Eric's Thoughts from Serranto (part two)

Well, I am having a wonderful time here, but I am a little worn out today. I know, I know I am usually the gung-ho guy, but we spent almost the entire day out in the heat yesterday hiking up Mt. Vesuvius (Europe's only active volcano) and around Pompeii. Both experiences were amazing, and I recommend them to anyone traveling to Italy, but if possible, I would try to do them in cooler weather.

The hike up Vesuvius was fairly steep with no shade, but the views from the top are incredible (we will post some additional pictures). It was a little hazy, so the views were not as clear as they could be, but it was still cool to get a bird's eye view of the area. The crater was also impressive. I think it is cool to be hiking another volcano so close to our second wedding anniversary. We hiked Fuji on our first date, we hiked Haleakala after we got married, and now we are hiking Vesuvius on our second anniversary. I guess we have a thing for volcanoes.

After Vesuvius, we hiked around Pompeii. I did this as a child, and I have fond memories of this experience. As an adult - as with most of the experiences I have relived on this trip - I enjoyed it even more. It is amazing to walk around in a town that is around 2000 years old that has been fairly well preserved. Granted that preservation was the result of tragic circumstances, but it is still an amazing place. While some of the areas were closed off, we were still allowed to walk around almost the entire town and go into some fairly intact structures. It is very interesting to see how much of the artwork on the walls survived the eruption. I think that I enjoyed this experience more than the ruins of Rome mostly because it was less crowded. I also liked the ever present views of Vesuvius as a constant reminder of what happened to the town.

Well, time to post some pictures. I hope all is well. Take care.