By Lakshmi:

At every part of our visit to Pompeii, it was impossible to escape the impact of the wrath of Mt. Vesuvius.  The eruption of this volcano in 79 A.D. buried an entire city.  Needless to say, a visit to Pompeii would be incomplete without a visit to Mt. Vesuvius.  Our entire family decided to spend an afternoon climbing to the top of its crater, a journey that was filled with laughter, intensity and pain that was rewarded with the most amazing vistas at the end.