Today started early as I had a full day ahead of me.   Jaimie and I both took trains from our respective cities and met in the middle at Pompeii.

Although the forecast was for rain is was sunny all day which was great because we had alot of outdoor exploring ahead of us.

First, instead of heading into Pompeii, we took a bus up winding roads up Mount Vesuvius.   When we reached the mountain top I was glad I hadn’t worn shorts today as it was COLD!   Go figure – being up among the clouds is cold – who woulda known?

We paid our 10 euros to hike up the trail for about an hour til we reached the top and caught a glimpse of the crater before the clouds kind of took over and blocked our view of it.   At the peak there was a shop selling souvenirs and – wait for it – wine!

Of course I had to buy a bottle and we popped it open on a picnic table drinking with plastic cups.   Hey, seriously, how many times in my life am I going to be able to drink wine on the edge of an active volcano?   May as well take advantage of it.

After hiking back down and then a bus ride back down to the city of Pompeii we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the ruins of the ancient city.   It’s actually quite remarkable how much has been uncovered from the destruction of the 87AD Volcano.   I probably took the most photos I’ve taken in one day at the ruins – there was just so much to see.

As early evening approached Jaimie and I went our separate ways but will meet again tomorrow as I’m heading down to Sorrento and we’ll be visiting the island of Capri together.

Heading back into Naples I got on the tram #1 to go back to my hostel.   This tram is well known for pick pockets and sure enough as I was getting on I lay witness to a man frantically grasping his pockets as he had just been pick pocketed as I was getting on.   It was quite a site to see and I will say I’ve become so uber-paranoid anytime I’m in crowds especially when I’m my most vulnerable when I have my big pack on.   So far so good though.

For dinner I headed to another restaurant that had been recommenced to me – Gino Sorbillo.   Sure enough as I approached the restaurant at 7pm there was a lineup waiting to get in as they opened their doors for dinner service.

The restaurant immediately filled and I was quite impressed with how they handled the huge onslaught of customers.   The orders were taken quickly and then, like clockwork, pizza after pizza came out of the kitchen.   After only 10 minutes I had a pizza in front of me and within half an hour of getting there I was out the door.

The evening was a night to myself as I tried to figure out the next couple of weeks as I’m pretty sure I’m doing a huge detour on my originally planned trip which will take me to the south of France, Bordeaux (maybe), Switzerland and Lichtenstein.   It’s not 100% yet but it’s looking like that’s how it’s going to go which is kind of cool because those were all things I hadn’t planned on originally.

By 10:30 I was wiped out and went to sleep as tomorrow is yet another big day.

Euro Trip 2013, Mt Vesuvius, Pompeii, Italy, Trip Journal
Europe 2013
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