Climb every Volcano

Today the plan was for Herculaneum in the morning and Vesuvius in the afternoon.  I have been up Vesuvius before (with J) and in September it had been freezing cold and very windy at the summit.  So this morning, R and I dressed very warmly.

Herculaneum was very impressive.  In particular the beach with the skeletons piled up of the people who perished at the last trying to escape is very moving.  When J and I were there, he had strongly felt a sad presence in one of the old houses – I don’t think I am personally sensitive enough for that kind of experience.  Anyway my walk around the ancient city was not enhanced by the fact that in the 15C bright sunshine I was wearing four layers of clothes, a hat and gloves in preparation for the climb up the volcano.

We ended up getting a taxi to the carpark below the cone – R did not enjoy the experience, because the road was steep and very bendy with precipitous drops, and the driver spent most of the journey talking in his handheld mobile phone.

But Vesuvius itself was marvellous – it was a great day – warm with not a breath of wind.  The views down to Naples and over to Capri were fabulous.  I had been a bit worried about my ankle on the rough path – but all was fine with my only discomfort being the sweat running down my back from all the clothes I was wearing walking up a steep hill.!

When we got down to the carpark again – I reflected that two years previously I had thought my days for doing this kind of thing were over for good because my foot was so badly twisted I  could hardly walk.  I had a brief moment of pride on making it up Vesuvius after all the surgery before remembering an article I saw on BBC this week about the first double amputee to reach the summit of Everest.  So anything I managed today pales in comparison (but I am still glad I could do it).