"A real peek into the past" a Pompeii Travel Page by cardwatcher

This place was amazing! Right off the bat I was struck by the stark difference between past and present. You can literally look to the left and see ancient Pompei. Then look to your right and see a modern city.
Once we got to the entrance of the site there was a smokey smell in the air. I asked one of the tour guides waiting for his group at the entrance about the odor and was told that they were still excavating part of the site and some time when they turn up soil and other articles the smell is renewed in the area. Amazing! I mean think about it. That smell is a key ingredient to what happened here.

One thing I would advise people who are planning to visit Pompei is stick to a plan. Think about what you want to see and stick to it. Use the extra time to visit the Naples Museum. A lot of artifacts have been removed from the site and are now on exhibit at the museum. I spent a whole day at the site and (while I'm not sorry) would probably not have done it this way had I had a little more knowledge. The site is divided into regions. These are areas which have all been excavated within the same time period. While I am very interested and found every little fresco wonderful my friend said that by mid day she felt like it was all looking the same. SO picking one or two things in each area would be a great strategy.