Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius

Needless to say I was able to pack as much sightseeing into my three day weekend as possible.  On Sunday I woke up around 6am to take a tour of Pompeii and climb the only active volcano in Europe, Mt. Vesuvius.  The bus left around 7:30, and on the way our tour guides kept us entertained with facts about Italy and the towns we were passing through.  We arrived first in Pompeii and took a tour of the 2000 year old city.  It was remarkable to see mosaic floors, piping systems, crosswalks, and buildings still in tact.  When Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. it affected many towns in the area, but in the case of Pompeii it preserved the city.  At one point during the tour we were able to see two bodies preserved by volcanic ash, with expressions of fear still seen on their faces.

a panorama view of the gladiator school and the music theater

view from the square of vesuvius

outside the city

one of the bodies covered in volcanic ash

After we ate lunch at the Tiberius restruant we took the bus part of the way to the top of Mt. Vesuvius.  The rest of the way we were told to walk, which wasn't bad at all because it was only about a mile (but a mile of complete incline, haha).  The more we walked the better the view.  You could see the entire bay of Naples and the crater of Vesuvius.  Orginally Vesuvius was much taller, but the eruption in 79 A.D. was so drastic it literally blew the top off.

panorama of the bay from the top of the mountain

panorama of the crater