Whew!! - we made it up and back to/from the crater of Vesuvius without incident. We took the public bus from just near the hotel up to the entrance to the national park, then you walk for about 3000metres to reach the rim of the crater and the track leads around the rim for about half the circumference.
The ride up in the bus is worth the fare of euro10 return. Blind curve after blind curve with the bus sounding its horn almost continuously as it needed all the road to get around. Sitting near the front was quite exciting as the front of the bus seemed to extend beyond the edge of the road with just air between us and a straight drop - over 1000mtrs down!
Steep climb up the track to reach the summit/rim - luckily the Greek ride gave us good
"mountain legs" (and lungs) so we had no problem, but there were a lot of people having "breathers" along the way. Brilliant views of the cities spread out in the plains way below, including the old city of Pompei clearly identifiable. Made us wonder what they pay for earthquake insurance around here as when the next eruption hits (as it will one day) there is going to be incredible damage.
Again, it is hard to describe the size of the crater - and this is small compared with the gap caused by the 79A.D. eruption. The diameter is about 500metres and it is about 240 meters deep - almost sheer cliffs to the bottom (with eroded material making the cone shape). There is steam rising from some parts but no sulphur smell - obviously a fair amount of heat involved though.
Another "discovery" when we returned - had some lovely panini for lunch and at the end the cafe owner shouted us (as they often seem to do here) a "limoncello" - a liquer based on the local lemons which grow on the mountains all around this area - they are a sweeter type of lemon and edible in raw form. Boy is this stuff good (30% alcohol by volume) so we bought a bottle to enjoy over the remainded of the trip. Will need to check if Dan Murphys will stock it!!! Too close to the weight limit to bring any home unfortunately.
Most challenging part of the day was purchasing two postage stamps at the local post office. First the second air-lock door refused to open - stuck between two doors!! Worked out you have to almost push on the door for it to open. Again take a number for service, but there are 5 service options (all in Italian of course) so you don't quite know if you've picked the right counter. (no, my schoolboy Italian is not THAT good) ; number appears, go to the counter and ask for two stamps pe favore, get blank look; ask again, get totally confused look; take out post cards, point to corner; get smile of recognition, "un momento pe favore" and disappears out the back! sounds of conversation, see her go with key to a drawer and eventually comes back with two stamps - worth euro1.70! Trouble is, when we got back to the hotel we realised that we really need another one!
Another adventure - noticed Giovanni the hairdresser just around the corner, so decided to "pop in" for a haircut on the way back to the hotel. lesson - you don't just "pop in" to Italian barbers. Got the full treatment - shampoo, dry, shave - the whole lot (for euro15!!) - and unquestionably the best haircut I have ever had.
Last dinner in Pompei was whole sea bass -beautiful. On a sad note, while we were having our dinner across from the town square, a huge funeral came past with two coffins. Waiter told us it was a young policeman and his wife killed in a road accident near Rome, leaving a 6 year old and three year old - tragedy.
Trivia: Vesuvius last erupted in 1944 with a six-mile long lava flow still clearly visible and the funicular railway to the summit was also destroyed.The summit is 1281 metres above sea level. Its other major eruption besides 79A.D. occurred in 1631
Pictures:
* me and Giovanni - the full treatment!
*the crater at Vesuvius
*part of the 1944 lava flow
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