The drive up consists of a series of very sharp, very narrow
hairpin turns. I lost count of how many, but there were a lot. The bus took us
to 1000 feet below the rim and dropped us off. Because there’d been a lot of
traffic getting out of Naples ,
we only had an hour and a half to go that 1000 feet and get back.
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| Looks like we'll fall off at the top! (that's me in the purple - my husband always likes to get my good side!) |
Sounds easy enough, yes? Remember those hairpin turns the
bus took? Same philosophy regarding getting altitude here. Not straight up, but
winding around and back and around again. The incline was about what it is
coming from the stream up to the cabin back home. Sometimes not so steep,
sometimes steeper.
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| Looking down into the mouth of the volcano - all quiet today, thank goodness! |
It took me a long time to climb to the rim of the caldera,
but I did it. We both did. The view from above is amazing but what struck me
was how many people stand to lose everything they have when it blows again. Because
it will. In fact, it’s overdue. I know there are evacuation plans and the
expectation is there will be about a 20-day warning, but still. Why build where
it will be destroyed? All along that mountain road are the ruins from the last
eruption in 1946.
There is a valley the lava flowed along that year that is
starting to come back to life. A gray lichen appears first – a lichen that only
grows on Mount Vesuvius . As it goes through
its life cycle, it builds up on the cooled lava and creates a thin layer of
dirt that small flowers use. They die, add to the soil and larger flowers grow,
then bushes and finally, trees. Right now the hillsides are covered with
Jupiter’s Beard and Broom bushes, both in bloom.
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| Naples from the top of Mount Vesuvius |
And then of course, what comes up must come down. The
descent went faster than the ascent. Right up until the second-to-last hairpin
turn. I was watching where I put my feet since the volcanic ash is like walking
on black sand with the occasional pebble and rock thrown in for good measure.
You guessed it. I found one of the rocks. I went down fast
and a nice gentleman on his way up lent me his hand as did Steven. My ankle
hurt but I knew I hadn’t twisted it. Thought I’d pulled a muscle. Made it back
to the bus (which was parked quite a ways down the road) and explained to
Roberta, our tour guide, that I’d fallen.
She got me ice when we got to Pompeii while the others got their gelato or
soft drink (Steven brought me a wonderful vanilla gelato with chocolate chips).
He then went in search of a cane for me, paid an inordinate amount of money for
it and I used it on our tour. The uneven streets made it a challenge and it
hurt if I stepped wrong but I made it through. Several of the others on the bus
called me a “trooper” for coming along.
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| Me, standing in an ancient theatre! |
The ruins were covered under 20 feet of ash – its amazing
the city was ever found. The murals on the walls are beautiful and must’ve been
incredible when new. To stand in a actual Roman theatre (they have two) brought
me back to my Intro to Theatre course. And here I stood, in the orchestra of
one over 2500 years old walking on the very stones of actors who came before.
We ended with some of the plaster casts of those who died
that awful day in 74 BCE. The first was of a dog, one who couldn’t run away
because he’d been tied to a tree. The second was of a young boy, kneeling with
his hands over his mouth and nose, the third was of a very young child who
looked as though she’d been sleeping.
It was the boy who got me. I could see him in my mind, in
his last moments as the ash fell, inching over his feet. His hands clasped over
his nose, trying not to breathe in the powdery stuff. His cast moved me the
most.
Back on the bus, back to the harbor. Found a pizza place and
had Napolese pizza Margarita. It was wonderful.
And then on board and up to the room. I had an egg on the
side of my foot that was quite large. Steven got me some ice and I iced it for
20 minutes. But having the shoe off allowed the swelling to increase and Steven
got worried so he made me go down to sickbay. For good measure, the ship’s
doctor made me get X-rays.
Yep. Issa broke. Not the ankle, but the lower part of the
femur. In two places, no less.
They put my foot in a cast up to my knee. A partial cast,
not hard in the front in case there is swelling.
This has put our whole trip into jeopardy. We’re going to do
a conference call with Dr. Mark back in Geneva
Play safe...and walk carefully!
Diana
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