After our 3 hour adventure exploring the Pompeii ruins, we decided to go hike Mount Vesuvius. We were watching the clock like hawks at this point. It was 1:30, the bus would be 45 minutes to the mid-point of Vesuvius, our tickets onto the mountain had to be redeemed right at 3:00 & then we had exactly 2 hours to hike up & back in order to make it back for the last bus at 5 to take us back to Pompeii where we could get our luggage & make our train to Pompeii, then our train to Rome for the night.
We hopped onto the bus that drives to the mid-point of the mountain & rode the 40 minute ride. ALL the kids were car sick by the time we made it to the hiking point. It was the most insane bus trip we've ever experienced. The road wasn't even big enough for one bus, let alone 2 way traffic. The roads twisted & turned up the mountainside throwing its passengers this way & that making EVERYONE want to throw up. The kids were laying against the windows in their seats holding their stomachs. The bus driver would frantically honk his horn (terrifying all of us every time) any time a turn was coming up to warn oncoming traffic that we were big & we weren't stopping. There were a few times that a bus was coming down at the same time we were coming up & when you hit those curves with two busses, you literally find yourself praying that the bus you're on doesn't topple down the cliffside next to your window. I finally just had to close my eyes & trust that we'd make it alive.
And miraculously, we did! We made it safe & sound, a little sick, but safe nonetheless. We made good time too. We got there right at 2:45 & only had to wait 15 minutes (just enough time for a potty break) to get into the mountain hiking zone.
Opa & Oma bought a couple candy bars & popsicles to share & we made our way onto the hiking trail. It started out simple enough. . . switchbacks which we're used to here in Europe. But as we progressed, the trail progressively got steeper & steeper & more treacherous. This hike was NOT for the faint hearted. Apparently the trail, though short in distance (only about 2 miles), was one of the most advanced trails I've ever experienced. It went straight up that mountainside & left no time or room to really rest.
Emery & Talon ended up stopping at the halfway point. I think dehydration & heatstroke kicked in at the same time for them so they decided to turn back & meet us back at the bottom. The rest of us kept at it. I was amazed at how well Trek's parents did. They are both in their 70's & about half way there I was worried they weren't going to make it. But they did! There was a point where I ran up to Oma & put my arm around her & let her lean on me during one really long & hard stretch. It was exhausting for both of us, but we just kept putting one foot in front of the other & made our way up to the top. I was SO incredibly proud of her.
The trail was narrow & steep for the most part, but there were occasional open areas that had beautiful lookouts over the ocean.
There came one point where most of us were ready to just throw in the towel & give up. It was SO steep, we were dripping with sweat, the sun was burning us, & then we saw it. . . the end of the road! We finally made it to the crater.
It was kind of crazy. . . Vesuvius is still considered an active volcano. . . they say it will erupt again someday, but from the top, the crater is filled with dirt & vegetation. You would never think it was a volcano if it weren't for the obvious ridge line with a huge hole/valley in the center.
The trail continued (if you wanted to go) around one half of the crater so you could see it from most sides/angles. There were little shops all around the crater that you could stop & shop at. We followed it as far as it went & enjoyed the beautiful views.
I enjoyed looking out & being able to see the Pompeii ruins from the volcano itself. (In the pic below, you'll see a road that goes straight from the bottom to the middle of the picture. At the top of that road you can see Pompeii & it's many ruins.
We stayed at the top for a while, but noticed the time & started to make our way back down. Luckily we got down 10 times as fast as it took us to get up.
When we got to the bottom, Talon & Emery were waiting for us & Talon bought all the kids popsicles for completing this leg of our grand adventure. The kids were SO happy to be out of the sun & eating popsicles.
We saw our bus in the distance. It was the last bus of the day coming down from the mountain so we knew we couldn't miss it. It was leaving in 5 minutes so we all started to run towards it to make sure all 16 of us made it on. As Trek & I are counting heads as we get on the bus, 3 were missing. Talon, Carolyn, & Bridger were missing. Trek got off the bus looking for them as the bus driver pointed to his watch alerting us that he was going to take off whether we were all there or not. Panicked Trek frantically looked for Talon & Carolyn.
During the run to the bus, poor Bridger had tripped over some rocks & fell. His knees were skinned up a little bit & Talon & Carolyn had stopped to attend to him. He was crying hysterically & was obviously hurt. Trek ran to them & helped them pick Bridger up & carry him to the bus so we'd make it on time. Poor kiddo. On the bus ride, Carolyn was able to make him feel better with lots of snuggles & kisses. I managed to find a bandaid in my purse which also helped.
