Italy 2010 (Naples to Rome)

October 25: Picture of the day Part I (from last night actually)

Naples could be livable as long as you had no sense of sight or smell and didn't mind the constant honking of car horns. Pompeii, on the other hand, is awesome! It's like a slightly larger Cortona. The B&B is very nice and the owner is like the ones we had in Ireland who were very helpful. It turns out that we took the wrong train so it took a little longer to walk there than expected, but we got to see a lot of the town. Today we're going to explore the ruins of Pompeii!

October 25: Not an official picture of the day

but still a nice one. It's a steel girder from the world trade center and commemorates the lives lost in Sept 11. A number of people from Pompeii died as well.

October 25: Picture of the day Part II (Pompeii Ruins)

We managed to get lost in the ruins of Pompeii. The city was massive! Luckily there were some other tourists to follow so we found our way out. As Pompeii is known for its stray dogs, we weren't surprised when one of them followed us back to our B&B. We didn't think Fabio would appreciate the additional guest so we left him outside. Tomorrow we head to Sorento and Capri, assuming the weather cooperates.

October 26: Picture of the day (a bit late) (Pompeii)

Well, my Crackberry charger went TU overnight so my Crackberry had to stay back at the B&B today. Luckily, Steve's charger worked for it so I'm connected to the outside world again!
The weatherman claimed that we would have light showers today, but, as usual, they were wrong. So, we swam through the streets of Pompeii to catch the train to Sorento and the ferry to Capri. Because of the weather, we were not able to take the boat tours of the grottos so we just walked around the town admiring the views. The rain didn't let up except when we were inside eating lunch so we headed back to Sorento to do some shopping (Dave's favorite pastime) and then back to Pompeii.
The rain has stopped and we are now sitting at dinner discussing why vampires are better than werewolves (vampires don't get fleas). Tomorrow we start the final leg of the trip - Rome.

October 27: Picture of the day Part I (Train Station in Naples)

An Italian post office is something of an adventure. It was made more fun by the fact that the postal workers knew as much English as we did Italian. Brandy and I got our packages shipped and now we just have to hope they find their way to the US.

Then back on the commuter train to Naples so we can catch the train to Rome. We still didn't see any of the riots the newspapers are reporting, but there's still plenty of trash. Dave feels cheated about not being able to join the fun. As long as we stay in the train station, we're safe from the smell. I think we're going to wait till Rome for lunch. :)

October 27: Picture of the day Part II (Riot Gear)

We have police in riot gear in the train station, but I don't think the riders are to that point yet. One train is 75 minutes late, but the VRE has managed to be a lot later without the need for professionals.

October 27: Picture of the day Part III (Rome)

After navigating the catacombs of Rome, we made it through the metro system and up to the streets and finally made it to our hotel. Brandy is happy that she doesn't have to share a room with Dave and I. Apparently his snoring was drowning out the street noise.

Tomorrow we get to wake early to head for the Vatican. We're also going to the Spanish Steps and to see a beautiful garden. There aren't supposed to be any statues of naked midgets on turtles so Steve is disappointed. So, off to bed so we can get up early!