Capri

Capri is easily one of the most beautiful places on the entire planet. Though we had to travel through Napoli (a complete hole) to get here, it was well worth it. I took a 12 lift to the highest point on the island and spent hours on top of the mountain just looking out at the sea and the town. Today I swam in the Blue Grotto and had dinner at an amazing little restaurant, seated in the garden. The family were the only other people there, but they welcomed us in to join them. After dinner we wandered the streets of Anacapri, lit by little yellow lights chained above the street. It was like something out of the movies. It is paradise here.

Final Day in Roma

Today is my last day in Roma. The group will be here until Monday morning when they bus down to Napoli, but a few of us are heading down early (tomorrow morning), taking a train to Napoli, and then a ferry across to Isola di Capri (that'd be Isle of Capri for all you English speakers). We're spending two days in what some seem to think is the most beautiful place on earth and then meeting up with the group to see the slums of Napoli on Monday.

On Thursday we saw an ancient tomb, had lunch at L'archaeologica (one of the most gorgeous resturants I've been on, and they had fresh pasta made at the restaurant9. We also visted the Baths of Caracalla, which was huge. After that we walked several miles of the ancient Appian Way, where you can still see the ruts and tracks left in the stone thousands of years ago. It was quite amazing.

Today we visited ancient Ostia (Ostia Antica), Rome's original port city. It was postitively massive and the theatre there had a great view of the city. Much of the city is still well preserved and you can wander the same streets that people walked from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. Evan and I went under the Baths of Neptune and explored a tunnel system.

On Wednesday we visited Vatican City and St. Peteràs Basilica, but that was too amazing and needs its own journal entry...when I have more time.

Colloseum and Palatine Hill

Today we had a tour through the Colloseum and Pallatine Hill. Standing on 2000 year old stone pillars has a way of creating a sense of awe. It was an excellent day. I took a ton of pictures and video and can't wait to show everyone. So far I've taken about 4 gigs of footage altogether. At Palatine Hill I got a video of the ruins of bronze age huts that date to about 753 B.C. This would be about the time when Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome in legend.

Rylan and I also went down to our favorite area of the city where we met a girl working in a pizza joint from Chicago. We're probably going to catch up with her tomorrow and let her show us around the city, as she's been studying here for about 2 years. I had some pizza there with fresh tomato, green olives, and capers. It was delicious. For dinner we went out to a place here in Ostia that was fantastico. I wish all of you could taste the pizza and pasta here. It is nothing like what we get back home.

Tomorrow we head out to Vatican City for a tour there and a visit to their museum. For now I'm out and on to bed. I've had only un piccolo sleep since arriving in Roma and it is beginning to wear on me.

Their keyboards are funny

First off I want to let everyone know that the keyboards over here just are not right. The question mark is beside the zero key. the at symbol has a special shift key required. The underscore is just left og the right shift. It's a mess. Every apostrophe requires effort, and if you fail it results in: à. I hope that explains some things.

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. The weather was unpleasant, the streets were crowded, and we came back to Ostia early. This morning several of us went to Mass at a Catcholic cathedral here in Ostia. Obviously I couldn't understand anything (maybe a "Paul" here and a "Jesus" there). An elderly couple renewed their vows, which was nice. Other than that...lots of sitting, standing, and kneeling, but the building was obviously gorgeous.

I know it sounds uneventful, but I'm doing a lot of site seeing tomorrow. All of the typical stuff. It should be fun, but will probably be tiring.

Roma...fantastico

Today was the first day of class. After class we headed in to Rome and spent the day there. My group wandered in Rome without any plan, and managed to see many amazing sites. We found an empty path along a hill that gave us fantastic views of the Forum and other things. We visited private offices, museums, and a hopsital.

At the end of the day we had a fantasic pasta dinner and didnàt get back to Ostia until 11pm. End day due.

Watch Out...Ostia?

So, after much flying we-ve arrived in Italia. Due to the large size of our group we are no longer staying in downtown Roma as planned but rather in Ostia, outside the city. It is on the beach but a distance outside the city itself. Most of us spent the first day exploring the city and then took in some local dining last night. We finished off the evening by buying a few bottles of wine and enjoying them on the beach as the sun set.

And that was day one.

Exodus

The packing is done, I've found a temporary home for my cat (Kevin's mom is keeping her), and I have had my required 2 hours of sleep. Sounds like I'm ready to get this thing going. In about 12 hours of flying, 2 hours of driving, and 6 hours of sitting in airports, I should be in Italy.

Now let's see if the airline can keep their end of this deal.