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After quite a wet start driving to Heathrow airport in spitting rain at 6.00am, by midday we were above the clouds with the rain well behind and below us (or so we thought). As we flew over the Alps and into Naples we got some really clear views below us of the mountains, Vesuvius, and the bay. It took almost two hours to drive from Naples around the winding cliffside roads to Sorrento where we stayed, as we were joined with what felt like the entire city of Sorrento commuting home for the weekend. Our first stop of the night was a farm that grew olives and lemons, made cheese and wines, and raised chickens and pigs. There we had some freshly harvested olives, homemade bread, and freshly made mozzarella and ricotta.

On Saturday we tackled the mountain (which hasn't erupted since 1944, the longest period without an eruption in the past 400 years). Despite the clear skies and Italian sun, it was still October and on the exposed mountainside things could be rather windy and chilly. Despite this, we still got nice and warm from the hike up the mountain. We got some fantastic views of the Bay of Naples and previous lava flows like the one from 1944 that flowed into Naples itself. The top of the volcano smelled like sulphur and could be seen smoking in some areas (though it is at a low risk of erupting). In the evening, we had a chance to explore the maze-like Sorrento (maze-like to me, not some of our expert Y11 navigators (no doubt Silver DofE paying off there) where people purchased a wide variety of jumpers and tops saying 'Italia' or socks and magnets with lemons on them.

My granddad, Ernie Lewis, was an engineer in the Second World War and fought in the North African and Italian Campaign. This meant that he was in Naples in 1944 when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Though he spoke little of his time in the war, he did pass on the story of flying over Mt. Vesuvius mid-eruption. I believe the pictures were taken by him himself, though maybe from someone in his group. The painting was done by a friend of his and shows the vibrant colours of Vesuvius at night from the bay. Our guide on the mountain talked about how Allied soldiers helped with the evacuation of the city; the lava flows moved at three kilometres per hour and it didn't have the same pyroclastic flow from Pompeii so it wasn't the same urgent rush.

On Saturday afternoon we went to Pompeii to see the most famous archaeological site in the world. With only 90 minutes in Pompeii we could scarcely scratch the surface of the vastness of the city. Our tour guide took us to homes that didn't look a day over 1000 years old, baths, brothels, bakeries, and even sections which were still being excavated. For dinner we had freshly made pizzas which, and I cannot stress this enough, were the best pizzas I have ever eaten. On another level.

The rain caught up with us on Sunday! We couldn't get the ferry round to Amalfi and so got the coach instead. Amalfi's Cathedral of St. Andrew was mid-mass as we arrived, which we got to quietly observe, and I climbed the stairs to get a view over the whole town (before getting a specially installed lift back down). More shopping meant half our crew now had shirts which read 'Amalfi' on them. As we drove down the mountain, the roads turned into rushing rivers, the streets into surging streams, as all the rain water got funnelled onto the road and wound its way down the mountain racing us all the way. Upon a triumphant return to Sorrento and the rain cleared up, we had freshly-made gelato before another fantastic dinner was some unbelievably good gnocchi.

Monday began with the tumultuous din of trundling suitcases making their way back through the slender Sorrento streets before we arrived at the only lemon grove that existed within the city itself. After some gelato, we boarded the coach to go to Herculaneum. Herculaneum is the bite-sized Pompeii. You could gain a fuller sense of the town (or at least the section that had been excavated) and in that way it made it easier to marvel at. After another bludgeoning of mind-boggling facts belted into our earpieces at blistering pace, we took to the museum before boarding the coach one last time to go to the airport. After a cheeky diversion back to departures so I could take some snapshots matching up images of Naples airport to a show I like, we were soon on our way home. Late takeoffs, slow transits from Terminal 5, and blocked-off M25s and A21s allowed us to get back to TWGSB at the nice and early time of 1.00am. Back home by 1.30am, in bed by 1.35am.

What followed was one of the most tiring weeks of my life but I wouldn't trade any second of it (except the seconds spent dealing with tender sunburnt skin).

Teacher L Barrett