If you have been reading my Viewpoint column for a while you know that I like to find paint and coatings connections whenever I travel. My family vacation this summer continued the trend, as I found myself thinking about coatings during our Mediterranean cruise from Athens to Barcelona.

In the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, we toured the House of Menander, a villa left standing after Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the town in 19 feet of ash and other volcanic debris on August 24, 79 AD. It is one of the richest houses in ancient Pompeii in terms of architecture, decoration, and contents, and its quality means the owner must have been an aristocrat involved in politics, with great taste for art. The house was excavated between November 1926 and June 1932, and revealed frescos adorning the walls throughout the house – the vibrant colors still visible today.

As we admired the paintings, our tour guide, Sergio, talked a bit about the paint colors used in these ancient times. We learned that purple was the most expensive color, and was made from sea shells, and that blue was the next most expensive, and was made from lapis lazuli. Black was drawn from the carbon created by burning brushwood or pine chips.

When our tour was over, I pulled Sergio aside to get more information on the paint colors. He explained that there were several different kinds of red used in ancient Roman paintings, made from things like face powder and conch shells. He said it is believed that much of the red that we see on the walls of homes in Pompeii was originally yellow paint, made from yellow ochre. The color was transformed into red ochre at the time of the volcano’s eruption due to the extreme heat. This gave rise to the expression “Pompeian red”, a term used to describe the red color that is abundant in the murals of Pompeii.

I had a much more modern “coatings moment” on our trip, as we were re-boarding our ship after a day in Corfu, Greece. I noticed two workers painting over some scuff marks on the side of the ship, which were left by the rubber buoys as we had docked. I was curious about what kind of paint our cruise line was using to touch up the ship’s exterior. I took a quick picture, and saw that it was a product from AkzoNobel’s International brand of marine coatings. As we boarded I excitedly told my family what I knew about the latest developments in marine coatings based on articles, podcasts, and product announcements we have published in recent years. I should have taken a picture of their collective eye rolls to share as well…apparently not everyone finds coatings as interesting as I do.

My family may be tired of me looking for coatings connections on our vacations, but I know I will continue to do it. I truly enjoy seeing the things I read and write about every day out in the real world, and throughout all ages of history. Stay tuned for my next travel log…wherever it may be.