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Mountain Climbing???

Our first stop on our trip was to Naples Italy, where we had signed up to visit Mt. Vesuvious and the ancient city of Pompeii. Mt. Vesuvious is a volcano that destroyed much of Naples, and all of Popmeii in 79 AD. We went on this trip with my sister and her husband, Wes and my aunt and uncle.

The drive was beautiful, but as we talked about the day ahead, my sister asked us why we chose to hike up the mountain as our excursions, seeing as we had a child and a pregnant woman.... hmmm? Good question.... Ignorance to what we had sign up for I guess!

It wasn't until we began hiking that I realized how we might not have chosen the best outing for us! The picture below is on the path we had to climb up to the top of the mountain. We were given walking sticks, because the ground was all loose gravel, and without it, you would slip very easily.

I had to stop many times during our mountain climb, but finally made it to the top, to be above the clouds! As we got higher, the air got cooler, making it a nicer climb. I think the spiral walkway from the road to the crater was 3/4 a mile long... so we walked 1.5 miles just to the top and back with quite a steep slope!

My wonderful husband, and my hero of the trip, carried our little boy in a backpack carrier (thank you mom and dad!) all the way up the mountain! It was not an easy hike, but he did it without complaint!

The view was amazing... this crater is what is left from the devistating erruption.


We stopped at a refreshment stand to get water, and enjoy the high view of Naples.

My favorite boys!

Nice incline right!!!!

Enjoying the view from the top and a break from the backpack!

Tyler fell asleep on the way down the mountain. Poor thing couldn't keep straight in the backpack, so he kept flopping over to one side!

At the bottom of the climb, we survived! Tyler still asleep in the back!

After we cooled off and drank some water, we headed to Pompeii, where we had lunch and Gelato! After a short break, we headed into the ancient city ruins for a walking tour. This was incredible to see how well preserved this city was! Again, we didn't realize how long we wold be walking... this took another hour or so.... but it was totally worth it.

Aunt Becky and Uncle Nick outside the city walls.

The theater, where they would fit 900 people. This area was half the size of the "bowl" at CLC.

Tyler asleep again in the backpack! We couldn't have done half of the tour without that thing!

I peeked through a gate to see this garden. It was just such a beautiful surprise amoungts all the old ruins.
This was a garden in a palace that was over 10, 000 sq feet in size. It took up the whole square block on one street. We saw the bath houses, the temples, the gyms, and many homes and business centers. It really was quite amazing.

Our little sweaty boy having a bottle break!

This was the city center, with the ruins of a temple behind us. And further behind that you can see Mt Vesuvious. We were wearing a thing called a "whisper" around our neck and ear. That enabled our tour guide to be talking to us while we were quite a bit away, without her straining to shout or us missing anything.

The thing we were most amazed about was the size of the city and the structures. Things were very large and very detailed. It was amazing. There were moments you could hardly believe that you were walking where a civilization once lived thousands of years ago! It really made history come alive for us, and Jordan and I both love that kind of stuff.

This was the city wall, as we were leaving!

As soon as we got back to our room, Tyler was so happy to sleep in the crib. After we all had showered he got very hyper and played on our bed for half an hour! We were all exhausted, but loved the day. This was such a neat experience.

The sunset view from our room as we left the coast of Naples!

The next day was a "day at sea" where we were traveling to the next port. Tyler loved the reflection of himself in the balcony door. He even danced with himself!

My cutie pie!

Watching the "wa-wa" go by... We spent much of this day getting settled,playing in the baby pool with Tyler, and exploring the boat.


Next stop, Dubrovnik, Croatia!

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