Day 36 - Saturday 8 June - Vesuvius

Saturday 8 June

Just before we left, I had the idea of getting to the top of Vesuvius.  It wasn't on the bucket-list, but why not.  So today was the day.

We got the train to Ercolano, and were just in time to grab bus tickets before its departure.  We had decided that, since David had big trouble with his knee yesterday, we wouldn't bother with the walking track, but just hang about the parking area near the top,  so I didn't buy entrance tickets at the bus office.  But when we reached that level, about 1010m above sea level, the driver said he wouldn't be back for us for 80mins, so David decided we should give it a go.  So he walked down the road to the highest ticket office, and bought some tickets there.  So we were 10min later than everyone else from bus 4 in our start to the top.

It was up, so I found it hard going, and needed frequent rest stops.  The track wasn't hard, so we plodded on, while others passed us.  By 45mins we'd reached about 1100m, and decided we'd probably better start back, but we did it quite quickly, and ended up with about 15mins to spare.  SO, if we'd started 10mins earlier when the bus arrived, and not allowed so long for the return, I think we would have made the crater lip (1140m).  But we didn't, but we did see the view over the city (which was more than we'd thought of 3 months ago), and we've seen inside smoking Mt Aso in Kyushu, so we are content with our achievement.

Back at Erculano, we were set upon by cafe people, so stopped for lunch, then walked down the main street to Herculaneum, which has been on the b-list since we saw Pompeii in 2000.  Pompeii was covered by 6m of ash and rubble, but Herculaneum copped an average of 16m.  The material was such that it preserved wood and other fibrous material, so the remains are much better than Pompeii's.

We walked around for some time, trying to keep in the shade, and being impressed with the quality of the decorations in some of the houses.  Only about 1/4 of the city has been unearthed, and it will be a treat for future generations to discover. 

We also saw an ancient boat uncovered on the ancient beach, and some of the jewellery found.

We decided not to go on towards Pompeii to see the Antiquarian Museum which houses some of the plaster casts made of the body shapes of victims, having seen some in Melbourne, so we staggered back up the hill to the station and went home.