Naples

Today we landed at Naples. We were going to see the ruins of Pompeii. We went by coach and we stopped off at a cameo brooch factory. Cameo is a shell.

To get into Pompeii (the sea used to come right up to the gates) the Romans had to sail to the stone ramp and then take a chariot that was waiting for them up the ramp into Pompeii. We walked up the ramp and into a museum. There was a man covered in lava in a glass case and in another, a dog. There was lots of ornaments that had been preserved by lava and also a chariot wheel. We saw an olive-oil press and further in we saw some Cornish lead drainpipes.

After lunch we went to Solfatara a semi-extinct volcano next to Vesuvius. We went into the crater which had a hollow crust of ash. In some places it had burst open and it stank of sulphur and it was rather warm. A patch had been fenced off and I found out it was hot bubbling mud. Then I bought a souvenir flag. There were men trying to sell fool’s gold watches for £2 and what I thought were fake Parker 51’s for £1. We put our clocks and watches on one hour.