You drive up a very steep and windy road for about 8 miles, park in the lot and then make your way up the rest of the way on foot. Before we went, I read other people's accounts of their hike up and how their 3 year old was able to do it with no problem and so my hope was that my almost 2 year old, who is big for his age and pretty active, might be able to walk up on his own for at least part of it. Negative. After the first hill he was done so I had to carry him slung onto my back the rest of the way. That was my workout for the day! And even though Dante was freezing, he made it the whole way up just holding my hand.
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| The first hill |
The view of the Bay of Naples was awesome! Unfortunately it was a bit foggy but it was still a spectacular sight.
Looking down into the crater was much different than I thought it would look. I imagined it to be this black, rocky, desolate hole without any sign of life but it wasn't! You can see grass and trees and flowers growing on the dark rocky surface. If you forget for a moment that you are looking into the crater of a volcano, just look for the steam coming up from it and you will quickly respect its potential. I read that the volcanic lava is very fertile and brings forth cherry tomatoes, sweet apricots, mountain cherries, hazelnuts, peaches, and wine!
All in all this was a pretty quick trip, only about an hour of our time, but one I hope the kids will remember. When will they ever get another chance to hike to the top of a volcano?
