I am not sure exactly what I was thinking when I thought the Mount Vesuvius Tour would be a good one to go on, but I did agree. I guess I really wasn't thinking about how we would get up there or how high it really was. After that 'light lunch' I told you about in my previous post, we got back on the bus and started the trek up the mountain. It wasn't the great bus we had yesterday - much smaller and even though it claimed air conditioning, I am not so sure. 

When I realized how 'windy' the road was, I very quickly closed my eyes. It was BAD! Eyes closed, gum being chewed rapidly, and trying desperately to place my mind anywhere but on that road was all that kept me from embarrassing myself and tossing my cookies - or in this case, pasta and ice cream! We finally made it as far as the bus goes, and thankfully there was some shade and some breeze to help settle my tummy down. Even the 'lecture' and dirty look my husband gave us when he came out from buying the tickets and couldn't find us didn't faze me at that point. Listening to him was better than having stood out in the sun waiting  for him to get the tickets and probably tossing my cookies.

Then it was off and running. Now that is an exaggeration, as there was definitely no running up that mountain. None of the pictures really show how far up we had to walk, but we did get a postcard that shows the path. There were places to stop along the way, and we made several 'stop AND breathe' places of our own. I hugged the mountain as the railing side was breathtaking, but it looked down over the city and/or water (neither of which I could handle). Then we finally made it to the top and were able to look down into the crater! Well, I might not have seen the very bottom of the crater, as you had to go right over to the railing to see it. But I 'almost' saw the bottom. 

The climb back down was much easier and faster, but I wanted it to go slower, as I knew I had to take that bus ride back down that mountain. I came down the same way - eyes closed, gum chewing and mind elsewhere. There was a point where I thought I might have to ask Journey for her 'souvenir' bag, but I made it! I am now laying on the bed in the hotel room recuperating while we wait for 7:30 and the restaurants to open for the evening meal. I sure hope it is another one of those 'light' meals - NOT!!!

Now that it is all over, am I glad I went? You bet! It was truly amazing, and now we can say that we climbed to the top of the only active volcano on the European continent. Would I go again or even go the first time if I knew all this? Never!

Today we went on a tour that started with what they called a 'light' lunch! It was spaghetti, then a fish or meat dish with a salad and finished off with ice cream. Well, neither Journey or I was able to finish all the spaghetti, so we declined the meat and salad course, but we enjoyed the ice cream. One of our table group members couldn't have sugar, so he gave his ice cream to Journey. Then a young lady from our table was flirting with the waiter, and he brought her a second 'special' one. She declined so it was offered to Journey. She tried saying no, but everyone at the table started cheering her on, so she finished a third one:-).

Then it was off to climb Mount Vesuvius  on that full stomach!

We are nearing the end of our second day in Naples, and I have to say we are much more impressed today than we were yesterday. Today we went on a tour of the Pompeii ruins in the morning, and then we toured Naples in the afternoon. The Pompeii ruins were truly fascinating. The weather was 30+ degrees again, but it is not so bad when you are enjoying what you are doing. We spent about 2 hours touring the ruins, and our tour guide was excellent. We had to listen very carefully to understand her English, but she was extremely knowledgeable and very interesting. Pompeii was totally buried in volcanic ash many years ago, but as there was no lava, they were able to excavate and discovered much of the city of Pompeii was still intact.

When we were done at Pompeii, the bus took us back to Naples and dropped us off at a spot for lunch. After an hour, they returned to take us on our afternoon tour of Naples.

As we were the only people doing the second part, we had the bus to ourselves and our own private tour. This guide was also very good. She answered every question we had, and one time when my husband asked about a building in the distance, she not only told us all about it, she had the bus driver take us over to see it. They gave us half an hour to tour the building while they waited for us on the bus. Later on we asked her for suggestions as to where we could go to find shoes for our granddaughter as we had had no luck in Paris or on our first day in Naples. She said they could do better than that. When our tour was over, they took us to an area of shopping and told us they would come back in two hours to pick us up and take us back to our hotel. That was so nice of them, AND we were able to find shoes!

We were up at 4:00 a.m. this morning to catch the plane into Naples. After about an hour and a half of flying, we landed in Munich, Germany for a short wait and a plane change. Then it was another hour and a half, and we landed in Naples. We took a cab to our hotel, and the driving is just as scary here as it was in Paris.

I have to say that so far we are quite disappointed with Naples. After checking into the hotel, we headed out to do some walking and find somewhere for lunch. The area around our hotel is all little shops and street vendors. In this way, it is a lot like Paris. Naples is a very old city, so the buildings are all old and smell very musty. Most of the shops have air conditioning, but it isn't very good, and they all leave their doors open. It is 30 plus degrees here and feels like a sauna. What really shocked me though was all the garbage on the street. I don't think we saw any garbage cans anywhere, and it looks like everyone just drops their garbage right into the street :-(.