I think we all pretended to sleep on that bus ride back. None of us wanted to open our eyes, especially when we could hear all the busses honking to warn each other who wanted to dominate those turns down the mountain. But we all made it alive. . . & Bridger was all good now that he was bandaged up. We made it back 20 minutes before our train left for the Naples train station. It was the 2nd to last train of the day & we HAD to make it.
I was assigned to purchase the 16 train tickets from Pompeii to Rome while Trek, Dad, Cadence, Talon, & Tuhk ran back to our hotel (a mile away), grabbed all 11 pieces of luggage & dragged them back a mile up a HILL . . . TWENTY MINUTES was all they had.
I had everyone else on the train platform though I was silently freaking out inside worried that they wouldn't make it back in time with the luggage. But sure enough, about 4 minutes before the train left, here comes Cadence dragging 3 suitcases, Trek carrying our broken one in his arms & another being pulled behind him. . . & then Dad, Talon, & Tuhk with 2 pieces of luggage each running up that hill toward the train station. They were exhausted after 3 hours in the sun in Pompeii, hiking that crazy hike, & now running up hills dragging all our luggage.
We ran out to the platform as the train rolled up . . . . the doors opened & our hearts sank.
Every car was packed like sardines. People were shoved in every nook & corner of every single car. There was NO POSSIBLE WAY we were going to get 16 people & 11 pieces of luggage on this train. We tried, & almost lost half our group in the process. In the end we pulled everyone off & let the train go. Another train was coming 30 minutes later. . . the last train of the day & we hoped that we could get on it.
It came, it was packed, but we shoved like we've never shoved before & got all 16 people on. We had kids on our shoulders, sat on our luggage with our faces against the doors & windows, but we made it. We all stood the full 30 minute train ride to Naples, but arrived in one big group with no damage.
Once in Naples, we had to find a train to Rome. At this point it was nearing 7:00 pm. We got tickets to a train leaving at 7:10, got to the platform & got informed that the train was delayed 90 minutes. We were exhausted. Everyone was tired, everyone was hungry, everyone just wanted to sleep.
We made our way to McDonald's for the 2nd day in a row & ate dinner, then camped out at our train platform. It ended up being even later than a 90 minute delay . . . in fact, our train got cancelled altogether. SO. . . the workers there got us on another train headed for Rome & we finally got on & slept for the 2.5 hour ride back.
MEANWHILE IN ROME. . .
Tylee, Drew, & Olive had arrived at the Rome Airport safe & sound. They caught a taxi to their hotel & were waiting patiently for us to arrive & see them. We were SO excited to have all 19 of us together finally.
But after our delay, then cancellation, then another delay. . . they decided to go to bed (jet lagged) & meet us first thing in the morning.
We finally arrived at the Rome Termini train station around 11:35 pm. We ran with our luggage to the bus area trying to catch our bus that would take us to our hotel. BUT, apparently you can't buy your bus tickets ON the busses in Rome. You have to pre-purchase them beforehand (TOTAL PAIN & caused us SO MANY problems on this trip). It was 11:40 at night, the last busses stop at midnight & we were MILES from our hotel. We couldn't find a place to buy tickets anywhere. Then the kids decided they needed to go to the bathroom. While they ran to find a bathroom, Trek ran to ask ANYBODY how to get bus tickets. He found a machine, but the machine wouldn't take credit cards so he tried to put Euro bills into the machine. They didn't take those either. . . only coins. Each ticket was 4.50 Euro which isn't a big deal to pay for in coins. . . . UNLESS YOU HAVE TO BUY 16 OF THEM. We were pouring out our purses trying to find as many coins as we could & miraculously we did it. . . we paid for 16 tickets, got everybody back from the bathroom, & somehow managed to get on the last bus of the night at 11:55. It was a miracle.
The bus dropped us off only 1 block from our hotel which was a total blessing. We walked with our luggage, got into our 2 apartments, & started getting ready for bed. All of us needed to take showers after that hike. We were disgusting. We had rented 2 apartments above each other so we were still close. Our family was on the 3rd floor & everybody else was in the apartment on the 2nd floor. We each had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, & a kitchen. It was nice. BUT. . . one of our showers didn't work. So I was shoving all 8 of us one at a time through that one shower. Tuhk & Talon came up to try & figure out our broken shower & Talon was able to fix it for us so it was working. Bladen, Trek, & I used that one & holy moly it was interesting. I loved Bladen's "commentary" while he showered. I could hear him from the hallway. "Oh! HOT, HOT, HOT. . . . Eek! Cold, Freezing Cold!. . . . Hot, Hot Hot!" It was hilarious. . . until I had to take a shower. He was right. The shower couldn't decide if it wanted to boil me or freeze me to death. Either way, I was clean & finally able to get the kids in bed.
Trek & I stayed up another hour trying to figure out all the buses & transportation for day #3 & finally went to bed around 2am. It was a wonderful, but CRAZY day.
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