So we have left Naples and are heading towards Pompeii when our guide tells us that on our left is Mount Vesuvius and we are now entering the red zone. The importance of the red zone is that it is the first area to be evacuated in case of an eruption - a very comforting thought.
Mount Vesuvius is still active and erupts every approx 70 years with the last eruption being in 1944. It is now 2011 - you do the maths and work out when it is due to go off again. Anyway we survived the day and live to tell the tale.
Pompeii is an intriguing experience. The city was covered with 45ft of volcanic ash when it Vesuvius erupted on 24 August 79AD. It was the poisonous gas that killed the inhabitants not the ash. The eruption produced so much ash that the coastline changed - Pompeii was a port city but the coast is now several kilometers away. They actually built over Pompeii before discovering it's remains.
The city is fascinating. The ruins in some parts are just that ruins but in other areas you can still see the original paint work on the walls and the tiled floors.
We met a few Australian couples on the tour some of whom we hope to catch up with upon our return to Perth.
We got back to Rome at 10.30pm, some 15 hours after we left our hotel and it only takes 18 hours to fly from Perth to Italy so it was a long day.
We went to one of the ristorantes around the Trevi that we have found and had a drink and a pizza then fought our way through the crowds back to the hotel.