We were told that we HAD to have pizza while here, so we found a little street cafe, and that is what we ordered for lunch. The man who waited on us spoke no English and the menus were in Italian, so it ended up being a little bit of guesswork, but we all ordered a different kind. My granddaughter must not have been feeling very adventurous, as she ordered an 'American,' and this is what it looked like when it came.

I guess that is Italy's idea of American -throw on some French fries! :-)

It ended up being way more than an individual sized pizza, and I think we left more food behind than we ate! In the end, we agreed that the pizza we had in Paris was better.

I am not sure how we are going to fill the next couple of days here, but I am sure looking forward to heading to Ravello on the Amalfi Coast on Friday. We have a few days to explore there before my nephew's wedding on Monday.

We spent our last evening in Paris just walking around looking in an area we hadn't been to yet. We started by going to the Centre Pompidou. It is considered to be an 'inside-out' building, and it houses France's national and contemporary art museum. I have to say that we weren't overly impressed, but we did find a couple of other interesting things and tons of neat little shops.

Check out the neat streets.

We were going down some narrow little street full of different shops when all of a sudden we came to some large open doors. It was another church - very old and very musty smelling. It was wide open, so we went in and looked around. Check out my 360 panorama below or go to the link. http://360.io/CpK9Rt

That's all for tonight, as we have to be up at 4:00 a.m. To catch our flight to Naples.

We are on the climb up to Sacre Cour. First, we toured through a narrow street filled with street vendors. I think the only purchase we made from here was a couple of scarves.

Then we began the many stairs up to Sacre Cour. I didn't count, but there sure were a lot of stairs to climb.

Good thing there were places to stop along the way. We went up part way and stopped for a picnic lunch, and then further up we stopped and sat by the fountains for a few minutes.

There were stairs straight up the front, as well as more winding steps up the side. We tried both.

Finally we made it to the top! We weren't allowed to take any pictures, but it is another beautiful church like Notre Dame - just much smaller and not as elaborate.

The view from the spot was pretty awesome though.

Now we are back once again relaxing in our hotel room trying to figure out how to spend our last evening in Paris. We fly to Italy at 6:55 tomorrow morning.

We made it back to the Eiffel Tower to beat the long lineups. We probably were only in line for 30-45 minutes before we got up to the tickets. After having all of our bags checked (and x-rayed), we got to go up in the elevator.

I knew that I would not be able to go to the top, as I also have fear of heights :-(. I told my husband and granddaughter that they could go up to the top and I would wait for them on the second floor, but they very kindly said they would stay with me. Perhaps they, too, are a wee bit afraid of heights and just can't admit it :-).

All I can say is that the view is breathtaking. I have to admit that even on the second floor, I could not force myself to go to the edge. I was able to do it when we went down a few steps to a 'closed in' observation deck though, but it still left my legs a bit shaky and my stomach a bit upset.

The Eiffel Tower is definitely one of those 'must see' sights in the world! It is truly magnificent!

We are just waiting for our granddaughter to wake up so that we can head back to the Eiffel Tower to stand in line for the tickets to go up the tower.. We tried to get them online, as the first day when we went, it was going to be a several hour wait, but the earliest we could get was for Tuesday, and seeing as we leave for Italy tomorrow, that won't work. We are going to get there just as it opens or just a bit before, and hope that the line-ups aren't too bad yet. Wish us luck! It would be horrible to have to leave Paris having seen, but NOT gone up the Tower!

Well, I think I told you about our pleasant commuter train ride out to Disneyland, but I sure can't say the same about the ride back! It was somewhere around 8:00 p.m. when we went to get back on the train, and there was standing room only. After we got on, more people continued to get on as well. By the time the train left, it was pretty crowded, and there are three levels on these trains. As we continued into the city, it seemed that at every stop more people got on than got off. People would see that there really was no room, and yet they still pushed their way on. At one point, a family of 5 got on with two huge suitcases and two backpacks. I don't know how they did it except that I felt their suitcase banging against my leg until they got off. Of course, with that many people crowded on, no air conditioning in the world could keep up. Just imagine the aroma of that many people who have been out in the sun all day, now crammed together into 'sauna-like' conditions, with their arms up holding on to a pole, and you might have some idea how it was for us! And to top it all off, the ride takes about 40 minutes! Now I know how sardines feel!!!



I would have taken a picture, but there was no way I could have gotten it out. It was that crowded.

Some rides never change, but I can never understand how people can get off a ride with these looks on their faces, claiming it was the best ride ever! I guess some day I will just have to try Space Mountain for myself. NOT!!!!!!