Today was a full historic sightseeing day - starting early we left Naples train station, caught the Circumvesuviana (a narrow gauge railway which connects towns around Naples) and headed out for a day visit to Pompeii. Besides the scorching heat and the lack of shade, Pompeii was absolutely fantastic in terms of the history and the incredible condition and detail in which the city has been preserved in.

It was on August 24, 79 AD, that the volcano Vesuvius erupted and buried the town in ash and soot, killing 20000 people, and preserving the city in its state from that fateful day. Anything less than a full day would've been too short to properly see and absorb everything in the city. Amongst others, highlights of the day were the main forum (public market place) which is the centre of focus of Pompeii, as well the theatre, the lupanar (ancient brothel) and a huge storage of pots and people who did not escape the eruption, all perfectly preserved.

We left there using the Circumvesuviana again, and I stopped off along the way back to Naples for a late afternoon sightseeing trip up Mount Vesuvius - now classified as a dormant volcano and occasionally emits streams of lava, but was fairly quiet today. I caught a shuttle bus the majority of the way up the volcano, and had to hike walk the remaining 500m to the top. Up on the top, you have the ability to walk around the rim of the crater, which was caused by the eruption nearly 2000 years ago, and also brilliant views of the Bay of Naples down below, looking out towards both Sorrento and Naples.

After getting down, I headed back to Naples, and no surprise here, had pizza for dinner and followed that up with some gelato again. (If only they made pizza and gelato like this somewhere back in London). Feeling pretty tired at the moment after a long day in the sun, then tomorrow we're off to Bari by bus in the afternoon to catch the ferry across to Greece. So last night in Italy tonight :( But then the Greek adventures begin tomorrow :)