This morning we ventured to Vesuvio - the volcano responsible for all the devistation we've been learning about over the last two days. We took the train to Pompeii and had to determine which of the varius tour bus companies was going to scam us the least. Somewhat satisfied with the "deal" we got, we started the steep, windy drive up to the volcano. The bus took us up 1,000 meters, and from there we hiked the last 30 minutes to the edge of the crater.Neither of us has ever seen into a volcano (I assume if we had gone to Hawaii we might of had that opportunity) - but wow - its quite amazing. None of the pictures we took actually captured what we saw. The edge of the crater was huge and we could look down into it, where there were rocks many feet below. Some parts were even smoldering. It was interesting to see that even as desolate as it was - sort of what I'd invision the surface of the moon to be like - there were many plants growing. Unfortunately it was somewhat cloudy so we weren't able to see the great views that we're told exist from the crater (for example, on a clear day you should be able to see the Pompeii ruins). But the clouds did add to the spooky atmosphere.
We hiked back down the volcano to catch the bus back to the city. Here is where Mike found a walking stick and goofed around a bit (see the link to pictures below for more details). We took the train back to Sorrento for lunch, and then stopped by a local organic lemon and orange grove which is located in the middle of the city. Here, they have grafted some of the trees together so that oranges and lemons grow on the same tree. They also make their own lemoncello and other liquors from oranges, blueberries, licorice and other. We had some samples and bought a small bottle of the licorice liquor.We walked the short way back to the hotel where Mike took his first Italian afternoon nap (I've been napping on every single train-ride we've taken - as soon as the train starts moving I am out). We took a short walk up a nearby hill to watch the sunset and then had a late dinner. Its one of the few non-touristy places we found to eat, but the first to charge us for the bread they provided. 4 Euros! I am pretty sure they took advantage of the Americans - does anyone think we should have argued that charge? Of course, we can't really complain because Mike found a 10 Euro bill on the hiking path today...
Gelato Gusti per Giorno:
Mike - Frambole e Limone (raspberry and lemon)
Aviva - Took a day off.
Everything looks so awesome!! my favorite thing is looking at the flavors of the day. I enjoyed reading about your last few days because it's all the places and events I learned about in Latin class and actually found so interesting. Look forward to seeing your future posts. Stay well.
ReplyDeleteLove Lisa