16 | iet Season Mediterranean Guide
EXPLORING ITALY ON
A MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE
Later that day, winding our way along
impossibly narrow roads lined with orange
prickly pear, we arrived at the Sicilian village
of Savoca. Perching on the edge of the stone
fence in the medieval village we ate freshly
baked pizza while over our shoulder, snow-
capped Mount Etna was gently blowing off
some steam. And just a day later we marvelled
at the dangerous beauty of Mount Vesuvius in
Naples, her layer of volcanic ash immaculately
preserving the city of Pompeii.
While my sisters and I leapt across the stepping
stones which were laid to stop citizens' togas
from dragging in the dirt, we stopped to rub
our hands in the grooves in the pavement, left
behind by the chariots that had been pushed
through the city gates two thousand years ago.
Our exclamations of wonder soon quietened
when our guide showed us a plaster cast of
a girl trying to protect her face from deadly
volcanic gases. This, along with the other
plaster casts of people and animals, captures
so movingly the precious and precarious
nature of life.
The four of us were determined not to miss
a moment of our trip, so when we had a day
C HURC H OF ST NICOL A , SAVOC A , SIC ILY, ITA LY
MT V ESU V IUS , P OMPEII , ITA LY
