We decided to go further north to explore the lesser known Herculaneum today. The train ride both ways was crowded. Can't imagine what it will be like in high season.

The glorious weather continues, in fact it was quite hot at times.

Herculaneum was affected by the same Mt Vesuvius eruption in 79AD that wiped out Pompeii. The excavations undertaken in the last 150 years have revealed an obviously wealthy community. Some of the houses were three stories high and many had frescos covering their walls. There were a lot of impressive mosaics on surfaces - walls and floors - and a few restaurants with their huge cooking pots. The streets had huge cobblestones and it was easy to imagine them as busy thoroughfares. It's a bit confronting to see the many skeletons in the boat sheds where folk had fled to trying to escape by sea. They were asphyxiated by gas or hot ash, the poor souls.
Only a fraction of the original town, that had a population of 4000+, has been excavated because a whole new town has since been built over it. The Old Town was buried in 20+ metres of ash.