Naples!

I'm back from my last day out and about Naples! Naples as a city in and of itself... nasty. It's crowded, dirty and there is chaos on every corner. I can barely stand the walk to the train station. But once I make it there, for the past three days, it has been off to really cool stuff. Pompeii on day 1, a hike up Vesuvius on day 2, and Herculaneum on day 3. Pompeii was interesting. It was hugeeeee. Really a preserved city. But things were much more ruinous than I expected. Herculaneum was much better preserved in general, but a lot smaller. I thought it was also a bit strange that there was almost no explanation of ANYTHING. Granted, I didn't buy an audio guide, but still! And the information they did have almost completely ignored the fact that there was a volcano even remotely involved with the city!

The Vesuvius day was a long one..... I started essentially at sea level in Ercolano (Herculaneun) and went by foot to the summit of Vesuvius. I was expecting it to be a path, and people told me the route was easy... but it was anything but! It was all along the side of the road, with buses zooming past for 4 hours, and getting started on the right path was really hard! Once I found the right way I had a good, very tiring time. Once at the top I caught a bus back down (something I was told I could do, but was worried they were wrong and I would have to walk!).

Sorry to cut this post short... can't hog the hostel computer! Don't know when I'll have a chance to post again because this is my last day at the hostel with internet, but I'll be sure to post you when I get done with everything! On to Florence!