Old things.

Location: Naples.
State: tired & busy processing loads of overwhelming impressions.

Wednesday we arrived in Rome in the early afternoon. We quickly found our hostel, which was close to the Santa Maria Maggiore Cathedral. The hostel was called 'David's Flat.' And that was a pretty good description of the place. Our room, however, was in fact very luxurious, clean and secure, and we enjoyed the stay.

Then began the wandering through Rome. We visited the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Capitol building, Parliament, meandered along the Tiber river and eventually crossed over into the Vatican. By then it was already getting dark, so the only thing still open to visitors was the Saint Peter's Basilica, but that was more than enough. Rather dizzy with all the marble marvels, we set off to a cozy pizzeria for dinner.

The next day, determined to take advantage of our remaining few hours in the city, we returned to the area of ancient wonders and entered the Palatine. Here we beheld the remains of the imperial palaces, gardens, and temples. Then it was on to the ruins of the Forum, and the highlight of any nerd's visit to Rome--we gaped stupidly at the triumphal arches, the temples of Romulus, Saturn, Castor and Pollux, at the Mamertime Prison and the Curia itself. What joy!

And now, a moment to breathe.

Then, a train, racing south along the coast to Naples, where we quickly stowed ourselves aboard another train, bound for the buried village of Pompeii!

Pompeii, as it turns out, is not buried, but is a fully operational suburb with its own immense church, a bank, some seedy houses, and a sprawling archaeological site. All normal things to find in a small town. After some intense consideration, we chose to visit the archaelogical site, where some intrepid souls seem to have unearthed an entire ancient city!

It's big. Real big. Compared to what is left of the ancient sites we saw in Rome, it is truly amazing how much of Pompeii has been preserved. Walking through the ancient streets, peeking into the former mansions of Pompeiian citizens, it is easy to imagine what this city must have been like before the eruption of Vesuvius. Crowded, probably. And smelly. But full of life and pretty darn awesome. We walked around for hours, until it got dark and they chased us out with the dogs. Back to Naples it was.

Tomorrow we're touring Naples, and then it's off to Bari, on the Southern coast of Italy. There, we will board a ferry to Greece. Nicholas can barely contain his glee. Renske would like to emphasize that she is also quite excited. Quite a lot, in fact.

Next post will come from Athens!

Love,
Nicholas and Renske