Yesterday we hiked up to the castle overlooking Naples, but some of us (not mentioning any names) felt the need to step it up today. There is a volcano near here – you may have heard of it … Mt Vesuvius – and they decided to hike to the top.

I hadn’t felt the need to be more energetic today so I don’t have all the details about the hike. But I’ll provide as much detail as I can. For openers, they had to hike five km from the train station before they even entered the park, and from there the trail grew steeper. At the end of the day they had hiked nearly 30 km and climbed more than 1,000 meters up.

From the top, they had stunning views over Naples. They could even see where we stood yesterday to take pictures of Mt Vesuvius.

Once they reached the top, they could walk most of the way around the caldera. Mt Vesuvius is technically still an active volcano so there is an element of danger, though it has been over 80 years since a significant eruption.

And then it was time to head down because they had to get down before the park gates were locked.

I’m including this next picture to show that I’m not the only one who likes to take pictures of flowers.

That covers the day for those who felt the need to step it up today. The others thought it made more sense to take it easy. So we took the train to Pompeii to scope things out. While we were there, lunch seemed like a good idea.

You may laugh, but it’s important to scope out how things work, like where to get your train ticket back to Naples. We almost missed our train because the people before us hadn’t done their homework.

After a rest and a refreshing drink, we headed for Ian’s favourite pizzeria. This time it was quite close, less than a kilometer. I quite like walking through the streets of old Naples. I like the excitement of dodging cars and food delivery motorcycles while walking down the narrow streets.

We had tried to make a reservation, but of course they didn’t take reservations. Why would you when people line up outside?

The pizza was delicious. I’m noticing a pattern in Naples…