pompei.

our amalfi coast trip came to an end with a visit to the ancient city of pompei. covered under meters of volcanic ash for over 1500 years and accidentally rediscovered, these ruins are sure to stun you. it all started with mount vesuvius' eruption in 79 AD, that buried the nearby city of pompeii (notice the modern spelling has dropped the extra 'i').

 although the cause of death to almost 2,000 people was thought to be suffocation due to lack of oxygen, it has been proven that the air temperature of 329 degrees fahrenheit (yeah, i did the conversion from celsius on my own, thank you very much!) was the real killer. this 'thermal shock' froze the body positions and facial expressions on these victims for thousands of years. 

once it was discovered that bodies were indeed buried into the ground of this city, plaster casts were taken, which basically fill in the negative space in the hollow ground where a body used to be, before its deterioration. the cement almost perfectly fills the spaces where skin and structure used to be, and the result is a replica of the person, with the facial expression shown from the moment of their death.  how sad, but completely incredible? the history of this forgotten city blew me away, as well as the thought of it once being buried under twenty feet of ash! 

 talk about strong architectural planning! 

 what 'backstage' at a play used to look like.

 he (mount vesuvius) is not as innocent as he looks! 

 yeah...those are the real teeth and skull. i have more pictures of these guys but they would kind of ruin the vibe of this generally happy blog. 

 uncovered pottery.

 so i know i said i would try to leave these photos out...but just look at this. 

this person was curled up and in tears. 

if you're ever in italy, try to make it to pompei and uncover some more of the primitive, fascinating stories.