I got up bright and early this morning to go over my notes and refresh my memory about sources I would be referring to in my presentation today. Breakfast was exactly like the day before: corn flakes, juice, ham, salami, cheese, croissant, buns, yogurt, coffee, packaged cold toast, etc.

We gathered together and hiked the short way down to the train station. We bought our tickets, validated, boarded the train, and off we went to Napoli and the National Museum. After a quick potty break, we gathered in the room with artifacts from Herculaneum, including a series of busts of philosophers. I think my presentation went over well with good encouragement. I'm sure it was difficult to hear me in that room, but I did my best to speak loudly in a public room.

Next we went to the room with the artifacts from the temple of Isis from Pompeii. Another participant gave her report. It was fascinating to think of this form of worship from the east and how it would have been practiced.

For the rest of the time there we were on our own. I spent some more time taking pictures of the stuff from Herculaneum. I especially liked the room of mosaics including a mosaic of the Academy of Plato. This is also where the huge mosaic of Alexander the Great is. There are a series of frescoes from Pompeii that are beautifully done. They remind me of later Byzantine art.

One room was particularly interesting. It contained what would nicely be called erotica. There were numerous frescoes of sexual activity of various forms. There was quite a collection of phalluses - big phalluses. We were talking about this form of art with our director who now has her husband and young daughter with her. Of course, she turns to her mother and says, "Mom, what are phalluses?" I sort of walked away in case mom needed to have a little chat with her daughter.

Some of us gathered at the museum entrance around lunch time and set off together to find a Neapolitan pizza place. After walking several blocks we came to one that was recommended to us and we all sat down together. The pizza was tremendous. I would like to learn how to make pizza the way they do.

After lunch we made our way to Ercolano, the ancient ruins of Herculaneum. We looked at one house as a group and then split up. As it turns out, I also split my pants up the crotch. The rest of the day I had to walk around with the inside of my right leg rubbing against the left leg. But I persevered. After a few minutes I hooked up with a couple of the guys. They took me on a thorough exploration of Herculaneum. It is amazing to see the depth of the pyrocastic blast that buried the city when Vesuvius erupted. It seemed like Herculaneum had larger buildings, ones that actually still had a second floor. It's a nice contrast with the much larger Pompeii site.

I came close to reaching my breaking point by the time we returned to the hotel. I'm hoping that my inner thigh heals up sufficiently overnight. I imagine I'm going to have a difficult day tomorrow.

We will start with a half hour march to a different train station. We will be heading further south in Italy to a site and a museum in which we will see more Greek culture. I'm sure it's going to be a terrific adventure, but it might be a painful one. I've taken a pain reliever and think I have a couple more with me. So I'll take a pain reliever in the morning and hope that takes the edge off a bit.