Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius

Today started out bright (read: rainy) and early, with a quick breakfast and then a departure for our Naples excursion.  We had docked around 5:00 AM, having sailed between Italy and Sicily last night around 8:30.  Our first stop was a tour of the Pompeii excavations.

Pompeii was a city with a population of approximately 20,000, of which approximately 8,000 have been recovered through the excavation process.  We toured the forum, one of the bathhouses, several of the main streets, temple ruins, and one of the city’s more than 20 brothels.  Interestingly enough, though residents in Pompeii did have water pumped in to their homes (via lead pipes), because the city is situated on a lava flow, the ground was too hard to allow for sewer lines.  Raised crosswalks were created to accommodate people who did not wish to walk through the rivers of sewage created during wet weather.

The only real downside to Pompeii was that it rained off and on the entire time, and since the only parts of the buildings that did not survive the Vesuvius eruption 2000+ years ago were the roofs, we ended up being pretty damp by the end of the tour.  Not a huge deal at that point, because the temperature was pretty mild, and it didn’t rain all that hard, just consistently.

After touring Pompeii, we had a quick stop-off at a cameo factory, so that we could explore their gallery and take advantage of their “30% off sale.”  The cheapest cameo I saw started at 300 euro, so I abstained, even with their generous offer.

One of the benefits of the stopover was that it allowed our tour guide to call and confirm that the road to Vesuvius was safe for the bus to travel (it was).  The road itself had been used (and repaired) since Roman times, and included some very narrow ledges, and some very quick switchbacks.  Not for bus drivers who are faint of heart, certainly.

Predictably, though I hadn’t considered it, the temperature stepping off the bus was pretty significantly cooler than it had been at Pompeii.  The bus had taken us most of the way up the volcano, but we were on our own for the last mile or so, which was a steep, volcanic gravel trail up to the volcano’s crater.  So, it was cold, the wind had picked up some, and we were already wet from having walked around in the rain for a few hours.  Then it started raining again.

We worked our way up the trail, and, though the mist obscured our view of the coast for most of the trek, every once and a while the mist parted a bit and we were treated to a much better view.  At the crater, there was a guide post, which shared some information about Vesuvius and its eruption history.  Between that guide post and another toward the end of the trail around the crater, the wind picked up significantly, and it started snowing/sleeting.  As you can see from the picture, we were mostly unprepared for that turn of events.  Needless to say, we headed back down the volcano pretty darned quickly.

We got back to the ship and opted for a late lunch and dry clothes, as opposed to exploring more of Naples in the rain.  Hopefully, the weather will be more cooperative tomorrow for Rome.  Either way, I’m excited J