Mount Vesuvius

This morning we took the train along to Ercolano Savi which is the station for Herculaneum. First of all we got the bus up to the top of Mount Vesuvius, then we had to walk the final bit. It last erupted in 1944 and you could see the trails of lava flow down the mountain side. At the top it was bitterly cold but very spectacular. The crater is enormous and you could see the clouds of steam coming out in places.

 

 

From the top there were fantastic views over Naples Bay and the islands of Capri and Ischia.

Having wandered around the crater we then got the bus back down and went to explore the ruined town of Herculaneum.

Herculaneum was also buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD but a lot of it is much better preserved, even wooden things.

 

 

This mosaic is from before 79AD, hard to believe it's in such a good state.

 

These jugs had wine in and were in a tavern, still on the original wooden shelves.

 

That's enough culture for one week! The sun is supposed to be shining tomorrow so we're off to explore the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento around to Naples.

 

Up Pompeii!

We had a good drive from Bari to Salerno through wall to wall olive trees! Never seen so many olives.  We arrived in Salerno in the pouring rain and couldn't find the hotel, although we knew it was on the sea front. I went to ask some policeman for directions, and was pretty impressed to get us a police escort to the hotel foyer!! Haven't lost my knack yet then!!

Next morning we left in a hail storm and set off for Pompeii. Back in the campervan, we checked into a site in an orange grove right at the entrance to the Pompeii excavations. I had to find my coat today, it's the first time I've needed it since the spring! We went for a walk in search of a supermarket and couldn't believe what a dump Pompeii town was. Then we went for another walk in the other direction and found that actually Pompeii is a really nice town. So pleased we went for the second walk or we'd never have known.

Today we've been into the ruined city. Dave thinks it'll be nice when it's finished! It's much bigger than we expected, it really is a whole town and you can see houses, the forum, theatres etc.

 

Even for the uneducated like ourselves, it's an amazing place with lots to see.

 

 

                               No sign of Frankie Howerd anywhere........" Ooo no, titter ye not !"

 

That's Mount Vesuvius in the background, fortunately not erupting! Tomorrow we're planning to visit Herculaneum and take a trip up to the volcano.

Thanks for all your comments, keep them coming. x

 

Goodbye to Kefalonia!

This week the temperature has dropped slightly, down to about 21-22 deg C. It's still tee shirt weather most of the time and the sea is still warm but it's cold getting out. Then the rains came..... and wow! does it rain, so we've decided to move on.
At the moment, (Thursday evening) we're on the ferry to Bari in Italy. We'll arrive in the morning and then head west towards Salerno. From here we'll see the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii or Herculaneum, maybe Vesuvius and Naples. Then on for a look around Rome and The Vatican.
We've treated ourselves to a hotel and are looking forward to some home comforts after a long stretch in the campervan.
I'm looking forward to the next few days as I've always wanted to visit these places. Watch this space.....

The pine marten

We had a fantastic early morning swim in ' Dave's swimming pool '.  It's a place in Pessada near the harbour which is really deep and a great spot for diving in off of the rocks.

 In the evening we had a lovely greek meal in ΕΛΑΙΩΝΑΣ tavern. We had a 'saganaki' starter, which is fried halloumi cheese, served with a wedge of lemon, followed by 'beef stifado', a beef and red wine casserole. Lovely!

I'm trying to read a few words in greek with Dave's help. Not that I know what they mean, but atleast if I can read them it helps a bit. So many of the characters are completely different. It's a fun challenge for me. This is how Kefalonia is written in greek :  Κεϕαλονιά. (Love Microsoft Word!)

Dave thinks he has a pine marten living on his boat! So I did some research on the internet and found out that they mark their territory by poohing  in the same place in a big heap, and that they sharpen their teeth by gnawing away at hard plastic items. This would explain a big pile of poo in the boat cabin, and the teeth marks on the plastic vent covers! Shortly after it had gone dark I went outside and saw a dark creature the size of a cat with a very bushy tail scale a 2 storey vertical wall onto a tiled roof, and then in the light of our torch, it came right back down the same wall and run close to us, before disappearing into the trunk of an old olive tree on Dave's land! Seems his suspicions were correct. If anyone knows how to get rid of pine martens, please let us know!


 

Myrtos Beach, Assos and Fiskardo

The weather has finally collapsed, but only for a few days luckily. Thunderstorms at night and a mixture of sun, clouds and rain during the day. We drove up to the north of the island and visited Fiskardo. Usually buzzing with yachty types, but very sleepy out of season. Had a good walk around the headland to some ruined lighthouses and an old church. Then found a drop dead gorgeous beach called Emblisi Beach. It was so beautiful we decided to camp there overnight.

The next morning we had a lovely walk/climb around the rocks to the left of the bay. Found some megaliths (? , don't think that's the right word!!), but they looked impressive so we added our bit to them.

 

We watched a greek guy snorkelling from the beach and he came back with 4 pina, that's what he called them in greek, I've never seen them before. They were like mussels but pinkish brown and the size of table tennis bats. He was going to eat them raw with vinaigrette.

Dave paid a visit to 'Jan's open air barber shop' . He bought some clippers and today was the day!! Luckily he never thought to buy a mirror! Well, at least it's shorter!

We left to go to Assos where we stopped for lunch, and then on to Myrtos Beach where we camped overnight and watched a thunderstorm out at sea. Assos

Myrtos Beach

 

Next day we visited Lixouri. Very remote, not a lot there but as always we found a lovely spot for lunch. Petani Beach on the north coast.

 

 

Ferry wasn't running so we drove the long way round back to Pessada and stayed there. We're going to go to Ithaca later on when the weather picks up again.

 

 

 

Off exploring tomorrow.

Well, it's November now but the days are still warm and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky. We changed our clocks the same time as you so we're still 2 hours ahead but it is dark by 6.30pm so the days are shorter.

We've done more of the same this week... a bit of pottering about, meeting up with some of Dave's friends, then down to the beach. Yesterday we visited St. George's Castle which dominates this part of the island. It's in ruins but offers some great views of the coastline and across to Zakynthos. The day before I cycled to it to check the opening times. Not far but incredibly steep so a good work out.

 

Tomorrow we're going to leave the dolls house apartment in Spartia in the south on the coast (nr. Mt. Ainos), and go exploring around the island for about a week. We'll head up the west coast to Fiskardo in the north of the island and across to the next island called Ithaca. (Ithaki).

 

 

Looking forward to seeing the north of the island. It's very traditional as it wasn't damaged by the big earthquake in 1953. Neither of us has been to Ithaca before.

I've started Skyping some lessons now, though in French. Haven't started in English yet but hope to soon. So far so good.