I got to experience hail and a lot of rain today. The road put to Herculaneum turned white with the amount of hail that hit the ground in just a few minutes. The positive was that all the drivers threw on their hazard lights and dropped to 50kph. Safest I’ve felt driving down here yet!

Herculaneum is another town that disappeared when Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Apparently, it was rediscovered before Pompeii but because the covering was 16-20 meters deep it was much more difficult to excavate. It is also covered by a city and people seem to object to tearing their house down to dig up old ones.

It was really easy to get to the site and parking was a breeze. I would not want to try in the busy season as the parking is also limited. I got lucky and was able to park in an underground garage away from the rain.

I did end up renting another audio guide which was very helpful in providing context for the buildings. Herculaneum is very different from Pompeii in two significant ways. First, the area available to see is much smaller. Second, the buildings that have been excavated are much more intact. You will see many multi story spaces even the remains of some of the wood beams used in the construction of the buildings. Oh and everything will look wet because it poured on and off all day long.

When I finally finished getting repeatedly soaked I headed back to Pompeii. I really wanted the fried items from Na’ Pasta again! Sat down for lunch there but they didn’t have any inside seating left so I sat outside. Pretty sure they thought I was nuts but it wasn’t too bad under their awning.