Scaling new heights

We did something a little different today - we went on a bus tour. We got picked up in a mini van and were taken to a central point in town where we jumped on another bus that took us up Mt Vesuvius. Well not quite all the way to the top. My Vesuvius is about 1281 metres above sea level and after an approximately 45-minute uphill drive the bus stopped and we all disembarked. It was then another 30-minute walk up a fairly steep gradient to reach the crater. The walk was not too bad but again, it was the 30-degree heat that gets you. The weather was hazy so the view across to Naples was pretty average. We only had a maximum of about half an hour up the top before making the trek down to meet the bus. Going down was definitely harder than going up, especially on the gravelly track, where there was a tendency to slip every now and then. The road was especially narrow and the driver would give three quick toots on his horn before approaching a corner to warn of his imminent approach. We had a couple of close shaves when a bus approached coming in the opposite direction.
Remember how we stayed in a castle about a week ago? Well tonight we stayed in a nunnery! The accommodation was a separate building on the grounds of the convent and we were greeted at the gate by a nun. We had no idea that it was a convent and there was nothing in the booking.com blurb to stay otherwise but the room was very comfortable and we had a good night's sleep. This place had the most expansive vegetable garden, growing everything from tomatoes, courgettes, spring onions, lettuces, beans, to name a few.
The nunnery was in a town called Castellammare di Stabia, which was in the news recently (about 7 weeks ago) for all the wrong reasons. There is a cable car that connects the main part of town with Monte Faito, a small mountain range. A cable snapped, causing a cable car to plunge to the ground and killing 4 people and seriously injuring another. Obviously the cable car is closed for the immediate future.Meer informatie