Naples and Vesuvius

 As a child, I had a strange and unfounded obsession with volcanoes and earthquakes.  Living in South Africa, bang on the middle of a very stable techtonic plate (damn), never quite gave me the oppertunity to witness, experience or write about these awesome events of nature. Vesuvuis, at 10 years old, I knew the exact date of Pompeii's demise, how many feet of pyroclastic flow buried Ercolano, and exactly how the plaster casts were made of her victims, so when the oppertunity came up to climb the volcano of all volcanoes, I can honestly say, I've never made an easier decision about a travel destination in all my life.