Vesuvius and Pompeii

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[youtube=wpJF9Ft1sbI][youtube=HcJ-PRDSvsM][youtube=hSCAkd35rbU]

So, after spending a day in the playground of the rich and famous - Capri, we had a day today seeing the sights in Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius.

Pompeii itself is pretty shabby. The property has no value, and can’t be sold, because of the volcano, and as an outer suburb of Naples these days, it’s pretty rough.

We jumped straight on the bus to go up the volcano from the train station. What a ride. Typical narrow Italian roads barely big enough for one way, yet designated as two way.

Our bus driver spotted a mate driving a bus from the same company halfway up the mountain - so they played chicken with us on board, then pulled up and had a laugh about it and a chat for about 5 minutes - all whilst a queue of vehicles built up each way behind them, honking horns etc….. Unreal!

The volcano was cool. Well, kinda hot actually. It was smoking just a bit around the rim - which made it that bit more exciting. Not sure if the photo’s and video do it justice, but the crater is HUGE. Trying to imagine a column of molten rock blasting kilometers into the air that size defies the imagination.

The bus ride down was slightly less hairy. We avoided getting ripped off for a sit down lunch (just), and then went into the excavated ruins of old Pompeii.

What an amazing place! There are buildings, frescoes and details there still almos in their original condition. Most of the moveable stuff has been taken away to the Naples museum, with some of it replaced by replica’s, but even so, we spent 3 hours wandering around the city, and still only covered maybe 30% of it.

Just remember when looking at the photos, that this stuff was built or made 2000 years ago, and has not been ‘restored’ or ‘touched up’ - it’s just survived in this condition for that long.

Got back to Sorrento late arvo and had a wander ‘round the rest of the town, but couldn’t resist going back to Da Emilia in the end. Weren’t disappointed either - if anything, the meal was even better than last time - and half the price of last nights dinner. Yay!

Off to Positano for a day on the beach tomorrow.

Ciao for now!

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Photos

Vesuvius 1
On the wy to the volcano

In the crater
Still smoking in parts!

Us on the edge
of the crater.....

Smokin
In the crater

Poor Bugger
One of the plasster casts of a victim in Pompeii

Statuettes
Cool little statues around the walls of the public baths in Pompeii

Theatre
Main theatre in Pompeii

Art?
Yes - it's what it looks like - they were pretty dirty back then by the looks of it!

Comments

[Eu Sei]

Nasty
What nasty title for the picture that shows someone who died of asphyxiation in one of the worse catastrophes in History. I can't believe someone would actually call this poor creature "bugger."

[ThePalmers]

Whatever
It's a plaster cast you troll, and obviously the Australian vernacular doesn't translate wherever you're from.

[ThePalmers]

Whatever
It's a plaster cast you troll, and obviously the Australian vernacular doesn't translate wherever you're from.