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- 04/28/2022
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
ARROW - 35. Chapter 35
During breakfast, the hotel clerk came to tell us our tour bus had arrived. “Finish your coffee while I go and talk to our driver.”
I no sooner introduced myself to our driver when Colin was next to me. I introduced Colin to our driver. Taking our seat, but not before introducing ourselves to those who were on board. As it turned out, we were the last to board.
Heading south, we stopped at Naples. I believe this stop was to give the Neapolitan street merchants a chance to sell their wares. Colin and I did buy a coffee.
Our next stop was our final stop. Our tour guide had our tickets as we followed her through the entrance gate. This was a walking tour similar to my first visit. We followed the tour guide until I decided to have my own tour.
I whispered to Colin, “Follow me. We’ll catch up with the when she leads them to the Forum.”
He looked confused as I lead him to another street. “Along this street are the row houses. It seems every city, like today, has a poor section with row houses for those who are not wealthy. These houses were cheap to build, they contained a garden around the back of them, like a back yard.”
“Those other people on this tour won’t see these?”
“No, I’ll show you the houses they will see. Then you can draw your own conclusions why they avoid this area.”
“How did they transport any goods? This cobblestone road would be hard on any horse or mules pulling a cart.”
“Well that is how they did it. Some of the poor people had a wooden cart that they pulled or pushed.
“Like a wagon?”
“Yes, but also a push cart.”
“Isn’t that our tour group up there?”
“Yes, let’s catch up. They are going into that house.”
We fell in behind them and listened to our guide.
“This home is typical of the homes along this street which leads to the Forum. The homes along this street are actually farms. The lower rooms facing the back of the property were for the farm workers and generally consisted of two rooms. If there are any rooms in the front, they would be rented as shops. You will noticed two things which are common to these homes, a courtyard in the center of the home, a bath as you enter the building and the paintings and mosaics on the walls. Most of these places had a painting of the household god.”
We followed the crowd. I pointed out to Colin the plaques on the building which were in English as well as Latin. These plaques identified the building or home. The one we entered had a plaque identifying as the Praedia of Julia Felix.
“What does Praedia mean?”
“It means Farm. This is one of the largest buildings on this street and was built by combining two buildings into one.”
“He must have been a rich man.”
“He was and to accomplish this structure he had to reroute the road.”
As we followed the group through the house, I noticed Colin taking many photos of the walls. I was hoping he wouldn’t ask that I paint the walls in our apartment.
We stayed with the group the rest of the morning. I watched Colin as he took photos of the various walls. We went into one house which I had gone into before. There was a room I wanted to show Colin.
I nudged Colin, “Follow me.” I led him to a small room. Walking into the room, I watched Colin. The room was a sex room, there was a stone bed, which I sure had a padded mattress of a type on it. The walls were painted with females in compromising positions and some of the murals included male figures. You knew that this room was designed for pleasure. It was common to see naked paintings and statues, but these paintings were obviously sexual. On the wall opposite of the bed, was a clay faucet. “They were clean people and that faucet brought clean water into the room.”
Colin was busy taking photos. “Before you say it or even think it, I will not paint anything like this on our bedroom wall.” Colin began to laugh, loudly. “Shh, I don’t want them coming to look for us.”
When we joined the rest of the group, there was a young man who wanted to know where we went. Colin pointed the way.
I took his hand and led him out of the house. “Colin, forget any idea of having a painting like those on our bedroom wall.”
“Well we could have nude males on our wall.” I knew he was teasing.
“There is only one nude painting I would put on our wall and that would cost you one hundred thousand dollars.”
We waited for the group on the street. There were a few other houses on that street.
“Where does this street lead?”
“The Forum. I’m sure the tour guide will take us there.”
“I noticed the streets here where not like the early streets which where cobblestone. These streets arer stone but they are smooth.”
“The name of this street is Via dell’ Abbondanza it runs straight to the Forum.”
“Is the Forum here like the one we first visited in Rome?”
“The Forum her is a market place. After lunch we should tour some of the temple sites as well as government sites.”
“The tour includes lunch?”
“Yes, when I first took this tour there was a woman and her daughter in the group. I sat close to them and when they served lunch is was a pasta dish. She complained that all she ate was pasta and why didn’t they serve potatoes. Looking at me she said she would give anything for a dish of Irish potatoes. Her daughter whispered this was their fourth trip to Italy and whenever she asked her mother where she wanted to go she replied Italy.”
“We had dishes with potatoes.”
“My guess she is from Ireland and only boiled Irish potatoes would do.”
Lunch was similar to what I had the last time I was here. A small bowl of a soup made with fish, followed by a pasta dish and a salad. Desert was a cookie served with coffee. They did offer a glass of wine but that was extra.
We rested for a while chatting with our tour members. The young man Colin showed the sex room to, came and sat with us. He was surprised to see the room.
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35
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16
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9
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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