Blow Your Top

Monday, May 31, 2010

As you know, the early bird gets the worm, so we were up and at ‘em early this morning again. We were really excited about the day we had planned, as we were going to see the infamous Mt. Vesuvius (as the Italians say“Vesuvio!”) and Pompeii. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to cooperate. We took the shuttle down the mountain and caught the next train to Pompeii, where we took a red convertible bus to the top of Vesuvius. When we got on the bus we were thankful that the rain had stopped, particularly since it didn’t have a top but we knew it was a badsign when we could not see the top of the volcano for all the fog. Evidently, most other travelers realized today was not a good day to seeVesuvius since we were the only four people on the whole bus, but this was the only day we had available and we were going to make the best ofit…rain, shine, sleet or snow.

During the ride up, we listened to an audio recording about the eventsl eading up to the eruption as well as its aftermath. This was really interesting and the story began to really take on some life to us. One ofthe most interesting things we learned was that Pompeii used to be a port city and after the eruption now sits miles from the coast. Once we got as far as the bus would take us we started hiking up the “not so steep”mountain, or so we thought. We’ve come to the conclusion that we were actually walking up a 60 degree incline. This walk took at least 30minutes in the cold, foggy, windy rain, but this did not dampen our spirits or giggles, only our jackets. By the time we reached the point of the crater at the top we were soaked to the bone and out of breath. To make things even better, visibility was only about 15 feet and we couldn’tsee anything but fog…especially not the crater we climbed up to see. That’s ok though, we can now officially say we climbed to the top and we even have pictures to prove it!

Now comes the descent which was much easier than the climb! Due to the rain we had to be really careful coming down but don’t worry we’re goingto have killer leg muscles when we get home. When we reached the point of bus pickup it was still raining. Luckily, a nice local boy who worked forthe bus company let us sit in his work jeep to shelter us from the rain. It was really interesting to talk to him, especially since he spoke pretty good English, and to get his opinion about the area. Let us mention however, that he thought Naples was a wonderful place, minus the people.

We then took the bus to Pompeii which turned out to be astounding. Thankfully, by the time we reached the city the rain had stopped. Pompeii was much larger than we thought and we were able to see everything, really bringing the city to life. It was amazing how real it all felt once we were walking the streets of the once buried Pompeii. We started in the central area of the city which held their basilica, forum, public administration, temples and market. We then walked through the rest ofthe city and saw different homes, businesses and shops. It was evident that the things we had heard about Pompeii being a thriving town were true through the intricate details and layout of the town. We spent about 5 hours within Pompeii and only covered a third of the sights. We’re really glad we didn’t let the nasty weather keep us from enjoying this phenomenon.

We headed back to Sorrento to explore the town a little further and to get some dinner. We enjoyed some more traditional Italian food including pasta, bruschetta, and gelato. We had a great day and have also noticed another difference in the European culture from that which we are used to is the use of public transportation. Today alone we used a shuttle, a train, a bus, a bus, a train, and another bus. Through our use, we have discovered the trains and buses are a great way to catch a cat nap. The rocking and rickety rhythm seems to put us to sleep immediately. The public transportation system is great here, but we will surely have a new found appreciation for our cars upon returning home.