VESUVIUS

One of the most memorable parts of the holiday was visiting Vesuvius, the seemingly quietly sleeping, yet still active volcano that dominates the Neapolitan landscape. It last erupted in 1944 and apparently killed 26 people but its most famous activity was on 24 August 0079 when its ash and pyroclastic flow completely smothered Pompeii and Herculaneum (and two other ill-remembered-by-history towns). As it happens, I visited on the very day, thousands of years later, when it was doing its worst and, apart from the distinct smell of sulphur, all seemed peaceful up there that it was hard to imagine a raging torrent of lava or vicious, fatal, clouds of ash. You certainly know you've climbed Vesuvius: the dirt track leading upwards is steep, demanding, ragged, it's like climbing the moon (or as I would imagine it). But absolutely worth every step: the views from, around, and inside the volcano are astonishing - the views of the Bay, of the islands, the different strata of rock, the plants that grow, the whole landscape - amazing!