Hilary Seabrook - writer, podcaster, musician

We began today by leaving behind the stunning Il San Cristoforo hotel and the view of Mount Vesuvius behind. A short taxi ride to the station and we were off on the penultimate leg of our Interrail journey. The journey began with a delightful route that took us north while we could still see Vesuvius, although today it was shrouded in cloud. We were lucky yesterday that just a few wisps of clouds sat below us and they didn’t obscure our view. Heading north, the train was a little late. As the journey continued, the delay worsened so much for Italian trains always running on time. In fact, the train into Milan was 28 minutes late, which meant we missed our connection. After waiting a while on the station among the dozens of other delayed passengers, we were all told to head to the Locarno train on platform 6 and to change at Lugano. As you can imagine, the details got somewhat lost in translation, but we at least had seats and the swift change went smoothly, so we were only a little o...

Visiting Mount Vesuvius was another bucket list item, and it was good to hike it after seeing the damage wreaked by its last major eruption in 79AD. Halfway up Mount Vesuvius The coach ride from Ercolano station was certainly entertaining. The driver insisted on honking his horn at every junction and turn in the road and it was only when we encountered similar bus loads of tourists coming in the opposite direction that it became clear. These drivers are doing the journey several times a day, but I’m not sure I would ever want to undertake it in my own vehicle. As we navigated the winding road from town to the hike departure point, we passed a number of cafes and bars, as well as car parks and people hiking in all directions on the mountain. It’s obviously a web of trails across the lava-strewn landscape that attracts many hikers. A few stalwart groups were on the road, heading for the summit and dodging the traffic. If that journey wasn’t fraught enough, arriving at the coach drop off ...

Wandering around Herculaneum was an eye-opening experience, particularly building upon our trip to Pompeii yesterday. The difference between the two sites is significant: Pompeii was larger but less well preserved. In Herculaneum, there are roofs, stairs and ceilings that contribute to provide more of an insight into the terrible tragedy of the 79AD eruption of Vesuvius.  Standing in a room brings home the concept of people’s everyday lives that were torn apart in just a few hours. Only a small proportion of the old Roman town has been excavated, with the remainder under the modern streets. A tantalising set of tunnels and stone arched entrances hint at the streets and houses still buried. Apparently, early digging elsewhere close to modern buildings revealed an amphitheatre that may never be fully visible. An especially poignant element of the excavation reveals the skeletons of people caught on the edge of the harbour, taking shelter in buildings that have become their tombs. The...

  Pompeii was another bucket list trip that proved to be as exciting and interesting as hoped for. Taking the train to reach this point makes this trip so much more interesting and has given plenty of time to research the tragedy of the Vesuvius eruption.  Sitting as it does at the base of Vesuvius, Pompeii serves as a reminder of the human inability to beat nature when she turns against us. In 79AD, around 12,000 people lived in the town and the eye witness account from Pliny (which I studied at school) provides an account from just across the bay. Thousands of people lost their lives in just one day and the lava which covered the city preserved it for us to see now. The stories of crowds were thankfully untrue as we visited: there were a number of tour guides leading large parties, but surprisingly few. We had a whole day to explore the city - walking from side to side and top to bottom. All while Vesuvius loomed in the distance.

The UK rock band Pink Floyd has been an important part of my life - notably because I was ASsistant to the Producer of The Wall, Berlin 1990 . Having played a role in the performance of The Wall  at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin just months after the fall of the actual Berlin Wall, it was fascinating that I had missed all discussion of the Pink Floyd live gig in Pompeii in 1972. When we walked through the entrance of Pompeii's amphitheatre, I could hear Pink Floyd's music and snippets of interviews coming from the underground passageways. Just a few days earlier, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets had performed in the amphitheatre and there was an exhibition of images from both that and the 1972 gig.   It was fascinating to see Roger Waters (who I had known quite well through the early 1990s) as a younger man both singing and talking in film footage. Although Pink Floyd had never been one of my favourite bands, I love much of their music and particularly some of their iconic t...

 We’re now halfway through our interrail expedition of Europe and we have settled into a wonderful hotel in the shadow of Vesuvius. The plan is to explore Pompeii, Herculaneum and the mountain itself while we’re based here. The short train journey from Rome to Naples was somewhat enhanced by the misfortune of a young man who deposited his elderly mother into her seat next to mine, before heading off the train. We had reassured him in our broken Italian that we would help her off the train in Milan. As the train pulled out of Rome, we were all torn between dismay and amusement by the son’s return to our carriage - he had failed to leave the train and would be joining our journey. Our arrival in Naples went perfectly until we tried to board the train to take us along the coastal road to Herculaneum. Other passengers at the bus stop informed that either we didn’t need a ticket at all (unlikely) or that we should get one in the train station. I ran around to no avail and we ended up ge...

As we wandered through the rooms of Rome’s marvellous Castel Sant’Angelo, I kept hearing snatches of piano and couldn’t work out the source. Finally, we arrived in a central courtyard to find a pianist sound-checking for his sold-out concert that evening. I later discovered him to be David Dileo , who creates soundscapes using piano and electronics in an extraordinary way. It was wonderful to hear Davide playing, and particularly in an informal way during his afternoon preparations. I shall definitely be seeking out more of his music and hope to be able to chat with him for Harmonious World .