20,800
Steps
Today
our plan is to do Pompeii and Vesuvius, not high on Joeys list of
things to do but she was a trooper and came along. Last time we were
in Naples we did not do this, and after being in the area a second
time, we thought it was time.
We
purchased tickets at a travel agent right outside the train station
that included the train to Pompeii, 2 hour guided tour of Pompeii,
transfer to Vesuvius, transfer back to Pompeii and the train back to
Sorrento.
The
travel agent said it would be good to catch the 8:15 train, that
should make the 9AM walking tour of Pompeii and if we miss that we
could catch the 9:30AM tour. Well that didn't work out at all.
Seems like the tours start when enough people show up saying they
want the tour, for us that was 10:15AM, could have used that extra
hour sleep.
Pompeii
is very very large. We did the 2 hour tour, then spent an hour on
our own to visit more, and still barely covered what has been
excavated.
Vesuvius
erupted in 79 AD and buried Pompeii in ashes and pumice up to 6
meters high. For a long time it was not known where Pompeii was, and
it wasn't until 1748 that it was rediscovered and excavation began.
Because it was buried for so long much of the site was preserved.
Lots of looting occurred, especially the marble, but there is still
much to see.
Pompeii
is very large, and 3 hours barely covered the highlights. It is 66
hectares in size, and all have not yet been excavated.
After
our 3 hours in Pompeii we caught the shuttle to Vesuvius. This takes
about 20 minutes, and is a very twisty road, impressive how vans,
busses and cars all figure it out! The shuttle takes you to the
entrance gate and then you must climb to get to the top of the
crater, it was a little over 30 minutes to climb to the beginning of
the crater. The climb was steep in parts, but lots of switchbacks,
and since we had a little over 1.5 hours before our ride back lots of
time. Lots of lava around, and some beautiful views over to Capri,
which we have now all been taught how to pronounce correctly. The
hike was 3.5 kms total with close to 200 meters elevation.
Once
you reach the top of the crater you can walk about half way around
for more views inside. It is an extremely cold walk today, hoods up
on our winter jackets. We wondered how the people felt that were in
shorts!
Back
down to the van pickup and find out our next stop which we did not
know about was for limoncillo tasting. Turns out it was the same
company that we did our cooking class with the other night. Fun
trying all the different limoncillo again. We did purchase some
lemon pasta and lemon sauce for supper for later tonight.
Back
to Pompeii to catch the train. Ran into a couple from Ontario that
had purchased the fast train or something, totally ripped off.
Convinced them the train we were on was just fine for 2.50 per person
and they could save an hour by coming on the same train as us instead
of waiting for the expensive train. We were all in the same car and
turns out a man with an accordion decides to stand right beside them
and start playing. Then of course starts looking for money. Poor
couple, paid for the train twice and then gets stuck with this guy.
Back
home for supper, pasta and lemon sauce were yummy. Looking forward
to fun adventures again tomorrow.
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| 75% excavated |
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| Where the gladiator practiced and lived |
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| View of Pompeii from the top of the theater |
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| The theater seated 5.000 |
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| Who build the theater, a bit of self promoting |
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| The Odeon, seating 100 for music mostly |
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| An example of the roads with large volcanic stones, rocks for crosswalks to not get your feet dirty. You could see the wagon wheel tacks in the lava rocks |
A visit to a large mansion
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We appreciate any comments/questions you would have or any stories about the places we visited.