Vesuvius towers over what it destroyed

Vesuvius smoking
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Starting out our morning on the train heading towards Vesuvius.  We did not realise how close we were to it.  Naples is very gutsy to have planned their city where they did.  Somehow a trip to Pompeii would have made me think twice about moving there. lol lol.  We ran into Andrew at our hostel and he decided to join us on our trip which was great.  He has been studying at Oxford and is just on a break.

We got to Pompeii and found we had an hour before the bus up to Vesuvius.  So, we went into a restaurant and had some really good pizza.  I think we ate it in about 7 minutes because that was about all the time we had before out bus left to Mt. Vesuvius.

Mt. Vesuvius from the ruins of Pompeii
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It was a winding road and I still don't know how those buses make it.  We got off the bus just before the top and had a little hike.  They were giving these walking sticks and so I had one which really helped the whole ankle thing.  So, we made it to the top and what a sight to see. You could see the islands around Naples, most of Naples which is sprawling all over, and then the Volcano.  There were a couple places that were smoking and then the rest was just beautiful rock.  We soon headed down the hill to catch our bus.  Once we got there and waited we realised our bus was just pulling out and Andrew threw himself infront of the bus.  We climbed on and off we went.... but not very far.  There were other buses coming up the road.. so about 3 tour buses and ourselves had to back up the small road and try to park as these other buses came up and tried to magically fit somewhere.  So, then we start to head down again.. and again more buses and cars are coming up.  I really don't know where they are going to fit. So, we back up again.  The bus driver looks a little pissed. I would be.  It was a Gong show.  So, we head down again after 20 minutes of this craziness and again more buses and vehicles are coming at us, but this time our driver made them back down on this crazy curve.  Finally we made it and people started to clap on the bus.

Pompeii
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Pompeii, is just mind blowing.  I was having a moment before heading into Pompeii and I was very happy I decided to go in because it was more than I had expected.  Once we were in the ruins were so much intact and I was not expecting that.  We got into this room and it still had paintings on the walls.  2000 year old paint and it just clicked that people really lived here and it brought me to tears instantly.  It was just unreal.  So, we wandered threw the ruins of Pompeii and saw the basilica, different theatres, homes and the brothle.  The art work that was left intact was stunning.  I just don't know if Benjamin Moore paint could hold up to those standards.

Templio di Apollo (The Temple of Apollo)
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Our day had just barely started and we had to catch our next train at 745pm to Vienna that arrived at 830am.  We ended up splurging for a sleeper train and that was the best choice ever.  We climbed right into bed and hoped for a good nights sleep.  Since we have one more train to catch at 942 am out of Austria to Budapest, Hungary.