Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Have you ever looked down inside a volcano? Well, now I can say I have! This is exactly what I did on Thursday. (You can tell I am running a few days behind in my reporting!)
After a wonderful time in Padua and Venice, I took a short flight to Naples on Wednesday evening. Thursday morning, I joined a small tour group to visit the city of Pompeii and the nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius.
The city of Pompeii was wiped out in a terrible tragedy in the year 79 AD. One afternoon, Mount Vesuvius erupted pouring down lava and ash onto the city. Within a few hours, this poor city was destroyed. It was totally covered in lava and ash, which quickly hardened into rock. For 1,700 years, Pompeii was buried deep inside this rock. In the 1700's and 1800's, a team of very skilled scientists began digging in search of the lost city. Today, much of Pompeii has been uncovered. You can visit the ruins of this city, which is exactly what I did.
You can see that the roofs of these buildings are mostly missing. But many of the walls were well-preserved inside the volcanic rock.
After a wonderful time in Padua and Venice, I took a short flight to Naples on Wednesday evening. Thursday morning, I joined a small tour group to visit the city of Pompeii and the nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius.
The city of Pompeii was wiped out in a terrible tragedy in the year 79 AD. One afternoon, Mount Vesuvius erupted pouring down lava and ash onto the city. Within a few hours, this poor city was destroyed. It was totally covered in lava and ash, which quickly hardened into rock. For 1,700 years, Pompeii was buried deep inside this rock. In the 1700's and 1800's, a team of very skilled scientists began digging in search of the lost city. Today, much of Pompeii has been uncovered. You can visit the ruins of this city, which is exactly what I did.
You can see that the roofs of these buildings are mostly missing. But many of the walls were well-preserved inside the volcanic rock.
After visiting Pompeii, our tour group went to a restaurant to enjoy a delicious Italian lunch. This was my first day in southern Italy. The food is a little different than in other parts of Italy and it is more like the kinds of food my family prepares. (My family came from southern Italy.) But more important than the food were the people. When you travel in Europe, you are likely to meet people from all over the world. Since our tour was in English, there were people from many English-speaking countries including England, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. I got to know some of them at lunch. In the United States, we call it a vacation when you travel. Everyone else calls it a "holiday." Meeting people from other countries is a great way to learn about the world and a good reminder that there are good people from every country.
After lunch, our little bus climbed high up Mt. Vesuvius. We stopped one kilometer from the top. (Remember, Italy uses the metric system, which includes kilometers!) At least, our tour guide told us it was one kilometer.
We had to hike the rest of the way. And it was a steep hike! I had to stop and rest a few times. I really think the hike was longer than one kilometer. Maybe it just felt that way because it was so steep. Or maybe it really was longer. Italians are not always exact about times or measurements the way Americans are. They have a way of trying to make difficult or unpleasant things sound a little nicer than they really are. It's not that they are trying to be dishonest. They just want you to be happy. So one kilometer might actually be more like one-and-a-half or two. Those numbers are close to one, right?
When I reached the top, I could see all the way down into the volcano's crater. Mt. Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, so you do not see lava. And since its last eruption was so long ago, you see many green plants growing inside. Yes, I looked down into a volcano! I could also see steam coming from one of the vents in Vesuvius. This tells you that this is still an active volcano that will erupt again someday.
We had to hike the rest of the way. And it was a steep hike! I had to stop and rest a few times. I really think the hike was longer than one kilometer. Maybe it just felt that way because it was so steep. Or maybe it really was longer. Italians are not always exact about times or measurements the way Americans are. They have a way of trying to make difficult or unpleasant things sound a little nicer than they really are. It's not that they are trying to be dishonest. They just want you to be happy. So one kilometer might actually be more like one-and-a-half or two. Those numbers are close to one, right?
When I reached the top, I could see all the way down into the volcano's crater. Mt. Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, so you do not see lava. And since its last eruption was so long ago, you see many green plants growing inside. Yes, I looked down into a volcano! I could also see steam coming from one of the vents in Vesuvius. This tells you that this is still an active volcano that will erupt again someday.
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The walk down was quicker and easier than the walk up. But it was also a bit more dangerous. In third grade, we learn about different kinds of rock. Volcanic rock is a kind of igneous rock formed from lava. Of course there is a lot of it on Mt. Vesuvius. The kind of volcanic rock found there is a very soft rock, which means it crumbles easily under your shoes and it is easy to slip and fall as you climb down the steep slopes. The students from England ran all the way down, which looked fun but quite dangerous. I was a little slower in my descent.
I first leaned about Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius when I was in third grade. I still remember my teacher telling us all about this place and reading a story about it in our reading book. It took a long time, but on Thursday, I finally saw these incredible places myself!
I first leaned about Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius when I was in third grade. I still remember my teacher telling us all about this place and reading a story about it in our reading book. It took a long time, but on Thursday, I finally saw these incredible places myself!