July 11th - Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii

It was an early start to the morning, especially after such a late night. I had to make my way over to the Piazza del Polpoto, the square of the people, to meet up with my Pompeii tour. I used the metro for the first time! I got a little turned around on how to get to the Metro, but I finally found it. The ticket machine was a little confusing, being all in Italian, and I kept trying to hit the wrong button to order more tickets. I finally got it, headed through the entrance and descended into the metro. It’s just like riding the Max back home.

I arrived at the square and ran into a fellow Spaldingite who was taking a tour of Capri. We went had had breakfast and waited. I had been a little worried about finding the right meeting point, but it was no problem. When the tour group arrived to check in there was a huge line for Pompeii. I had booked through ‘Dark Rome’ but it was the same tour on offer from several different sites run by citywonders. I got up to the front of the line and they wanted me to wait which immediately made me worried. I didn’t want this to be another Dublin. They assured me that I had a ticket. There was another group who hadn’t booked together and they wanted to go together. I was more gracious about it than another woman.

They first told me to go join Melissa’s group, but as we were walking to the buses they were asking the other women if she would change and she was putting up a huge fight which I didn’t understand because she was traveling alone. I volunteered to change and got put into Manuel’s group with two others from my original group. Although I’m not sure how Melissa’s group turned out, Manuel was amazing!

The drive down to Pompeii was 3 hours, and we broke it up in half, stopping at a shop with bathrooms. A good portion of the way own, Manuel gave us a lot of information, talking about the surrounding area, Italian life, and Italian food.

Our first stop was the hike up Mt. Vesuvius. We had an hour and 20 minutes to make it up the mountain, a supposedly 30 minute hike, and back down. There are three souvenir shops along the way. Once you meet the first one, a supposedly 10-15 minutes, you’ve done the heavy lifting and completing the steepest section. It was grueling. The sun was hot and the ground was soft. It was almost like walking on sand. Not what I was expecting. I made my way slowly stopping at each of the four benches to stop and catch my breath. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it in time to actually see inside the volcano, but I kept at it. I climbed and climbed and climbed. They stopped having benches and I had to stop along the railing. At least the view of Naples and the Bay of Naples was beautiful to look at. Finally, I made the first souvenir shop. I really wanted to make it to the second because there is a terrace just beyond that has the best view according to Manuel. I didn’t make it that far. The third souvenir shop was out of the question, but had the same view and just put you on the other side of the volcano. Even though I only made it in between the two shops I was still able to enjoy the view for a little time. It’s crazy to think that the volcano could blow again. 600,000 people live in the red zone and have a fatalist view on life. Of course Manuel had told us all about the dangers as we were driving up to the volcano, but assured us that it wouldn’t erupt today. It’s heavily monitored.

I saw Manuel heading back down so I headed back to. I didn’t want to miss the bus. The way down was much easier than the way up had been even with slipping. There was this group of three French boys that were driving me crazy. They kept running and sliding on the rocks which caused dust to rise in the air. Not cool. I got my token pin, grabbed a PowerAde, and got back on the air conditioned bus.

Time for Napoli pizza. I was set at a table of an Australian family, one of the two on our bus, and a fellow West Coaster from LA. The conversation was mainly about sports which I had little to add to. And my obsession is with British culture not Australian culture. I didn’t think they would appreciate my mention of Satisfaction (a show about escorts) or Project Runway Australia the only Australian shows I’ve watched. I added to the conversation when I could. The pizza, which was supposed to be the star of the show was okay, but not amazing. I loved the thick crust, but the toppings were bland and looked nothing like the Margherita I had ordered. The salad was really good though.

After pizza, we again climbed onto the bus after having to wait in the shade, ugh! It was a short drive to Pompeii where we met our local guide Louisa. We had the handy radio sets again as she led us through the ruined city. Pompeii is amazing! It’s amazing it survived. Mt. Vesuvius has erupted covering the city in ash and rock which helped preserve it. You can still see the drawings on the way. A forgotten city. Beautiful. I was surprised to see all the houses so close together. From the forum there are spectacular views of Mt. Vesuvius, and I can’t imagine watching it explode the ash into the air 12 miles high. It would have been frightening.

Leaving Pompeii, we headed back to Rome, stopping once again halfway through at the shop where we were treated to a wine tasting. Amazing wine. We then were treated to a series of restaurant recommendations from Manuel. He then went through the bus to mark on the map where things were if we wanted. He had recommended a vegetarian place which I had him mark and then a few gelato places I asked him to mark as well.

Getting back at 8:30 it was dinner time and I headed out for the vegetarian place which was close by. I ended up taking the long way around, but finally found it. The staff wasn’t super nice, but I had a vegan summer burger which was one of the best meals I’ve had in Rome. A family brought their dog in to eat with them. And not a eye seeing dog either. The waiters brought a water dish for the dog. It took a while to get my check, but I finally paid and was once again on my way. I had wanted to visit the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain and I knew they weren’t too far off. I made it to the Spanish Steps which were blocked off and tried figuring out how to get to the Trevi Fountain, but after having a bad run in with a guy on the street passing out roses I didn’t want and then wanting money for them I was ready to go home. I turned around, back down into the Metro and rode home.

I washed Vesuvius and Pompeii off of me before collapsing into bed. I was worn out.