Pompeii's last day
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 12:14 pm
I went to there and Herculaneum when I was 11. Definitely made a lasting impression; bodies posed like statues. Pyroclastic flow, not a good way to go:
[lvlshot]https://jauntingjen.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/pompeii-cast-of-human-remains.jpg[/lvlshot]
I also hiked up to the top of Vesuvius with an Aussie guy we met called Ted, who became a life-long family friend. Helluva sight, and rather daunting having seen Pompeii and Herculaneum just the day before. To be standing on the edge of that massive caldera knowing the devastation it had caused, even if it was 2,000 years ago, was pretty awe-inspiring.
My lingering memory of Ted is one of being on the metro train around the base of Vesuvius and him yelling to the driver in that most universal of languages, loud Australian, "Stop the train mate! I wanna take a picture!"
The driver stopped the train.
To this day, my mind boggles that Naples has gotten so big whilst being so close to this sleeping giant. It's not a case of "if" but "when" it will erupt and wipe out the city.
