Ain't no mountain high enough

March 17

You know how Italians speak with there hands. Well, today I saw a group of deaf, or hearing impared, Italians. Just let that sink in for a moment.

At approximately 12:45pm today, I crested the top of Mount Vesuvio. I was joined by two British couples and an American couple. We took the bus up to the 79AD crater, then walked up another intensive 40 minutes to what is now the new top and new crater. Hard to explain, but picture a soup bowl. Okay, that's the enormous gouge that was blown off the top in 79 AD when Pompei and Ercolano were burried. I finally understand the amount of earth and ash that hit the towns at 70 miles per hour and stopped everyone in their tracks. Now, bite off the tip of an ice cream cone and place it upsidedown in the soup bowl. That's the new crater. It's still huge, but nothing like the original. Subsequent eruptions - the most recent in 1944 - have created and heightened this new smaller crater.

On to Pompei ruins tomorrow. I am enjoying Sorrento and this part of Italy so much that I'm staying an extra day. Luigi, who I now have a little crush on, helped me to change my reservations at the monastery in Assisi. Now I can stay to do a few more things :)