From the International Herald Tribune: Herculaneum’s glories shown off.
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Herculaneum, ignored by many a Pompeii-bound tourist as that other city the erupting volcano Mount Vesuvius "froze" in ancient time, is showing off its glories, including some never before seen by the public.
While visitors pour into the sprawling ruins of ancient Pompeii — 2.5 million came last year — archaeologists over the years have been quietly extracting remnants of the much-less visited Herculaneum, and what marvelous remnants they have plucked from that town where affluent ancient Romans savored sea views from well-appointed villas. [continue].
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Having been to both Pompeii and Herculaneum, I would advise anyone who only had the chance to see one to choose Herculaneum in a heartbeat. Pompeii is impressively big, and there are some wonderful things to see there. But the modal state of preservation in Herculaneum is better, the part that has been excavated is more compact and coherent, and walking through it gives a much better idea of what the place must have been like to live in.
I wrote an encomium about my dog, who died last week. I notice that I didn’t use her name–too painful yet–and I wrote in the present tense. I still expect to see her at the front door when I come home, ball in mouth, tail wagging madly.
Regarding Herculaneum–I’d love to go back there some day. There would be lots more to see, uncovered in the last few decades. I love this stuff.