Mt. Vesuvius

"So there I was rappelling down Mount Vesuvius when suddenly I slip, and I start to fall. Just falling, ahh ahh, I'll never forget the terror. When suddenly I realise "Holy shit, Hansel, haven't you been smoking Peyote for six straight days, and could't some of this maybe be in your head?" And it was. I was totally fine. I've never even been to Mount Vesuvius" - Hansel (Zoolander 2001)

Well we have now :)

After seeing the damage caused by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, I really wanted to see the volcano (currently considered the most dangerous in the world!). Our bus left from the train station just up the road from where we were staying, although we were a bit apprehensive when our 50 seater bus had just four people on it.

I started to think that either i) the bus company charge way too much for their service ii) the Volcano isn't actually very impressive so no one wants to see it or iii) all of the above. In the end I think it was just a bit too early because once we got there, heaps of other people started arriving. The bus ride was interesting too. It took a while to actually get to the top of the mountain road because it was so windy. And all the corners were blind so the bus driver kept having to toot his horn. We don't tend to do it in Australia but seriously, around every corner he would Toot. ToOT. TOOT. Turns out they do it all over Europe. I've even started doing it now haha.

Anyway, we reached the start of the walking trail and right away the views were amazing. You could see all of Naples, Pompeii and surrounding areas and the ocean too. Stunning. The further we climbed the windier and dustier it got and the more difficult the walk became. Remember those nordic walking poles I made fun of in the Berchtesgaden blog? Well I have to say that I did end up using one and it actually helped a lot. Mine was cooler though because it was hand crafted by an old dude ;)

All up the walk took about an hour or so although I did stop and take a lot of photos which probably slowed us down a bit. Like I said before, the views were awesome and the crater itself was also very impressive (about 230 metres deep and has a diameter of about 650 metres). 

Me and my walking stick

Inside the crater

Alice's hair got a bit out of control once the wind picked up!

Another shot of the crater

Windy!

Windy!!

At the top :)

Her shoes have never been the same...

View from the bus on our way home

After we got back to the train station, we decided to stop into one of the many pizza restaurants that try and hassle you into buy something. "Bonjorno". Come in and try a de pizza". "It is delizzious". Well it turns out that they weren't lying. They were delicious and very cheap too! A nice way to finish the day.