Here is a view of the inside Vesuvius' crater which is plugged right now. Good thing too. Otherwise, it could blow at any time or so I heard from the guide. Was he trying to frighten the tourists?
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| Pompei |
This is the view of Vesuvius from Pompei.
We by passed Naples because I was really worried about the Mafia. Herbert got robbed on a subway in Rome and we didn't want any more problems like that. Also, we couldn't find a vacant spot since most of the residents had their boats back in the harbour for the winter. So, we tied up in a marina south of Naples, called Torre del Greco (thank you Herbert), which was actually closer to Vesuvius and Pompei. We could actually see Vesuvius from the boat! What if it erupted while we were there??
A dock master who looked like a character from the movie Godfather was very friendly and promised us that Eidos would be absolutely safe while we were gone for the day (from a volcanic erruption as well as the Mafia I guessed). A bit of bad reputation perhaps helped to improve the situation, because the cruising guide warned us that the marina was in a poor and perhaps dangerous neighbourhood. We were the only cruisers there but found the locals friendly and warm. And the daily rate for a 10 metre boat was 40 Euros as opposed to 100 Euros in dirty Naples. In October!
While we were there, we noticed a lot of garbage in piles all over the sides of the roads. We asked our guide on top of Vesuvius and were told that the Mafia is in charge of garbage disposal (hmmm - interesting) and they get paid by the city fathers ahead of time. So... where is the incentive? This is one place where I wouldn't want to live.
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