Charleston Living Magazine Nov-Dec 2023

TRAVEL
The hotel, which is named for both the number of rooms and
the year of the eruption, feels grand but not flashy, with marble, wood
and jewel-toned velvet in the public areas and lots of soothing blues
and greens in the rooms. The hotel’s restaurant, Il Circolo, has become
a hub for locals, who gather each morning for espresso and gossip at
the bar. In the evening, dressed to the nines, they return for apertivo—
which resembles a cocktail party—a late and, if there’s live music,
dancing. It became clear that we were the only outsiders, but, before
long, we’d been gathered into the friendly fold, where we did a bit of
dancing ourselves and learned that dinner is just a small part of an
Italian evening out. It’s fun, festive and, thanks to Executive Chef Roberto
Lepre’s knack for lushly-sauced pastas, delicious. If you’re lucky,
Chef will hold one of his casual cooking classes while you’re there;
ours taught me that making gnocchi—tiny pasta dumplings shaped
one-at-a-time around the tines of a fork—is best left to professionals.
During the warmer months, the action moves to the rooftop, which
offers gorgeous views of Mount Vesuvius.
The hotel is also home to a Nuxe spa and it offers something quite
rare: a hot stone massage with local volcanic stones. I wish I’d booked two.
Since Pompeii’s ruins are the most-visited archaeological site in
the world, I had expected a typical touristy town but instead I discovered
a city that, once I got beyond the entrance to the ruins, was so traditional
that shops still close during the middle of the day. It was lovely
and refreshing to find myself immersed in authenticity as I wandered
through the dusty hardware stores, beautiful fur and leather boutiques,
shoe shops, butchers, fruit markets and decadent gelaterias along Via
Lepanto. Pompeii’s ornate cathedral was consecrated in 1891; a highlight
is the painting Our Lady of Pompeii, which was purchased for
the equivalent of one dollar and transported from Naples to the church
in a manure-filled wagon.
I was surprised to learn that Vesuvius itself can be explored on
foot via the Gran Cono trail. It takes about two hours to complete the
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popular four-kilometer journey.
I highly recommend hiring a guide to take you through the ruins.
Though the signage is ample, and in English, it doesn’t convey the emotion
that locals and historians still have for the place. I didn’t realize, for
instance, that Pompeii was a bustling trade port (the eruption moved
the coastline further west) that was home to about 20,000 residents.
There were wine bars, restaurants, brothels and a huge amphitheater
where gladiators trained. The guide shared brilliant innovations, too,
like the stepping stones that stretched across streets so that pedestrians
could cross without getting their feet wet when the roadways flooded.
The raised stones were spaced so that chariots could pass over them
without breaking an axel.
Walking through the crowded streets of Pompeii, I had no trouble
imagining the city as a lively metropolis where people lived, played,
loved ate and schemed. Within the praedia—or inn—owned by a
woman named Julia Felix, I discovered ornate gardens, deep soaking
tubs and a spa with an outdoor pool. At the House of Vettii, which
reopened to the public in early 2023, I marveled at remarkably vibrant
frescoes of angels, buildings and scenes of gruesome punishments
framed by walls painted in deep shades of red and yellow.
Tragically, it was also easy to imagine how these families had died:
some skeletal remains lie in situ; there are also full-sized plaster casts
fabricated by archaeologists more than two hundred years ago. The
casts were made when scientists discovered that, long after the bodies
of the victims had decomposed, the ash that had killed them retained
the shape of their bodies. After pouring plaster into the voids and allowing
it to harden, workers were left with life-sized statues of men,
women and children that are remarkable in their detail.
I’m glad I had several days to take in Pompeii. Not only was I
able to stare at Vesuvius and wonder about the lives it had changed,
but I was also able to explore the wonderfully unscripted city, all at
my own pace. •
PHOTOS HABITA 79