Tri - City Hop

We have started our faster-paced Eurorail tour of Europe. After Patti`s wedding in Amalfi, we finished Italy by devoting a few days each to Naples, Rome, and Venice. Luckily we were able to meet up with Denver friends in all three towns which made the experience even more memoriable.

NAPLES is a city teerering on the verge of total chaos. Street signs are random, trash is everywhere, and the cars and scooters whiz by at a death-defying speed. Crosswalks don`t exist, you just venture out into the pandamonium. I saw an Italian woman cross herself before venturing into the street. Ed, Sharyn, Mike, and we spent a half an hour just watching the Saturday night scooter cruising. Teenagers were piled on 2-3 to a scooter and passing each other and doing U-turns on a short strip of road. It was an amazing sight. That and the vague crosswalks almost led to my death in Naples. What a way to go!

The city`s major redeeming quality was the pizza. Fantastic! We visited the ancient, buried Etrucian/Roman city of Pompeii. I wish I could bring every student who read 'Pompeii: Hill of Fire' here to see the unearthed town.

Mike joined us in ROME also. We loved it. Rome has the same historical, powerful feel as Paris, but with an even further sense of the past. We had an exhausting walking tour of the Forum, Colosseum, and Pantheon (more Roman sites)as well as the Borghese Gallery and the Vatican City (including their museum, the Sistene Chapel, and St. Peter`s). What can I say, they are amazing examples of art, architecture and Catholic excess.

Ah VENICE! Such romance with the water canals, gondolas, and slightly deteriorating glorious buildings. We spent most of our two day there roaming up and down the canals on `vespettos` which are passenger boats for locals (same amazing views without the outrageous price tags and cheezy drivers). A few days earlier we ran into Patti and Flynt (the newlyweds from Amalfi) in the Rome train station. Coincidentlz, we were all in Venice at the same time, so we met up for dinner. Terrific to spent time with them.

Goodbye Italy!