Tuscany

I think that if Michelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s (birth of) Venus had babies, they would so very beautiful. Either that, or they’d be exceptionally ugly, although no one would dare say so, because of the radiating elegance of their parents. (Excuse the repeat comment, for those of you on Facebook!)

Once again on a train, this time heading to Orvieto, in the Umbria region. We wave a fond farewell to lush nature of Tuscany. After a full couple days exploring Florence – the Accademia and its lovely David, the Duomo, the markets, the Uffizi and its many wonders, Michelangelo’s Piazza with its stunning views of the city – we took some day trips to the country side. Monday we were blown away by San Gimignano. If you want Tuscany, you want San Gimignana. We climbed the 218 steps of the tower (it was no 463 of the Duomo) and it took our breath away. The shades of greens and yellows that are possible in the fields make you want to roll down the hills and pick flowers and skip and hold hands. There are many ceramic shops too, and I like to imagine that someday – ten years from now? – I’ll be able to decorate my home with some of those pieces. We had amazing gelato, from a place that apparently has been named World’s Best Gelato, from 2006-2009. Who decides these things and how can I get involved? The latter half of the day we went to Siena. Now we’ve seen a lot of churches, but I especially loved the Duomo here. There were so many interesting features about it; so much to look at. It was a gothic-style church too, which I enjoy, and the blues of the ceiling were vibrant.

Tuesday we went to Lucca, to walk around the city’s wall. This city was so green, and had a lot of park space, something that is lacking in a lot of places we’ve been. I quite appreciated that. It was a leisurely day for a stroll. There were so many folks out biking, too, which was nice. There were a lot of tandem bikers. Mom and I agreed that we would never get on one of those things together, if ever at all: disaster waiting to happen. Lucca is said to have the best chocolate shop in all of Italy. I was all set on having a dark chocolate truffle. Sadly when we got to its doors, we read the sign saying they were closed from July 1 to August 8. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Oh! We totally went to Pisa on our way back to Florence. We got off, took silly photos at the tower, then caught the next train back. Haha.

Florence wins points for its views, its extra friendly and helpful people, Carabé gelato (another delicious stop), the art, and our pizza last night (I realized I hadn’t had pizza in almost a week…in Italy! Can you imagine?). It loses points for being smelly. Also, getting to the end of our travels in Italy, mom and I are both tired. We’ve been moving at what we call the “Florence pace”. The other evening, a walk that should have taken us about 25 minutes took us an hour, because we were moving so slowly. And of course, we had to stop at the outdoor couch. It had our names written all over it.

An Italian Gem

Not that you care, but I’ve been writing my blog entries in a word document, due to limited internet access, and then copy/pasting them onto my blog whenever I’m online…that was just to clarify any confusion around the posting dates. Minor detail; unimportant.

I forgot to mention that a hotty mchotterson totally checked out mom when she, Heather, and I were walking through Venice one afternoon. We were crossing over a bridge and he smiled when he saw her and gave her a very flirty “ciao”!

Currently on the train to Florence! We just had a wonderful couple of days in Vernazza, one of the five Cinque Terre villages. There was a train strike today, but a few started to run later this afternoon, so we were able to carry on and make our next trip, with no problems at all. In fact, we weren’t likely going to head out in the morning anyways.

