On the coach journey to Sorrento, everyone kept their eyes peeled for Vesuvius's darkly famous double-peaked silhouette. All of a sudden it seemed to appear, and for the rest of the holiday it was never far away, always towering on the horizon. For those that have watched the BBC programme 'Pompeii: The Last Day', the final words which I added to the pic were most fitting when it was in full view!



The amphitheatre of Pozzuoli, the third largest amphitheatre in Italy.



This was a very interesting part of the trip. This was taken in the crater of the volcano Solfatara, a dormant but still very much alive outlet for its sister Vesuvius.



Jets of steam burst from small holes in the crater at about 160 degrees C, the ground is warm to the touch, and if you throw a rock at the ground, you can hear how hollow the plug of the crater is! This is some of the people on the trip going in to 'Hell', a small sauna fueled by the jets of sulphurous steam. Temperatures in it reach 90 degrees C, so you can only stay in for a matter of seconds before running out 'like hell'



Here you can see the sulphur deposits from the gases.



This mud is over boiling point at the bottom, so no mud baths here



Here is a very short video whilst I was standing in the most active part of the crater. It would have been longer, only the wind suddenly changed direction and blew the steam directly towards me, which instantly condensed all over me and the camera lense!

Much more coming!