Life as a Greenstreet.....: Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii

Our first big adventure here was hiking Mt. Vesuvius and exploring Pompeii. Mike had worked everyday since we got here (which is fine- it's his job after all). We'd been out to dinner in some awesome Italian places and been to a mall which was INSANE but we were all excited for Mike's first day off and our first full day of family fun! Andrew couldn't wait to go on a REAL volcano and Emma was so nervous about it it took her hours to fall asleep. Both of them had pictures in their minds of what they were going to see and I'm pretty sure it involved boiling popping lava and molten rock rivers which we would be hopping over. We told them 100's of times it would just look like a regular mountain but their mental pictures remained.

You drive most of the way up the mountain and drive through some very very steep, narrow roads in towns at the foot of Vesuvius. The traffic and driving here are insane and I'm very surprised we didn't lose at least one of the mirrors on our rental car on the way there. When we parked we had about 1/2-1 mile to walk up the mountain to get to the top. It wasn't terribly far- but it is a good steep incline the whole way up. I wasn't sure the kids could do it. I wasn't sure I could do it. Living at sea level really messes up your ability to walk up hills! And, for about 5 months now my exercise has consisted of walking on a flat treadmill....so it looked a little daunting. But, we did it. The kids each found a walking stick and bounced up the mountain. Mike carried Andrew on his shoulders about 1/2 the way up and I was impressed with all of us! It was a little foggy so you couldn't see the sights below perfectly but it was still magnificent! From the top we could see the island of Capri and many many towns around Naples! It was fabulous! We saw the crater at the top left from when Vesuvius blew its top and there was actually steam coming from a couple different places at the top of the volcano! I didn't expect to see steam! That made it feel like a volcano instead of a regular mountain. The walk back down was obviously easier but the whole experience was just wonderful. It was such a great experience and when we left the kids were asking when we would go back....it's crazy to think that's most likely a once in a lifetime experience for our little family- and that was it! Thank goodness for pictures!

We headed away from Vesuvius and off to Pompeii. We drove about 30 minutes and for some reason I was expecting Pompeii to be in a big open field or in the middle of nowhere, but it's not! It is in the middle of a busy city! It makes thinking about its discovery so much more amazing. People were just living, on and around these ruins for 100's of years without any idea they were there. Pompeii is also a HUGE area! I couldn't believe how much area it took up. We didn't even see 1/3 of it, but I was happy to see what we did see. The kids ate up every explorer moment of climbing and running and I felt like I walked around with my mouth open. There are a bunch of dogs who live at Pompeii they say are the guardians of Pompeii. They were all the sweetest dogs and one of them followed us around for quite a while. The kids loved it! My favorite things to see were the amphitheater, theater, the roads made of stone and just the city wall and entry into the city were magnificent. Just thinking about a city that must have been very busy and was ended in such a short time was humbling. I never thought in my whole life I would see these ruins. They were much more awe inspiring than I imagined they would be.

Andrew was much more interested in getting to the top of the volcano than stopping for pictures- this is actually my favorite picture from our whole trip!

It was a pretty good incline the whole way up- Emma had a sore tushie the next day!

Steam (or something that looked like steam!) coming out of the mountain!

Mike's eyes are closed- but I love the kids faces in this picture.

One satisfied little lady- Andrew wouldn't go near the rope. I think he has a little fear of heights- he was sure if he got near the rope he'd fall right off the mountain!

She LOVED the map at Pompeii. Please notice Andrew's silk in the background- always. Andrew is walking and very carefully avoiding the moss- or moose as he called it. For the first 60 minutes we were there he was terrified of the "moose." Eventually (thank goodness) he got over it.