Sep 1 SAT – Mount Vesuvius [… in progress …]

[…in progress…]

Today is Saturday, September 1, .

We took our time for breakfast on Saturday, September 1, 2012, and we left the B&B at around 10:39. Around 11:24 we spent €0.99 on 6 nectarines in a shop in the neighboring town. We spent about an hour in the traffic trying to leave Sorrento.

In one incident, in a heavy traffic I yielded to let the car on opposite side of the road to make a U-turn and the car started turning, but motorcycle did not see the maneuver, and their paths collided. It did not looked too bad, but apparently the leg of passenger on a bike got really hurt, and she started to cry quietly and hopelessly. This was a really scary moment.

On the highway we took an exit to Torre del Greco (12:13) and started a mild climb up. At 12:35 we eat lunch under Vesuvius (Gianni al Vesuvio – Via Vesuvio 10, Ercolano – 13:30 – €11.90).

Around 14:00 we started climbing 800 meters trail to the crater of Mount Vesuvius. The whole trip took us 2 hours. Parking is €2.50. Entrance is €8 x 2 = €16. Optional guide booklet is €1. Vesuvius crater is very real and amazingly large. Groups are entering from another entrance and from another road on the other side of the mountain. There are small patches of steam escaping from 2 separate side areas of the crater. You can complete a semi-circle around the crater, but there is no way to make a complete circle.

We had a semi-dinner at Auto Grill service station at 17:23. For €12.70 we had so much food and 2 huge watermelon chunks that I still was not quite hungry by 21:00. And

We drove for 2 hours straight and paid €13 toll (Roma Sud -19:57), and soon reached the Ostia Antica. Here we made a wrong turn (thanks to a GPS), and we had to drive in a wrong direction for several miles with no way to make a U-turn. And the gas was really, really low by now. And we saw a huge pileup with obvious fatalities on the road. And it was a significant traffic jam because of that. And when all hope has vanished, we spotted a large HOTEL sign and made a welcoming turn to a parking lot and rejoice.

We found a neat Ostia Antica Park Hotel (Viale dei Romagnoli, 1041 Ostia Antica) and we’ve got 2 nights for €65 per night.

At the bar we ask to open a bottle (€1) of vine for us that Lira bought previously. We also ordered four Bruschetta from a nearby restaurant (Al Bajniero – Via Felice Caronni, 79 – €7.50) and we had a relaxing feast at the room. Room was nothing spectacular, but everything (including plumbing) was new, and it had a balcony with a view to a outdoor pool. Here I could have my evening tea with a Cornetto.

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1. Italy 2012 August - Roma, Firenze, Napoli and between (2023/11/24)
2. Aug 10-11 FRI-SAT - A two-day flight to Rome (2023/11/28)
3. Aug 12 SUN - First steps in Rome - Pantheon (2023/12/04)
4. Aug 13 MON - Vatican (2023/12/08)
5. Aug 14 TUE - Colosseum (2023/12/12)
6. Aug 15 WED - Getting the car - Starting North - Viterbo (2023/12/16)
7. Aug 16 THU - Bagnoregio in Lazio, Orvieto in Umbria (2023/12/20)
8. Aug 17 FRI - Orvieto - Montepulciano - Siena (2023/12/24)
9. Aug 18 SAT - Siena - Villa Galileo - Firenze - Day 1 (2023/12/28)
10. Aug 19 SUN - Firenze - Day 2 - Uffizi Gallery (2024/01/04)
11. Aug 20 MON - Firenze (Day 3) - Collodi (2024/01/08)
12. Aug 21 TUE - From Pescia to Lucca (2024/01/12)
13. Aug 22 WED - Lucca (Toscana) - La Spezia (Liguria) (2024/01/16)
14. Aug 23 THU - Cinque Terra [... in progress ...] (2024/01/20)
15. Aug 24 FRI - Torre del Lago Puccini - Pisa and Agriturismo (2024/01/24)
16. Aug 25 SAT - Agriturismo in Pitigliano [... in progress ...] (2024/01/28)
17. Aug 26 SUN - Road to Napoli [... in progress ...] (2024/02/04)
18. Aug 27 MON - Napoli - Day 2 [... in progress ...] (2024/02/08)
19. Aug 28 TUE - From focused Napoli to heavenly Sorrento (2024/02/12)
20. Aug 29 WED - Capri - Day 1 [... in progress ...] (2024/02/16)
21. Aug 30 THU - Capri - Day 2 [... in progress ...] (2024/02/20)
22. Aug 31 FRI - La Dolce Far Niente [... in progress ...] (2024/02/24)
23. Sep 1 SAT - Mount Vesuvius [... in progress ...] (2024/02/28)
24. Sep 2 SUN - Last day in Rome [... in progress ...] (2024/03/04)
25. Sep 3 MON - From Rome back to Boston (2024/03/08)
26. Italy 2012 - Final Summary - Rules to Adopt and Follow <br> (2024/03/12)