1936 On the Continent

more than a mile away, have lunch, then drive on to the picturesque Capo Miseno, returning to Naples by the Baia-Napoli railway line.
Ischia
    On the following day you will visit the islands of Procida and Ischia. From May 1st till October 31st there are two steamers daily, and thereafter one, to the two islands. Procida really consists of two volcanic craters and is the largest island in the Bay. Ischia is also nothing more than a single crater and a mass of lava, continuously shaken by earthquakes. The small seaside towns are connected by adequate motor roads. An interesting place to visit is the palace on the tiny island close to Ischia, where VittoriaColonna, Michelangelo’s sweetheart, was brought up. The hot springs of Casmicciola, recommended for rheumatism, are also interesting. The temperature of the water bubbling forth from the earth is at boiling point.
    The hotels on Ischia are rather primitive, but correspondingly cheap.
Vesuvius
    The crater of Vesuvius can most conveniently be reached by the funicular railway. The price of a combined ticket for the return journey from Naples and for access to the crater is 99.30 lire; it can be purchased at No. 11 Via Partenopea. Vesuvius is one of the smallest volcanoes in the world, but also the most notorious owing to its eruption in A.D. 79, which destroyed the towns of Pompeii, Herculanum and Stabia which lay at the foot of the mountain. Before the eruption there were gay vineyards and charming little villages on the mountain. Since the first great eruption thirty-four further eruptions have occurred—the last in 1929—each time involving loss of life and property. The most terrible eruptions occurred in the year 1631, after an interval of 131 years, when the villages that had risen round the volcano, together with their inhabitants, were destroyed, and in the years 1871 and 1872, when the havoc wrought by Vesuvius shocked the whole world. However, even after the most terrible eruptions the inhabitants have returned to the devastated fields and have started a new life on the cold lava, which provides extremely fertile agricultural soil. The
Osservatorio
on the slope of Vesuvius has been established to watch the activities of the volcano. Close to the
Osservatorio
is the “Eremo” hotel where good meals can be obtained.
Pompeii, Herculanum
    Excellent autostradas lead to Pompeii and Herculanum. It is best to visit both towns with one of the conducted parties organised by the C.I.T., partly because this is far less expensive than hiring a separate motor-car to take you round, and partly because you will learn about the nature of the various ruins from the official guides with greater certainty and in greater comfort than if you go by yourselfand rely only on guide-books and maps. The guides of Pompeii and Herculanum are like those tried non-commissioned officers in the Artillery who can aim a big gun by sheer judgment far more precisely than their superiors do with the aid of their involved calculations, and it is therefore entirely superfluous to “check up” on the statements of these guides. These people were born in Pompeii and Herculanum, have loitered round the excavations in their childhood, and many of them possess detailed knowledge that any archeologist might envy.
Realism
    It is difficult to decide what to write about Pompeii and Herculanum. Every child knows what they are, if not from Bulwer Lytton’s novel, then from those dozens of films dealing with the tragedy of the two towns destroyed by Vesuvius. But a visit will give you the fascination of personal experience that no novel or film can provide. Walking in the wonderfully preserved streets, between shops, villas and palaces, the visitor expects at any moment to see, rounding the corner, some distinguished Roman citizen in his toga, youths in tunics, or Roman girls with their ebony hair knotted into a “bun.” The frescoes and sculptures indicate that the morals of these two towns could not have been particularly strict. The caretakers are not allowed by official regulations to show these paintings and sculptures to lady visitors, yet I have never met a female visitor who has not seen them! How do they accomplish it? The probable answer is that the new lira possesses the same fascination as did the currency of antiquity. If you have seen Pompeii you need not visit Herculanum as well, yet it is worth while doing so, for recent excavations have brought to light a number of wonderful sculptures