Vesuvius, the Volcano
December 28th, 2001
Vesuvius… Yes, as in the actual Volcano
A hike up to the top to see a crater that once ravaged a civilization.
If I heard “I hear it was going to blow today” or “…or it’ll blow” once last time from any more creative tourists walking on the rim of the crater, I think I might just have to give out flyers to the best discount taxi service from Ercolano.
In Ercolano, the taxi guys tried to convince us that there was snow and ice at the top and the bus was not going to allow us to get to the top parking lot. Well, I know how these Italians are down south, they always insist and basically know the best sales talk possible. But, we didn’t listen and of coarse they were right and we were completely wrong. Our bus stopped at the ice (shown in the link), we had to walk all the way up to the top parking lot and then 30 minutes more on the side of the crater. Walking uphill while stripping layers, we watch ourselves and the accompanying ‘5-Star’d fur coated highhealed tourists’ (who obviously didn’t expect such an adventure) slipping all over the ice coated pavement. Then of coarse, Mario and Luigi, the taxi drivers who spent forever trying to get our business, passed us by while smiling and rubbing it in with a wave.
Welcome to my site and I hope you enjoy it. When I first travelled to Europe while I was in college I really had the time of my life seeing the many different types of cultures. The flavors of the food, the welcome of the people, the love shared across the world was so much greater than living in the United States ... 
