...in a future generation, when crops spring up again, when this wasteland regains its green, will men believe that cities and peoples lie beneath? That in days of old their lands lay closer to the sea? Nor has that fatal summit ceased to threaten.

– Statius, Silvae, A.D. 90s

•••

“The peak of the volcano is only accessible by foot. The landscape changes again, becoming ragged, grey and lunar-like. The top is often completely shrouded by clouds, and the trail around the crater offers only periodic glimpses of the otherwise impressive views towards the Bay of Naples on one side and Pompeii on the other. The geothermal steam from the fissures in the crater mixes with the cloud formations and makes the whole experience quite otherworldly”

•••

“Naples is a whirlwind of action. It is a city that embraces life, beauty and decay in equal measure. The Neapolitans have long learned to live with the threat of death and destruction and this seems a natural way of daily life in the city. There is an unconcerned let's-just-get-on-with-it attitude that permeates every bit of life here”