Despite the fact that we were on vacation, the alarm clock rattled us awake at 6 a.m. on September 28th. We eagerly jumped out of bed to prepare for what would certainly be a fascinating day visiting the ruins of Pompeii and peering down into the crater of still-active Mt. Vesuvius. We had booked a guided tour for the day in order to get the most out of our time in that area of Italy. The bus trip from our hotel/apartment in Terracina took about 3 hours, which included a couple of restroom stops along the way. It's always fun chatting with other eager tourists, so those three hours flew by!
Our first stop was the ancient ruins of Pompeii, which is an official UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pompeii had been buried - not by lava, as many believe, but by volcanic ash and pumice stone in the year 79 AD by the world's most famous volcano, Mt. Vesuvius. ( If you're interested, much more information about Vesuvius can be found on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesuvius ). The ancient city had been completely buried, and no one even knew it was there until it was accidentally discovered during an excavation project in 1748. For more, interesting information, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii. Although we are not history scholars, we were nonetheless fascinated by images of a once modern, bustling Pompeii with horses, chariots, active business trading, entertainment at the amphitheater, and everything else that goes with a prosperous, modern society.
Our tour guide was excellent, and she filled our minds with interesting information and lively stories of life as it was in Pompeii during the 1st century. She helped us to understand how incredibly "modern" Pompeii and its society was by pointing out interesting details for us along the way. We really trusted everything she told us, because we learned that becoming an official tour guide in Italy is no easy task. First, one must study Italy and its culture, history, and language for a minimum of 3 years. Then one must pass a special state exam to become an official, registered Italian tour guide. If you don't pass the exam, you must continue studying and then wait 7 long years before taking the official tour-guide exam again! Boy..talk about strict!
As an example of one of her stories, you should first take a look at the picture of mine that shows a woman standing inside an area that looks like kitchen counters made of stone with holes cut into them. That woman was our guide, and she told us that researchers believe that this was a kind of ready-cooked take-out food market. The holes held big pots of food, which were kept warm from wood fires burning on the level below. According to scholars, many of the stone ruins you see actually had 1 or 2 stories on top of the stone - made of wood. Therefore, due to the risk of fire, it was forbidden to cook inside your own home. So, you either had to cook outdoors or buy ready-cooked food from one of these official take-away food markets.
After a thrilling tour around Pompeii, our tour group enjoyed a pleasant lunch in a huge restaurant that was among the cluster of booths selling cheap tourist souvenirs at the entrance to the ruins of Pompeii. We ate our lunch in the pleasant company of our tour guide and two other couples from our group. Directly after lunch it was time to return to the bus and drive to our next destination - Mt. Vesuvius.
On the way, our guide used the microphone in the bus to explain that Mt. Vesuvius has erupted several times before and after the "big one" that destroyed Pompeii, and that experts warn that it will erupt again within 10 years. She taught us that there are basically two kinds of volcanoes - open and closed. Open volcanoes are much less dangerous, because lava and gases can easily and continuously escape a bit at a time. However, a closed volcano, like Mt. Vesuvius, "heals" itself after each eruption with a thick layer of lava and rock that makes it impossible for fluid lava, gases, and pressure to escape. So, after some years, gases from deep under the earth's surface build up inside the volcano and creates enormous pressure, which end up as a massive explosion of lava, gases, fire, ash, and rock. Despite this looming danger of another explosive eruption, there are about 3 million citizens living in the Naples Bay area - all around Mt. Vesuvius!
The bus ride up the steep, winding road to the top of Mt. Vesuvius was a thrill in itself. The curves around the mountain were so tight and thick with forest that the bus driver tooted the bus's horn to warn possible oncoming traffic that our big bus needed a large "swing area" to maneuver the curve. Our tour guide explained to us that the highest part of the mountaintop consists of dusty ash and pebble-sized bits of hardened lava, which made it too unstable to lay paved roads. Therefore, the parking area was about 500 "vertical" yards from the summit. That meant that those who wanted to peer down into the crater, as well as get an awesome view overlooking the bay of Naples, had to walk approximately 1/2 mile up the very winding, steep, but well-maintained walkway.
Not knowing this, I had clothed myself that morning in shorts, a comfortable blouse, and "girly" sandals. My husband was clever enough to be concerned about whether my girly sandals would be suitable to walk up a mountain, so he asked our tour guide about it. She looked at my sandals and recommended that I change into hiking shoes, if I had taken a pair with me. I hadn't, so she was kind enough to suggested that we trade shoes for the time it would take me to walk up to the summit! She explained that she had walked up to the summit several times before, and that she really didn't need to escort us, because the rest of the way was self-guided with signs. So, I got to climb up to the summit in sturdy hiking shoes that were one size too big, while she relaxed in the coffee shop near the parking lot - with my one-size-too-small girly sandals on her feet!
During the 3-hour bus ride back to our apartment, our heads were spinning with the thrilling memories of a truly wonderful day. We highly recommend this guided tour to anyone who will be traveling to Italy!
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