Positano

Took a bus to Positano this morning. Italian engineers must be crazy, as they have built a tiny twisty road on a cliff. although i think the bus drivers must be crazier. the views were fantastic. And Positano is lovely. Quiet, as no cars can come down into town, sunny, but with a nice breeze. and the house builders were just as crazy as the road builders. The houses seem to just cling to the hillside, as if they might choose to jump off at any time. god forbid an earthquake happens.

Went to Pompeii and Herculaneum yesterday. Pompeii is overwhelmingly large. Discovered that wearing sandals is a painful way to walk on uneven ruins. Who knew? After 4 hours or so, ruins all begin to look alike, so with a dead camera battery and hurting ankles, I headed back to Sorrento. Tomorrow I shall actually explore Sorrento before heading back to Rome for one last Italian dinner (and gelato...there must be gelato).

Ciao

Roma...continued

I've decided that I like Rome quite a lot. It feels like a real city that even if you took out all the old stuff and the holy stuff, it would still be a great city that people would want to come to...like NYC. We saw old stuff yesterday, which was pretty impressive. The forum apparently spent several hundred years buried under what the called a cow pasture until someone tripped over a column top and decided to dig it up. It amazes me what they used to be able to build with what machines and technology they possessed. And it's generally a heck of a lot prettier than anything that's built now. Today is holy stuff day..we're off to the Vatican Museum and St. Pete's after this.

In somewhat unnerving news, there is some sort of demonstration happening outside the internet cafe as I type. Something about military, but it's italian, which i don't entirely get. So we'll be scurrying in the opposite direction to the Vatican. Just in case.

And it's official...I'm coming home early. I decided that in the 'down' time i spend doing not a whole lot, i'll be thinking of all the things i could be doing at home, which would kill the relaxing purpose of doing nothing. So i'll have a day of nothing, and then leave on Wed. on practically the same flights, although i'll have a 5 hour layover at Heathrow. Scones and tea anyone?

ciao

Roma

So apparently, in Rome, you have to be mean to the people trying to get you to buy roses, or else they won't leave you alone. It's incredibly frustrating. According to B, it feels just like NYC. Our apartment is, special. Apparently, there is an on/off switch for the water heater...which wasn't discovered until after we both had showered...coldly. Nothing like starting the day with a cold shower. We went to the Borghese Gallery last evening, which was spectacular, lots of Bernini sculptures, and took Rick Steve's night stroll, which took us from Campi di Fiori, which is where we're staying, to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and ends at the Spanish Steps...which we didn't get to. We were accosted by rose sellers at the Trevi Fountain. Thought about tossing them in, but that seemed a little rude. Today is the old stuff day, so we'll be visiting the colloseum, forum, pantheon by day. Tomorrow is holy day, all the vatican stuff. Then B leaves and i head for Naples and Sorrento. I am, however, ready to go home. Apparently 3 weeks is about my tolerance level for living out of a suitcase and wearing the same clothes. I figure I'll see naples, pompeii, and sorrento, and maybe positano, and then try to come home early. We'll see how british airways cooperates with that. (and that doesn't mean i'll be into work any sooner).

ciao.

Siena...continued

So far, the duomo in Siena has been my favorite. Some of the pillars are striped the beetlejuice in sand snake form, the ceilings look a little like the sky, and sadly, the marble inlay details have been rubbed off, but they are still impressive. Quite the beautiful church. And we saw St. Catherine's head. It apparently, along with her thumb, has been preserved in the church of san domenica for some creepy reason. Not quite sure what it is with the catholic church and preserving people's dead bits in pretty housings, but it's a little creepy.

Speaking of the catholic church, we are headed to Rome tomorrow. We'll see the Borghese Gallery tomorrow, have the ancient day on thursday and the holy day on friday (meaning the vatican). they only recommend (they being rick steves) 3-4 hours in the Vatican museum, which doesn't seem enough, but i imagine the place is pretty overwhelming.

I found the chocolate that i was hunting for and totally missed getting in florence. i also found hot black boots, which makes me very happy. so the goals of italy have been accomplished. have also done some clothes shopping, which is interesting. here you generally don't have salespeople offering to help you. in one store, they even seemed a little resentful that i asked for a different size. i don't know if it was the store or just the custom. at any rate, my fall/winter clothes shopping should be done by the time i get home.

We've had a very laid back couple of days in siena, which was nice. was planning on renting a smart car and driving about, but none were available, so we took a nap and read books instead. neither of us were really that into exploring other hill towns, so siena has been our brief respite before the business of Rome. and b will go home on saturday morning and i will start the super relaxing part of the trip. i'm on disc 12 of my book...on 16 left. perhaps it'll get finished in Positano.

ciao

Made it to Siena

I am sitting in an internet cafe instead of going to dinner because we needed to make reservations for one of the museums in Rome, and it was on the way. My decision to have us stay slightly out of the center was probably not a great one. It's a 20 minute hike slightly uphill to the center of town. The place we're staying is beautiful though. I'll probably be able to upload some pictures from this cafe...hopefully. We have a gorgeous view out of our window of the town and down hill to the valley. It's impressive.

Florence was wonderful. Didn't make it to the chocolate place...some things are closed on sunday and some are open...chocolate shops are not...so plans to get Amadei chocolate will have to change. We went to the Uffizi Gallery where I was overloaded on art. Discovered that I really like some of Boticelli's work, especially the birth of Venus (which everyone likes) . See above.

I still have not found leather boots, but I have not given up hope. In other news, I think we are going to rent a Smart car on Wednesday and go exploring the hill towns of Tuscany. The sights of Siena can be done in a day or less...it's just a good city to explore, quiet and hopefully relaxing.

Ciao