Today was the final day in Naples and it was a great one!

It was an early start to get to the bus by 7am and head over to Mt. Vesuvius. Today was pretty hazy so you couldn’t see that far. We reached the bus parking lot and had to hang out for awhile before they opened the gate to allow you to hike up. So I went to one of the souvenir shops and got my post card and shot glass. There were a couple of stray dogs around so I did my best to stay away from them because I have no desire to get ticks or fleas!

They opened the gate at 9am and we started our journey up the mountain. They handed out walking sticks right inside the gate so I gladly took one with me. It was a mellow hike up to the top of the mountain and it started to clear up a bit while we were walking. It ended up being really nice that it was hazy because it kept the temperature down.

We finally reached the top and were able to see all the way across the opening of the volcano. The volcano is overdue for erupting so it’s a good thing that I got to see it now before it blows again. After taking a million pictures at the top we began our walk around the rim of the volcano. We were able to walk about 3/4 the way around the volcano and see it from every angle.

I have never hiked up to the top of a volcano before so I didn’t really know what to expect to see from the top. It turn out you can not see very far down into the mouth of the volcano. It looks a lot like a giant crater that you can see the bottom of. Its like the hole of the volcano fills in with dirt and when it decides to blow it bursts through the dirt.

As we were walking around there were areas that you could see steam coming out of the dirt in the mouth of the volcano. I have a feeling that it will erupt soon since we have had so many natural disasters in the world recently.

We were up so high in the sky as well that we were walking through the clouds. It was really cool to be in the clouds, almost like floating! We had a good amount of time to walk around and explore before making our way back down the volcano.

Turns out the walking stick was a really good idea because it was very slippery on the way down. We loaded back on to the bus and made our way back to the ship.

Once we got back we only had a couple of hours before on-ship time. I decided to take a long shower and relax because I had no desire to go back out in Naples. It turns out that the Italian Mafia owns the garbage companies in Naples. The Mafia of course decided that they wanted more money so they went on strike and refused to pick up the garbage until the government would give them more money. The strike ended about 2 weeks before we got to Naples, so that was a large reason that the city was so covered in trash.

Around 4:30 my roommate and I headed up to the 7th deck to go to the "4th of July" / "Canada Day" barbeque. We were able to get seats because we were early, so we just relaxed (in the scorching heat) and people watched. 10 minutes till 5pm we lined up because the BBQ was supposed to start at 5. We got to be the first ones in line, but the crew was told that the BBQ was to start at 5:30 so we ended up standing in line for quite awhile. Some people decided that they did not want to stand in line and that ended up being a huge mistake. By the time they opened up and allowed us to get our food, the line was all the way around the pool.

The had there standard salad which I avoided, and rolls. But then came the good stuff, baked mac and cheese, ribs, burgers, baked beans, and corn. I piled my plate so high I thought everything was going to fall off. Some people even decided to get 2 plates and load them up with food. It was the best food that the ship has had so far.

They also had an entire desert table and 2 huge cakes, one for the US and one for Canada. It was a really good time, and they even almost ran out of food by the time they finished serving people.

After being out in the sun all day I headed back into my room to relax and study a bit. Turns out that the BBQ smoke made me smell like a giant fire pit. I had to take a shower and febreeze my clothing to make the smell go away (I don’t get laundry again until after Turkey).

It was a great day, but I am so excited to get out of Naples and on to Dubrovnik!!!!