Day 28: Pompei

Today we took the Circumvesuviana train (train that -circles Mt. Vesuvius- along Naples Bay) to Ercola (sp?), which is the jumping off point to head up Mt. Vesuvius. We were greeted at the station by a guy pointing to a tourist info shop (still not sure if it was official) where we were sold tickets for a taxi ride and entrance to the path to the crater.

A small van pulls up and the driver directs us to sit 4-deep in each row when there is clearly only 3 seats. We pile in clown-car style and take off for the volcano (the only remaining active volcano on mainland Europe).

We start up winding narrow streets in the city, but soon reach the even narrower and more winding road to the crater. The road doesn't faze our (what we hope is an experienced) driver; he zips around corners with a honk to warn anyone coming from the other direction.

Then the driver, a thirty year old tattooed guy, pops in a CD. This is where the trip turns surreal. As we fear for our life climbing Mt. Vesuvius, dodging buses coming at us and passing (yes, passing) those buses traveling to slow, the emotional ballad "All by Myself" (I think that's the title) is blasting. One love ballad after another was played (including Whitney Houston's "If You Believe"). It was a crazy 25 minute journey.

At the drop off point, we stepped out into the chilly air and followed the half hour hiking path to the crater. We weren't sure what we'd see exactly (a pit of lava, ash, nothing, etc.) When we got there, it was like someone lopped off the top of the mountain and used a giant ice cream scooper, there was just rocks and debris at the bottom of the pit. However, there were pockets of steam rising up and we smelled sulfur. Then behind us is the entire Naples Bay (Naples, Sorrento, and Capri were all in view). Unfortunately for our pictures, it wasn't that clear out, and there was an occasional raindrop.

We also stopped at Pompeii, the city buried by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. The ruins surprised us by how much there was. It wasn't just a building here and there, the 20,000 person city was frozen in time. We walked down the streets 0d saw where the rich people lived, went to court, and watched gladiators duke it out. We also saw a brothel including a number of small rooms with stone beds and kama sutra-style wall paintings above the doors. It was a cool stop, we were glad we didn't skip out to go sit by the pool.

We ended the night eating a 4-course dinner at our hotel. We met an interesting couple (Dave, 67, and Catherine, 45) from Nottingham (Robinhood country, as he put it). We ended up spending the next hour talking and drinking a glass of wine with them by the pool while Dave chain smoked home-rolled cigs. Always fun to meet people on the road.