WWOOFing Europe: Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii

We were lucky our last farm had great public transportation and was close to tourist sites. We were able to take a bus into Sorrento where we caught a local train to Pompeii. There we got on a city bus that took us most of the way up Mount Vesuvius. It was just a short (although very steep) walk to the top of the volcano where we went 1/3^rd of the way around the crater. The volcano has erupted over 50 times in all time history. The most famous was in 79 AD and the most recent in 1944. From the top we had great views over looking the city of Naples and the Mediterranean Sea. We were hoping to see smoke coming out the crater (we heard some days its smoking) but unfortunately that day it was not. We hung out around the crater for a while observing everything and looking for cool rocks to keep.

The crater was too large to get the whole thing in a photo

After our walk and bus ride back down Mount Vesuvius we went to the city Pompeii. We tried to sneak in the exit but were caught by a guard who then sold us discounted tickets and let us in the exit anyhow (pocketing the money, I’m sure). All of this was accomplished him speaking Italian and us English. Once inside we were surprised how large it was! They gave us a map and a booklet showing and explaining what everything was. We had to seek out the things we wanted to see specifically or else we could have spent a lot of time there. We went to all three of the auditoriums small, medium and large. The bath house and we saw where they spun wool. A big one on our list was to see the people that were buried in ash. We overheard a tour guide saying that they are just casts of the people. The ash hardened and over time the people decomposed, then at a later date Scientists took out the bones and filled the cavity with plaster. Walking around the city was cool seeing how well preserved things are. The casts of people covering their faces and mouths while they suffocated was very emotional. The day altogether was a humbling experience.