Day Trip to the Ruins of Pompeii

If you had read my previous post, then you’d already know my trip to Pompeii wasn’t planned. I had actually planned to head out to Positano this day but since I randomly made a new friend the previous day, we decided to travel together and meet up in Pompeii. Yes I just pluck people off the streets and make them be my friend.

 

We decided to meet at 11am so I woke up a bit earlier to load up on the free breakfast provided by my hostel. Although I LOVE cereal, I didn’t want to risk eating dairy if I’m going to be out all day. Who knows how my stomach will react to that and it’ll suck if there’s no bathroom around lol I decided to be safe and stick to carbs and juice. Carbs will keep me full and give me energy!

The previous night, I asked the front desk how to get to Pompeii and they gave me a timetable for the train. Pompeii was only about a 25 minute train ride from here. Sweet!

I thought it was a quiet day since there were only about five other people waiting for the train but to my surprise, when the train arrived, it was PACKED with people. I guess everyone was staying in Sorrento! Sorrento is the stop before Sant’Agnello when heading to Pompeii.

So the train is old and sounds like it’s about to fall apart. There were no seats available, so after about 30 mins squished in the train and me holding onto dear life hoping I wouldn’t get flung out, I arrived in Pompeii! Well not quite. I arrived at the Pompeii Station.

What’s cool about the Pompeii Station is they have luggage storage! Pompeii is actually between Naples and Sorrento, so they provide luggage storage for tourists who want to make a stop in Pompeii since it’s on the way to Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast.

I sat and stared at these two doorways at the Pompeii train station for about 1.5 hours waiting for my Brazilian friend. I was there for so long that the Italian guys working at the station befriended me. They called me “moon goddess” haha I had totally forgotten that my name is Latin and means Roman goddess of the moon and hunt! I apparently look like someone famous in Italy?? I assume? They googled a picture of a women to show me and said I looked like her but I had no idea who she was haha thanks?

Anyway, luckily there was wifi there so I was able to message my friend. She said she was at the station but I thought, how did I not see her if I’ve been staring at the entrance the whole time?? She said she was at the ticket counter, so I went to the ticket counter around the corner but didn’t see her. I got so confused, even the workers got confused, until one guy said, “OH maybe she’s at another station!”

There’s multiple Pompeii train stations??????

So after we figured that out, she took a taxi over to where I was. Turns out Pompeii is so big, there’s multiple stations and entrances!! She was staying in a town an hour from where I was staying so she had to take a whole different train that didn’t stop at the same station as mine. It was funny when she finally arrived and as we walked away from the station, the Italian guys yelled, “WHERE WERE YOU? DIANA WAITED FOR YOU FOR 2 HOURS!!!”

And she was like, “Do you know those guys??” I told her I waited for her for so long, they became my friends hahaha anyway, off to Pompeii!

We entered this entrance to Pompeii and surprisingly, there was no line! It seemed like it was closing soon because there was no one there but nope… just a quiet day. Entrance fee is €11 and they take credit card too if you don’t have cash on you.

I forgot that Pompeii was an actual city, which means it’s HUGE. I thought this was going to be a 2 hour visit but remember, we’re walking through an entire city!

There’s a lot of little entrances to see displays and artifacts throughout Pompeii that’s nice to duck into to escape the hot sun for a little bit. Be sure to put on sunscreen or bring a hat because there is NO shade there since, you know, it’s a city that was destroyed and buried under ash from a volcanic eruption. It’s going to get image heavy from here, so enjoy the snaps of what remains of the buildings and homes of this ancient Roman city.

We went inside this huge amphitheatre! Underneath? Behind? The seats is a Pink Floyd exhibit with videos and music. It’s high tech in there and a big contrast to the ruins! They have a guestbook too, so of course I had to write in it. Maybe you can find my autograph when you visit 😉

Pompeii was so big, we didn’t even walk through all of it, plus we were hot and tired. We found an exit and saw food and shops and got tempted out. We already spent so long looking at ruins! We did a bit of souvenir shopping because I had to get my magnet!! I like to collect magnets from places I’ve been to (but a lot of times I forgot to get a magnet ;_;).

Then we stopped by a restaurant to grab a bite to eat before we parted ways. I wanted to try out dinner in Sorrento, so I only got a bite of gelato while my friend got a GIANT BEER. It was the size of a wine bottle! Anyway, we decided to attempt to meet up in Positano since that was where I wanted to head to next. She had already gone to Positano and wanted to go again because she was so in love with it. That must mean it’s worth it! ^_^

We parted ways. She went to her train station while I went back to mine. I wanted to go back to Sorrento to look around on my own and grab some dinner there because I saw a lot of cute little restaurants there. I got too lazy to take any pictures though, sorry! After that, I walked about 30 minutes back to my hostel in Sant’Agnello to pack up and get ready to head out the next morning 😀

I hope you enjoyed our little adventure in Pompeii! Next stop, Positano — finally~

-Diana

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