Ischia, Pompeii and Mt Vesuvis

---

Sunday 16th to Thursday 20th May 2010



We left Rome at 11am for the 1 hour fast train to Naples. From Naples we then had to catch a ferry to Ischia. The boat trip takes about 1½ hours. The whether in Naples was pretty bad and we had been warned that we should take some seasickness tables as the seas were pretty rough. The winds were blowing at 40 knots and the seas were very rough, people were vomiting everywhere, but us 5 Aussies never even got green.

Our reason for going to Ischia was to visit Jo’s and Cath’s dear friend Francesca, who has returned home for a year to help her family, in the family business. On the Monday Fran took us for a day trip around the island and showed us the sights. Tuesday we were left to our devises and we caught the bus to The Aragonese Castle, this castle is built on an inlet of rock. The castle was constructed in 474BC and was used as a fort during a battle between the Cumans and the Thyrrenians.

Wednesday, we caught the 6am ferry back to Naples and caught the bus to Pompeii, for those of you don’t know, Pompeii, was buried in pumice and ash when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. In 1748 excavation began and they found a whole city petrified in time. In some buildings paintings and sculptures have survived and there is even casts of people in the position that they were in when they died. We only had 2 hours to explore this amazing place, and to see it all properly you need to allow about 6 hours. In the afternoon we climbed Mt Vesuvius, you catch a bus 90% of the way up the mountain and then you have to walk the very steep ascent to the crater. The crater is not what I expected a volcano to look like. Mt Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, but still occasionally rumbles, and has even caused some minor earthquakes. From the top of the volcano there are some fantastic views of the Gulf of Naples.

---