Mt. Vesuvio

I realize that my methodology of visiting a place and then researching it after is a little unorthodox, but today's adventure it just another reason as to why my method is so fabulous. I mean, who would knowing and willing go to a place with the following descriptions:

• The only volcano on main land Europe to erupt in the last 100 years
• Over 50 eruptions within its 17,000 (or 18,500) years in existence
• The culprit of erasing 2 ancient cities off the map
• Regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes since over 3M live nearby
• Last eruption- 1994 when several cities were destroyed
• It's not just one volcano, but one within another

And here I was just thinking that I was getting some cross training in when I agreed to go to Monte Vesuvio con la famiglia di Lucy. Or was it the fact that I really didn't want to get that housework done...at any rate we headed towards the mountain, winding closer and closer to the parking lot before we continued the rest of way a piedi and walking sticks.

The higher we traveled, the more languages we were exposed to: English, German, French, Italian. The shoe choices also got more entertaining, although I still don't think I saw any heels which is shocking considering this is Italy. The view of the bay and city below also grew and even on a cloudy day (in addition to the normal Naples haze) the city below was beautiful.

Can I just say that at 4,000 odd feet up there- the slope is no joke? No wonder all that lava flows downward covering the towns at the base of the hill. Even with the trail, the ashy and pebble path surely turns over after any major rain storm. It was so pretty though. I mean, in terms of soil and all things earth science. (And yes, I sort of want to starting singing the plate tectonics song now...)

While were on the top (or as far up as this trail took us) the clouds surrounded the enormous crater and hide the sun- talk about creepy! You know you're way up on this mountain but you can't see anything on the outter slope past a few feet from the rope rails. On the other side, you see the opening of a dormant volcano. Seriously, queue the creepy music OR just go track down coffee because nothing makes things right with the world again than a cappuccino with friends- even if you are on one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Hey, this is Italy after all- and you can find a coffee bar anywhere!

Shopping, Hiking, Unpacking

I can't believe I've spent another Saturday in Italy! In fact, when chatting with Joe today I realized that between the move, trips, & having so much fun I've lost track of the time. I arrived in Italy on 26 May, stayed in TLA for 90 nights, and then have been at my (freaking huge) house for 3 weeks..so how long have I been here? Eh, I've got the majority of my 3 years to still have fun with but that's only if I get this unpacking done.

After a later night of unpacking than planned, my Saturday kicked off with coffee. I then migrated to get Signore Joe before hitting up the Bacoli market. We very much went the back way/scenic route but that was good since I'm still trying to convince him he wants to be a little further south than in the areas he's been looking at. (There's got to be a closer villa that will be perfecto for the family but also close enough for me to hijack their pup for running.) We left Ravi at the same place I used before and even got to take my car keys with me this time. AND I even got the gist of what the guy was telling me.

The market had even more vendors than the previous time I hit it- amazing what the difference in weather will make. I tried my best with new acquired Italian skills but I think they still caught on that I speak english since they would reply when they could in english. The one vendor who sold me the lettuce was super nice though. He just may be my new produce guy. We left the market  with nectarines, lettuce, tomatoes, mozzarella, olives, garlic and onions. I made the mistake of acknowledging the old lady with her shopping cart of onions, garlic, and oregano and despite the "no grazie" she sold us enough garlic to last through the year. (Seriously, my kitchen smells of garlic but at least I'm safe from vampires!) Now I just need that cilantro to grow another foot or so so I can finally make the salsa I crave!

The next stop on Katie's Round About Tour was Carney Park, but heaven forbid we went straight there. No ne possible. The round-abouts from this direction still confuses me a tad so we ended up seeing Solfatara (aka the stinky sulfur volcano) but the views are amazing from that mountain so again, just taking the scenic route. (Seriously though, that was strike 2 on taking the wrong turn off so I only get one more mess up before I have to learn it/actually look at the GPS while driving.) Eh, my coworker Scott wasn't meeting us anymore so we were in no hurry to get there. Don't worry- we did finally make it. Honest!

For this round of hiking at Carney we went up the ridge where I came down last time and wrapped around away from Pozzoli Bay, towards a monastery (with monks!) with the plan to continue along the ridge so I finally could say I hiked the entire crater. Hey, it was just a plan. After trail blazing from the 500 (?) year old house to the monastery and all the effort it took to continually being able to jump when a lizard ranging from tiny to enormous ran out of our way causing a ton of noise in the dried leaves, we were too tired to follow an unmarked road that we weren't sure if it would take us to where we wanted to be. (Let me clarify- I was doing the jumping, not Joe.) Unwilling to backtrack the way we headed up, we followed the other path which was wonderfully downhill and fairly lizard free. Yep. Too good of a path and we found ourselves in the driveway of the houses you can see from inside the park. Ha. They have a great vineyard up there and it was pretty...unfortunately it meant we had picked the wrong path and it was time for an about face. On the way back we took a turn off that Joe had seen and I still swear it just looped us around. As we started to discuss if we'd been on this stretch of trail or not we compared our foot prints to others on the trail. Um yeah. We'd been there before...but not sure when. I think we did find the real trail that we ditched for our climbing over rocks and going through the brush. (My legs have seen better days.) Clearly we made it and since it was a "do whatever day" we were in no hurry but by this point the sun was hot and although we looked tanner, it really was the volcanic ash and other grime coating our arms, legs, shoes, eh, pretty much our entire bodies. (Seriously- my hair even felt grimy.)

