Forgive me if I don't say anything about the weather... it has been sunny almost every day since we have been in Italy. The temperature has been around 30 in Sorrento but sometimes a little breeze in the evening makes it feel cool.

The plan today was to take the train to Ercolana and see the result of the Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD. The train is a fast electric one but there are many stops. The price is only 1.9 euros one way. The trip lasts about 1 hour or less. The train travels quite fast and there are many tunnels until we get on the other side of the mountains.

Nancy near the volcano

When the train arrives we meet up with an English couple who are going to Vesuvius. We decide to do the same. The cost is 16.5 euros each. !0 for the ride and 6.5 for the 800m trek up to the crater. After we get up Vesuvius and park, I have had enough height. So we sold the trek tickets for 10 euros. Nancy was not interested in ascending the mountain either.

Vesuvius from Hercolaneum.

After we returned to Ercolana we walked down the street straight to the "Scavi Herculaneum". We phoned Tonino and told him we would be returning at 17:13 instead of earlier. I finally figured out that SCAVI meant EXCAVATION ! It was not in my little computer dictionary. John Ivanco told us about this place and said it was better than Pompeii... and it is smaller and easier to do if you only have limited time like us.

The Herculaneum site was uncovered after Pompeii and has more detail and better ruins. In fact the detail is so good, one wonders how they allow thousands of tourists to walk over the roads and even touch the plaster walls that as so old. To know that you were seeing something from 79 AD was amazing. Unfortunately some people have left their marks on the plaster as well. As we were living, I realized that we had missed a large area. I returned while Nancy stayed near the entrance. It was quite hot in the sun even though there was a small breeze, it was hot (30+). The part I missed was a courtyard containing a Roman statue and the Roman baths. You could see where the lava had stopped literally at the bath house doors.

Tom in a courtyard of an ancient home in Herculaneum.


We went back on the train after a quick beer (660mL) split between us. A 3 euro price was also nice for a sit-down drink.

We were back in Piano di Sorrento about 7:30 and Tonino was waiting for us. He is really a reliable person.

After a little wine we headed off to Zia Sams for our final supper. We got our favourite waited and had a wonderful meal. I had spaghetti ala mere with tomato and it was delicious. Nancy had the ravioli with shrimp and sea food and tomato sauce. Both dishes were excellent. We decided on dessert. Nancy had a wonderful pie with ricotta cheese and pistachio. I had a cup of limone ice cream. Wow was it cold and tasty. We finished off with a cappuccino each. The bill was surprisingly low and we gave the waiter a good tip and bid him farewell.

It was after this that things went downhill fast. I plugged in my transformer for the computer and as I did there was a big flash and the fuse was tripped off. My transformer for recharging the computer and camcorder was toast. The smell was awful. This was bad and I had felt there was something wrong with the transformer since we started out. Amazingly it held up this long. With maybe 3 -3 1/2 hours left on the computer battery and even less for the camcorder, I was upset... "what to do?" I had tried in Bologna to get a new one with no success... in Sorrento a place much smaller... could I get one ?

We went to bed since we were quite tired from the long day hopeful that things might improve in the morning.