Today, I hiked Mount Vesuvius! I went with the Semester at Sea tour, so it was really easy to just jump on the bus outside the ship in the morning and go! It was a great trip all in all. Vesuvius was really eerie because the clouds had not burned off yet when we got there, so there was all of this mist that was swirling around the opening of the volcano because of the wind currents. It was really awesome to watch. The hike wasn’t too bad at all because the “base” – where you get a ticket to go up – is already up a good portion of the mountain. (It was nothing like the hiking I had done in Cinque Terre!). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see too much of the city because of the cloud cover, but I got some really cool pictures from above the clouds! It's also cool that it is still an active volcano and is about 30 years overdue for an eruption!
Afterward, we were bussed back to the ship and then I went out to lunch at what is arguably the Best Pizzeria in the world! It was fantastic! When we got there, there was a crowd of people outside of the door waiting to get in – a sure sign that the restaurant serves good food. We waited about 45 minutes to get inside. There were only two selections on the menu – margarita pizza or marinara pizza. I got the marinara – which was tomato sauce, oregano, garlic, and olive oil. The pizzas were huge and came to the table directly from the wood-fired oven – piping hot! So, so good. In my book, Naples has redeemed itself through it’s pizza. : )
After a quick grocery-store run, I went back to the ship to check in before departure. The crew had set up a (one day late) Fourth of July celebration picnic on the sixth and seventh decks. They served burgers, corn on the cob, barbeque ribs, mac and cheese, coleslaw and other picnic foods. It was really nice, but super crowded because everyone on the ship (800 plus) was basically trying to eat at the same time!
Shut the front door. You hiked Mt Vesuvius??!
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