
On the last leg of our Mediterranean cruise, the ship passed
through the Straits of Messina, on its way back from
Theres a lot of truth in the saying "Its always darkest
before dawn," and I really dont know what made me get up early to see it.
After all, on that very cruise, wed been driven around the lower slopes of
Vesuvius, and told we could have seen
Fellow passengers had been on the hike to the summit of
So, the hot-drink station was my first port of call, after
which I went out on the deck with my coffee. Would I see
But, quite a few passengers had gathered on the deck, so, presumably, we would see something?
Soon, the volcanos classic cone shape loomed out of the darkness, and the crew considerately doused the lights on deck. And, as we watched, the volcano coughed! All right, it wasnt a great eruption, but the momentary red glare of upflung lava against the night sky, the shower of sparks and the smoke drew "oohs" and "ahs" from the watching passengers, like a firework display.
I began to curse myself for not bringing my camcorder with me. "Bet it doesnt do that for another hundred years!" I said to a couple standing next to me. And, scarcely were the words out of my mouth when it happened again!
This time, it was slightly more powerful than the first
but
As it became lighter, and
I remembered the coffee, and took a couple of cups down to
the cabin, where
"You really missed something!" I said.
"No, I didnt!" she replied, pointing to the television screen. "You can get the ships webcam on that!"