Professor D'Ambra Returns to the Show

Ever since Professor Eve D'Ambra agreed to come back to the show to make a presentation on Pompeii I have been very excited. I knew that this would be just like taking a course, but even better because I would be able to guide the presentation and ask questions along the way. It was very easy to set up this show. Eve sent photos, I set up the album, and with very little preparation on my part, we nonetheless put together an excellent broadcast. Her husband, Franc Palaia, who has made perhaps a half dozen or more shows in his own right was present as well. With Ellen also, of course, in the studio, it was nice and lively, and very exciting. Our only concern was that there would be too much material to cover in the one hour and sure enough as I kept glancing at the clock on the wall, I began to realize Eve would never be able to complete a discussion on each of the photos. Franc and I agreed that the best kind of show is one in which there are no limits either way and that I would just go for as long as I wanted whether it would be 90 minutes or even shorter with 40 mins or whatever. It's really very hard to judge how long a broadcast will be. Eve did not cover all the photos, but even leaving out about 2 or 3, it was still a wonderful summary of the greatness of this extraordinary archeological site.

Pompeii itself is an amazing place to study and visit. A lot of it has been rebuilt, but the basic framework of the 2000 year old city remains quite intact after all these years. Professor D'Ambra's expertise clarified so many of the important aspects of the town. It is important to have a guide with her knowledge to explain what everything means. After all not only are we viewing a great city from Ancient times, but we are learning how people lived two centuries ago. To me it always appeared that the Ancient Romans had an amazingly advanced culture complete with beautiful pubic baths, stunning open spaces, and magnificent homes of many wealthy people, two of whom were women, Eumachia and Julia Felix indicating that despite the patriarchal society women did have some major power.

I have been to Pompeii twice, and despite that fact a new story unfolded. My initial question to her was to compare the degree of preservation (and reasons for that) of Ostia Antica (near Rome) and Pompeii. The former was the Ancient Roman seaport abandoned because of the disease that prevailed at that time which prevented any kind of habitation. Thus the town survived almost as intact as Pompeii which, of course, survived because it was buried by volcanic ash. Both towns are fascinating to learn how people lived two thousand years ago. However, the advantage of having a professor explain is an amazing privilege that I once again thank Eve D'Ambra very much.

We now begin to broadcast the places which Laura and I visited this past May and June beginning with Lake Como. In that regard we begin with Varenna, our favorite town on the lake. We continue with a focus on Bar il Molo, our favorite cafe/restaurant on the lake, so for spectacular scenes, tune in.