Stromboli Island Ferry and Hike

The chain of volcano islands we went to the 4 eastern ones and hiked Stromboli and Vulcano.

Naples where we caught the night ferry to Stromboli Island. It took about 9 hours for the ferry to go from Naples to Stromboli.

Waiting on the ferry for our cabin assignments.

On deck as we get ready to leave Naples dock.

My cabin.

My bathroom>

The next morning with Stromboli in the background.

There it is as we pull up to the island.

The narrow streets that we went up to get to our one bedroom house.

Our house for the day, kind of cute but small.

A church on the hill of Stromboli.

A map of the island. Eating lunch before we hike the volcano.

Dinner after we came down, a wonderful eggplant, cheese, and tomato pasta. The sign in the background says Don’t Smoking.

Some beautiful scenery and peaceful Mediterranean sea.

The light house in the background.

Volcanic beach.

On our way up the volcano at last.

Danny peeled a lemon that was very fragrant.

But very sour!

The city from part way up the hill.

Going up!

And up!!!

Our guide and geologist to teach us.

The lighthouse again.

A little rest.

Before we go UP some more!!!

Another little break.

From behind:)

It's getting hot!

This is the side the eruptions come down every 20-30 minutes. The gray is the ash flow.

It got pretty smokey after the eruption.

When we heard the rumble of the volcano I grabbed Carry and said,"look up!" Jeff told us if there was an eruption that we should look out for bolders and bombs from the crater coming out. It was very scary and funny, you just had to be there!

We hired Frank to guide us in a speed boat to the slide side of the island at night so we could see the fire bombs rolling down the mountain and steaming into the sea.

It got really windy and chilly.

The veiw before it got dark.

Pompei and Herculaneum

Pompei bakery with ovens and mill grinder.

One of the Pompei bodies.
The train station at Pompei and we are on our way!

Wow, is about all I can say! Jeff told us how the ash fell and the people got used to it and some didn't leave. A day later a big burst of hot ash shot out and killed everyone instantly.

It happened August 24^th 79AD and was found in 1592 by looters that came and dug tunnels into the city looking for gold and silver. This wood was charred by the ash but didn’t burn all the way.

The reason everything is so well intact was the fine ash that fell first protected everything.

Cool pottery!

Lanes for the chariots to go over. The ruts in the road were made by the wheels as they went over and over the same spot. They also cleaned the roads and these were used as stepping stones to cross the street so you kept your feet dry.

Some of the pottery they have found. Notice the round pole bottom on some of them? They put them on sticks to transport them without spilling what was inside.

This is one of the tunnels. The archaeologists dug out more of it but the whole thing isn’t dug out because of the city built on top of it.

Here’s the crew at the Pompei ruins. The courtyard.

They found lots of whole bodies and to get them out of the ground in one piece they poured plaster on them. You can see their teeth and facial expressions, it was amazing. This young boy was trying to breathe thru the ash.

The volcanic ash grew the land out a mile or two towards the ocean.Pompei was a port city but now is about 2 miles from the sea.

An ancient street side vender. They put pots on these holes and kept things cold or warm.

We thought we'd try and sell a few things.

Ancient beware of dog sign.

Chillin' by the columns for a minute

A beautiful spot to see the city.

More columns.

The tile and art work is amazing. This told of a war a man fought and won.

Stone streets.

The coliseum is more intact than the one in Rome.

The outside of the coliseum.

On our way back from Herculaneum.

Pisa

We took a side trip to Pisa and saw the tower. I got some gifts of Pinocchio because that is where the author wrote it. They had souvenir shops all over as you go to the tower.

The David and more of Florence

Walking along the shops in Florence.

A shopping booth selling coats.

More fountains in the city!

A picture after church and before we climbed the park hill to overlook the city. We talked to some women after Sacrament and told them our tour plans and they told us horror stories of Naples. We have to go there to catch the night ferry to Stromboli Island but we will be watchful of pickpockets.

The lady we took a tour of the city with, told us they put these holes and ledges on the outside of the buildings to help in the construction and they put a board between buildings to get around. It was too dangerous to go outside at night so they went across planks from building to building.

Here is the picture I wasn't supposed to take but I wanted my money's worth getting into the museum.