After snacking on our market buys Joe and Signore enjoyed the cross breeze upstairs while I worked on a box of things I realized should have already been put away. By the time my room was box free and I headed back upstairs, Joe had solved my hot water heater mystery of the E10 error. Turns out the water pressure was low and although I had almost solved it on my own the night before I didn't but it just goes to show that I really could be an engineer- right? (Possibly more on that idea to come later this week...) At any rate, with a few less boxes and hot water again we headed out to try the place I live above. We were side tracked though by an event happening in the adjacent piazza. Although we're still not sure what exactly everything was, we knew it was part of the patron saint of Naples holiday occurring on Monday. We watched some little kids play soccer (why aren't they on my team?) and then headed back over to place our pizza orders. As we were walking in a pack of boys (probably around age 12) walked in. When the owner realized we weren't sure if we were staying or taking it out he went over and told all the boys to be quiet. Amazing right? Apparently a soccer match was about to begin so they were excited about that. The owner wasn't thrilled since he couldn't hear the phone, let alone take orders. He was really nice (English speaking) and the pizza was some of the better tasting ones I've had recently. Um yeah, since Joe arrived I've had my fair share (or more) of pizza. And since it was on the menu I had to order it- pizza con Nutella! It wasn't wrapped like last time, but more like Woodstock's dessert but just as yummy. To think, Joe was just asking what someone does with a 5lb container of Nutella.

My night ended when I came home from taking Joe back, had Signore in my arms only to hear fireworks starting and seeing flashes of light practically coming from my living room. I'm not sure why I wasn't thinking "oh event in the piazza, of course there will be fireworks...this is Italy after all", but I wasn't. Signore wasn't either based on his flying out of my arms and hiding until they were over. When I was on my balcony the fireworks were practically over my house- it was amazing. Way better than the 4th of July celebration ones and probably a longer show too. I recorded some of them because I just love them. I guess it goes back to all of those foggy 4th of Julys growing up in Monterey. At any rate I'm looking into where I can purchase some of these beautiful things and just how often rules are enforced. I'm thinking not all that much as pretty much every night I either hear or see some.

Stay-cation: Day 2

Naturally after all that fabulous food the night before (and lack of gym trip on my part) this morning was a perfect day to set out to Carney Park to hike along the ridge. Carney Park is the military recreational facility located in an extinct volcano, Campiglione. (The one with yurts!)

With the sun shinning and a great breeze, Cynthia and I met with with another Laurie and her pup. They had warned me yesterday that there were steep sections and since I'd seen the big old crater, I had some idea what to expect. Then again, I've hiked Garrapata enough times so when I hear "steep" I kind of panic. I had also been told to expect lots of chances to "take in the view." Translation- we're going to by dying after 10 steps so we'll be stopping. I'm thinking fabulous because it's warm here and my body still doesn't quite know how to react.

Well all I've got to say is THANK YOU! to whoever was the first person who drug me out to Garrapata for that hike I love to hate. There were some a vertical climbs on today's hike that resembled the valley segment but over all it wasn't that bad! My SF Giants hat and I kicked butt and even now, several hours later Stanley is cool with it all. Then again, I guess after all my falls on the way down from Garrapata on that last night hike anything would make Stanley happy?

It was a great time walking through the forest like area. The trees provided a great canopy to protect us from the sun, while berries, grass, and other thorny plants provided excellent obstacles across the path. I'm really hoping that I'm not allergic to any of the plants I tromped through and got scratched by, since I'm really only used to looking for poison oak! We did 1/2 of the loop but already have plans for the other side next time around. I've also scoped out a few flat trails for running so I'm excited that this parks is kindda on my way "home", again, once I find a place out that way to live.

We did have to laugh about how the rustling in the bushes due to those pesky lizards made them sound much larger than they actually were. At one point I saw a whole branch move  and being the bio nerd I am, had to stop to look. Well, that grasshopper looking thing was so large that it's what caused the movement. No, not Kenya bug status for those who saw that one, but it was a good 3 inches? And check out those colors!

What else? Oh! The views! Amazing. I guess the wind blew out a lot of the haze/humidity so we were left with clear skies. So yeah, definitely another stop on our tour of Naples for those of you who hang out for a while. Don't you love all these previews of your trip to visit me? And yes, that is the neon green top I scared the desk clerk with earlier this week.