Our group had a coach bus today to take us on our expedition. I do appreciate Oak Hall trips. They’re fun, well organised, thoughtful, you meet interesting people from all walks of life, the evening talks are stimulating and encouraging, and you go on fascinating excursions.

This morning we headed north for about an hour, skirting round Naples to the bottom of Mt. Vesuvius. When we got to the slopes of Vesuvius, the road changed and became very narrow and on the steep mountainsides, the road switchbacks are very, very tight. If you meet oncoming traffic – which wasn’t many- they have to pull right, right over and stop while the bus squeezes past with barely centimetres to spare. We were all very impressed with his driving. (By the way, if you walk past a row of cars in any street, it is very rare to find a car around here that does not have dings or side swipes!) The trees grew thickly on both sides of the road for a lot of the drive up the mountain.

The black rock you can see below is a lava flow from a “moderate” volcanic eruption that happened in 1976. Two villages were destroyed, but the people had enough warning to escape and no-one was injured or died.

It was half an hour’s drive from the bottom of the mountain to get to the hiking trail where there’s tourist “tat” and portaloos, and the start of the wide, steep, loose, friable lava hiking path up to the crater.

Beautiful wildflowers growing on the sides and the sweet scent of abundant, yellow-flowering broom filled the air. I asked Philip to pick up some tiny pebbles of lava to take back to our grandchildren. He was reluctant – was it stealing? – but there’s no signs anywhere that you can’t do it – and there’s lava everywhere! And as he’s the ex-geography teacher he’d know what to pick up. I didn’t want to just pick up ordinary stones.

My photos don’t show how steep the climb really was. It took between 20 to 30 minutes of steady climbing to reach the crater and then there’s also a track around the rim of the crater for part of the way. A long way down to the bottom of the crater.

There’s just wisps of steam escaping the crater now. But hard to photograph as the clouds came in and we were enveloped in cloud. In the photo below, the lower wispy “cloud” on the right is steam coming out from the rocks of the volcano.

The wisps of clouds danced and dipped as they encountered the edge of one side of the crater, and then the clouds skirted around the crater.

The volcano is constantly monitored all the time for seismic activity, and they’ve also put in conservation efforts for the plants and wildlife.

If you look at the very tip of this photo of the rocks, there’s a falcon. They have a nest in the crater, but my attempted close-up photo of it didn’t work out.

It was fascinating and I loved every minute of it. I bet my legs will feel it tomorrow! The guide at the top of the crater also said that the people of Pompei in 79AD would have died quickly from the volcanic gases before the ash and lava covered them.

When you consider the power of some forces of nature – the huge explosion that volcanoes create, or the strength of tsunami waves or cyclonic winds, we are kidding ourselves or delusional if we think we’re in charge of this world!

Back down the steep path to the bus b which drove us back down the narrow, switchback road to drive on fast freeways to a Basilica in Naples where they’ve uncovered catacombs from 2nd century AD when Christians were being persecuted.

Eating our packed lunches on steps of 20th century Basilica – catacombs underneath. Can you see Philip?

Originally the catacombs started as the tomb of a noble family who provided spaces for the Christians. It’s very cool in the catacombs and the roof is much higher – up to six metres high – than the Roman catacombs because of the type of rock. You can see all the pickaxe marks on the walls and rooves. All the bones were removed in the 1870s and buried elsewhere in Naples. Many of the rock burial spaces are heartbreakingly small – 40% of children did not make it to two years of age.

The catacombs have been used for several centuries, for burials and for worship. Even now there’s a place there where Mass is celebrated. The catacombs are a huge space on two levels with 3,000 burials they’ve found, and they haven’t unearthed it all yet. Frescoes on the walls of the graves of rich people depict who they are. Those further down the social ladder got burial places in the walls or floor.

These frescoes on the ceilings show Adam and Eve. There’s also David and Goliath and favourite saints. All in very fragile condition and conserved properly. They are similar in style and colour to the frescoes in Pompei.

The workers who made the catacombs carved some of the rock walls to make arches to look like a church. They made an altar and carved a baptismal pool out of the rock.

At the end of the tour, the young man who was our guide took us next door to an old 14th century (I think) church with high ceilings and told us such an inspiring story. In the 1980s a young, energetic priest came to the church with a vision to show that this part of Naples could be more than Mafia and criminality. Through his efforts, he’s created a different pathway for some of the young people there, using the church, art and culture. The guide said he’d learnt English as a result and was now gainfully employed as a guide at the catacombs under the Basilica.

Such a fabulous day. Walking in the clouds around the crater and mountainsides. Going underground to hear and see inspiring stories of early Christians who persevered there through such hard, hard times. Hearing the recent story of a priest who’s helped to continue changing lives now and into the future.

Philip has just got back from a walk to a nearby gelato shop for his evening gelato. He took this photo – across the Bay looking at Mt Vesuvius encircled by the lights of Naples/Napoli.