The recent Bay of Naples trip saw three days (or what felt like six due to a severe lack of sleep) of exploration, culture and gelato.
With a brisk set off at 3 am, once in Italy, we arrived at Herculaneum – one of the only nearly intact Roman sites in the world – exploring through Roman villas, baths, gardens and catching glimpses of skeletons. In the museum was an array of objects that were found on site, including a vast collection of jewellery and trinkets. Later being set free to get our first tastes of Italian gelato in the colourful town of Sorrento, we stayed long enough to buy some gifts before heading off directly to the Bay of Naples, into an ominous hotel with a magnificent view of the mountains in the background behind us and the bay in front. In true European style, we were treated to a three-course meal at 9pm, although most of us were struggling to stay awake, particularly when a full plate of pasta was revealed to be only a starter.
With another early morning, we set off for Paestum which appeared a welcome break from the strong Roman culture we had been immersed in. An expansive piece of land dotted with olive trees and three majestic Greek temples, it felt like stepping into Athens. However, full of pizza, we set off yet again, this time to Pompeii itself. The city lived up to its fame, walking through street after street of the Roman town, eventually reaching the notorious home of Caecilius.
Competing against Pompeii for highlight of the trip, the following morning was the climbing of Mount Vesuvius itself. Having already spent several hours admiring the extravagance of the Villa Oplontis (a luxurious home built for the second wife of Nero) and the decadence of two basilicas in Torre Annunziata, we faced a 900m elevation to reach the crater, formed from the explosions that had buried the streets of Herculaneum and Pompeii that we had previously walked through. Upon reaching the summit, we received an interesting talk from a guide and then walked around the top of the crater, with the clouds clearing for enough time to give us a glimpse at the bottom of the 300m deep crater and the entirety of the Bay of Naples which was laid out before us. Thankfully, we survived the coach trip back down, teetering on the edge more than once, to arrive in our final stop; the city of Naples. After a visit to the most magisterial basilica yet, we took advantage of our final meal in Italy with Neapolitan pizza and gelato.