Knossos and Pompeii

Knossos was the ancient palace of the Minoan culture which is rumoured to be the basis for the myth of Atlantis. Situated on Crete its mind-boggling how much mythology and archeology blend in Greece as the palace was also the basis for the famous labyrinth, minotaur and Icarus´s flight and fall into hte ocean. The unfortunate thing about the palace was that it was created in alabaster and is melting apart due to pollution AND the archeologist who discovered it took many liberties in putting it back together again, yielding a disney-fied view of what the palace was actually like.


Replica of the artwork that was on display on the walls. Greece doesn´t quite have their priorities straight and decided to close their archeological museum during their peak tourist season. As a result, Laura and I missed out chance to the see the original artwork. Bummer.




In Pompeii, we see a different set ruins. When I visited Ephesus our tour guide boasted that it was better than Pompeii but I have to disagree. Pompeii is enormous, jawdropping in its scale, details and remainders. We would slip our sandals off and rub our feet on the original mosaic tiles of ancient mansions and see old paintings and signs on the walls. Unfortunately much of the really good stuff was also in the Naples archeological museum which we also missed. Double bummer. I guess I just have to go back.


Plaster cast of actual human bodies that were preserved in the eruption.

The birth of venus. Apparantly Pompeii has been undergoing excavation for about 200 years now and yet still 25% of it remains to be uncovered. Seeing the frescos on the wall is quite a trip. Laura and I kept wailing holy crap! As we walked around for 4 hours.


More figures and left over pottery. We wondered how they got all these pots to stand up with their tapered bottoms.


Bath house, still intact with a marble pool in the center with bronze lettering. Very amazing.

Back in Rome at the Colesium. Laura didn´t see much of Rome because of my tantrum but apparantly she was ok with it? Sorry Lar, wish I had dragged you to the Vatican...