Day 44 - Naples

Day 44 – Naples – Thursday 28/6/12

Weather – Fine and Sunny 25C - 30C

Sunrise – 5.34am

Sunset – 8.29pm

Time difference - minus 8 hours ex Sydney

We arrived in Naples on schedule, and were greeted by yet another warm, sunny day. The sun god continues to bless us. Today we have booked a Princess tour. This was one of the few ports that we had pencilled in what we wanted to do over 12 months ago.

It is probably not on everyones must do list, but hiking to the top of Mt Vesuvius sort of encapsulated our core thinking for doing this world cruise now whilst we are relatively young enough, and healthy enough to enjoy things to their max, rather than waiting till we were much older, and perhaps not as mobile. Also on the agenda today was a long anticipated visit to the ruins of Pompeii, a no-brainer that one.

Out of 1900 odd passengers on the ship, there were only about 40 people doing this tour, which was the only tour doing the hike up Mt Vesuvius. We left on time, and it was only about a 40 minute drive out of Naples Port before we were at our first stop in the town of Torre del Greco, a jewellery factory/store by the name of Giovanni Apa that specialises in the art of shaping jewellery pieces, particularly cameos and coral. We were the only folk there when we arrived, by the time we left there were 7 tour buses there from a variety of ships. Yep, we left with the bags a little heavier, and the wallet a little lighter:)

Then it was onto Mt Vesuvius which was only a 5 minute drive away to it's base. It was about now whilst looking all the way up to the top of this active volcano mountain that I had my first “what was I thinking” moment. I had a few of those 'moments' as the bus wound its way up an incredibly narrow road with hairpin bends that needed 3 point turns more than once.

I was grateful that it was what I thought was a one-way road, until Donna pointed out that it was in fact a two way road. I was astonished that it was even remotely possible that a vehicle could come down the other way, and even more astonished later on when I saw buses going both ways (including ours) and not colliding with each other!! The sheer drop away from the road did give the sphincter muscle a work out I can tell you!!

It was about a 30 minute drive up the mountain to parking area. After another “what was I thinking moment” it was on with the hike up to the summit on a slippery cinder track. It was steep and slippery, but certainly doable. I drew some inspiration from a guy with an artificial leg who passed me – if he could do it, so could I :) About a 25 – 30 minute hike and we reached the summit where there were incredible views of the volcano's crater and the Bay of Naples. There was a light smoke/steam coming from the crater, with a slight sulphur aroma.

Going back down the the hike track was much less strenuous, but much trickier, as the cinder track is very slippery, as Donna found out when she finished up on her bum whilst descending. The bus ride down was hairy to say the least, and I was relieved when we go back to the base.

It was only a short 10 minute drive to Pompeii where we were treated to a 2 hour guided tour of the ruins of what used to be a Roman resort city, but was buried by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD. The rediscovery of the city in the mid eighteenth century as a result of excavations, means visitors can now wander the streets of this ancient, doomed city. Particularly interesting sites were the temples, open air forum, the once bustling market place, and the recently restored bathhouse and red light district.

It was remarkable to see the preserved remains that provide a hint of the daily Roman life, their customs, buildings and cuisine. Another 150 photos taken today, which means about an hours worth of culling to get back to 20 or 30 :) SHB photos were taken at both Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii, could not resist either , so they are both 'in'.

A quite rest up back at the ship, as we have another full day tomorrow, this time Rome. At about 7pm we retraced our courses out of the port, and then steered a south westerly course until aside Ischia Island. We then turned west north westerly.

At around midnight we passed Isla Di Ponza on our starboard side. Tomorrow we will enter Civitavecchia, passing the breakwaters in time for a scheduled berth at 7am