An Adult: 

 A Child:

 

  A Dog:

Seeing the plaster casts back in Mobile, AL was heartbreaking, and seeing them here, in Pompeii, where they died, even moreso.  But they were among many other artifacts discovered here. 

 

 And the views on the way out were a reminder that amidst the destruction, beauty still exists.