Travel Series: Vesuvius + Pompeii, Naples, Italy
5:08 pm
We commenced our first itinerary of the day at a late start. The night prior to our long hike, us girls spent our "rest and recover" time chit chatting about the whole trip so far. The food the places we visited and what we were going to experience in the upcoming days of our summer holidays. We ended up over sleeping and waking up hours after our alarm clock went off.
To be fair, I heard the alarm clock but decided to create a mental snooze button and ignore it with the hope of Tomma coming into our room to wake us up and hurry us. But he didn't. All of us overslept. I woke up and rushed everyone out of bed. I'm not too sure whether we showered that morning or not but we rushed. Tomma drove us to the starting point of the Mount Vesuvius. The drive wasn't too long, but I managed to squeeze in a little sneaky nap.
Mount Vesuvius is one of Naples' most famous volcano. Mainly due to the huge eruption it caused in AD 79 which resulted in the destructions and burying's of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This volcano is said to be one of the most dangerous volcanos of the world.
The hike wasn't too bad. We could tolerate the burning summer heat, but what made things hard about the hike were the stones and ashes that covered the footpath leading towards the viewing point. The ashes made it hard to hike. We took our time, because.... no rush right?????
As we were hiking up, a lot of people were already making their way down. I guess it was because it was approaching lunch time and that the sun was going to be completely right above us. It took us slightly over an hour to reach the top. Estimated time was an hour but we took slightly more than that because we had spent a longer time at their pit stop where we managed to enjoy a quick bottle of cold Coke.
The view was breath taking when we reached the top of the Mount Vesuvius. It was very overwhelming to be that close to the crater of the volcano. I honestly thought that the crater would look like the ones you see in cartoons, but they actually look way different. So to witness one of Gods creations first hand, it really made me cherish every single moment I had there. Basked in the whole ambiance.
OK then it got a little too hot for us so we made our way back down and back to Tomma's house for lunch - his dad made us delicious pasta made from home grown ingredients! They made the most simpliest tomato based spaghetti taste so light and delicious! I just can't fathom how delicious it was right now.
As we were running on a tight schedule, we had about only 15 minutes to relax or freshen up before heading out again to meet with our private tour guide in Pompeii. I took a quick shower because I felt icky and gross from the hot hike up Mount Vesuvius. I knew that I was going to sweat again when were going to explore the ruins of Pompeii but I just could not function without a quick shower. It just had to be done.
The distance from the house to Pompeii isn't that far at all. It only took us 15 minutes to get there. As usual, once I got into the car, I crashed. I got in, sat down, closed my eyes. Because we were always up very early and sleep very late, every second counts. Time was really precious to us.Our tour guide was very informative and impromptu. She made everything sound as if she was reading out of a ancient Roman story book. She brought along with her a little "Before and After" book, where she showed us what certain sculptures and areas of Pompeii looked like before the eruption. Mostly of the houses built there were very very grand and were filled with beautiful mosaic tiles that were make by hand. Its amazing how man kind were already making and designing all these at those days. Just makes you ponder on how times have evolved and how much architecture has developed.
Pompeii is an ancient Roman city located in Naples. This ancient city is famous for being buried about 20 ft from the massive eruption from Mount Vesuvius (where we went for our morning hike) back in AD 79. The eruption destroyed every single inhabitant there as they were covered by tones of volcano ash. Lost for 169 years, the city was later discovered and excavated. Many objects have been preserved for more than a millennium due to the lack of air and moisture. Seeing the remnants of the Pompeii people was an eye opener because it made me appreciate the people around me and moments that stand the test of time.
Map of Pompeii
The stumps are not just platforms to allow affluent citizens to get around the city without dirtying their garments on the cobbled pavement. It is also segregating tool to impose status. Only the affluent people would be able to walk the pavements, commoners would need to walk in the polluted cobbled drains.
Picture of a person covered in volcano ash from the eruption
One of the many faces found on the fountains of Pompeii
A before and after photograph. Before: look at all the beautiful and colourful mosaics tiles.
After a long day of exploring the two major historical exhibits of Naples, we were invited by Tomma's friends to have supper with them in Salerno. Salerno is approximately a 45 minute drive - plus minus. Had dinner at Tomma's place in Salerno with his family - obviously we had pizza cause why not right. You're in Italy , I expect to be fed with three things, I expect to
be fed with lots of pizza, pasta and GELATO.
So we had
pizza for dinner, all sorts and it was goooooood. The met up with his friends
and had GELATO. Oh yes, and boy it was gooooooooooooooooooood. Instead of the
normal one, we had ours in a brioche bun. Something like our very own roti
ice-cream. The brioche bun was sweet and fluffy and the gelato was rich and
creamy. We ejoyed our dessert whilst sitting at a pier nearby the ocean with
the rest of the Italian kids. I swear, the place we hung out at was super chilled.Imagine
sitting at the Met Steps if you’re in New York, but imagine you’re seated on
the steps overlooking the sea at night with loud music. haha
Till next time Salerno <3
SJY
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