Off to Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii today. We started by taking a bus up Vesuvius. It made a 20 minute stop at a small roadside café for a man to try and sell us his book on the mountain or food. We opted for food. The stop was supposed to be 20 minutes but was actually a lot longer. Finally we joined another bus and continued our climb to the mountain. We got out at the base and were told to walk to the top where a guide would meet us and show us around the mountain. When we hiked all the way to the top (no small task), we were told not to go any farther. The lightning was too bad and the guides were afraid for us. They let us go up to see into the crater but no further. Soon a monsoon came and buffeted the mountain. At a small break in the storm, we started down the mountain and back to the bus. At least we saw the crater. We have already climbed two volcanoes.

We got back to Pompeii and found the streets flooded. We decided to take off our shoes and walk in our socks to get back to the train and forget Pompeii for the day. We stopped under a small tent for a sandwich and then caught the train back to Sorrento.