Vernazza is the definition of quaint, colourful, and relaxed. The train station is literally within the small town; all we had to do was bring our luggage down the stairs from the station, walk down the main street into the main square, and bring our bags up to our room. Our room was literally in the centre of the main square; we had a top-floor room with a window, looking out to the water. The water, marina, and beach were within steps of our door. It was perfect.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon and settled in. Then we sat at the water, and I dove in. There are lots of fun rocks to climb, and it was amusing to watch the more daring jumpers. I simply went off the dock where the boats come in. And the water was so mild and refreshing…a welcome treat after all the sweating in Venice and Verona. We checked out some of the shops, and had an early night. Unfortunately mom wasn’t feeling too well, so I had a solo evening out for dinner. I had the best spot in town to watch the sunset: on the rocks at the water, with a beer and a delicious piece of pesto pizza. (Being so close to Genova, the Genovese pesto is all the rage; I definitely wanted to get my fill while I was there. Also, focaccia breads are really popular in all five villages. Heaven!) Thursday we headed out early to hike the trails between the villages. Our first trek between Vernazza and Corniglia was the most challenging. We took the higher trail rather than the lower one, unintentionally. The sweat and effort were totally worth it for the views. We stopped in Corniglia for an espresso. I really liked it there, because it was so different from the others. It’s fairly high up, and its people are so inviting. We took the lower trail to the next town, Manarola, and it was significantly easier. This town had some great rocks for jumping and swimming antics. We found a shady spot to enjoy our picnic. En route to the next town, Riomaggiore, we stopped at a little café for a cold treat. There was a lovely view of the coast that we took in. This walk was especially interesting, Via della Amore, with a graffiti-filled tunnel, much of it with themes of love. Riomaggiore was a bit bigger than the others so far. I had a laughing fit in the middle of the street, and I thought mom was still beside me. She wasn’t; I was just the crazy laughing girl. This town is technically the first town (and we stayed in the fourth), so then we took the ferry to the fifth town, Monterosso. In order to catch the last ferry back to Vernazza, we only had about 45 minutes there; because of the train strike, we decided to go back to Monterosso this afternoon, as it was the biggest and seemed to have the most going on.

Mom and I had a nice dinner out last night in the main square. We both ordered one of the town specialties – trofie noodles with Genovese pesto. The noodles look so tiny when you see them sold in the stories, but they puff right up and get quite large! We shared a bottle of wine and crème caramel for dessert. Sitting beside us was a fantastic newly-wed grad-student couple from North Carolina; they’re both studying environmental engineering at a school in France. Anyways, they were good company and it was fun to chat with them.
I had an especially memorable moment on the ferry yesterday between Monterosso and Vernazza. I saw a most beautiful family, and I wished I had the chance to tell them so. The bohemian-looking parents had both biological and adopted children, and there was so much love and affection you could see and feel among all of them. It was really heart-warming and gave me warm fuzzies.

I’m sweating again. It’s hot on the train. I’m contemplating changing my clothes…

Isn’t she lovely? Verona is WONDERful

After our opera pseudo-fail, pseudo-win, we DEFINITELY made up for it Monday evening. Stevie Wonder played at the Arena amphitheatre, and we, among others, were able to sit outside of it and listen to the whole thing. He was GREAT.

We arrived in fair Verona Monday afternoon, and settled into our place. First we went to St. Fermo church. It had a lower-level chapel that was beautifully kept; its style was nothing I had seen before: the paintings almost Aztec-like. Then we headed to Piazza Erbe, to take in the market, the bell tower, and Juliet’s house. It was super fun and cheesy to see the famous balcony, and also tour the rest of the house. It’s hands-down the busiest place in all of Verona. After that we made our way to Piazza Bra, got some picnic items, and settled in the little park by the Arena to people watch the concert-goers. Once it started we moved closer and sat at the steps of the venue. It was a fantastic night.

Tuesday we started our day at the Roman Theatre and archaeology museum; I would say this was the highlight of Verona for me (besides Mr. Wonder). There are still some shows that go on there, and the old statues, tombs, frescoes, bronze figures, all continue to fascinate. The views of the city were spectacular there as well, as it’s on the periphery of the old town. After that we went to the Duomo, a red- and white-striped church. Trendy, no? Stripes are the new solids. This church also had two smaller churches attached, one with a baptistery. Also beautiful, and also a lot cooler, temperature-wise, than anywhere else in the city. Our last church stop was St. Anastasia. It’s officially hard for me to keep track of all the churches I’ve seen over the past three years! Some really stand out for me, but three in one city is hard to distinguish. Again, very stunning. It’s hard to imagine all the work, money, and time that go into creating these masterpieces. We headed back to Piazza Erbe to check out the market again, then again back to Piazza Bra, to check out the Arena during the day. After having been inside for the opera event, however, seeing it without the crowds of people and the anticipation of a performance was a bit lack-lustre. After breaking at our little park spot, we went to Juliet’s tomb – another cold retreat – and the Radio Museum. This museum housed over 700 old radios! It was pretty neat to see.

Just after grabbing food last night, we decided to make it a relatively early night, as today we had to be up early, moving on to Cinque Terre. We got back to our place just in time. We had another big rain storm. It must be following us, and nicely, it’s taking a bit of the heat and humidity away too. We sat on the back porch to watch it.

I would like to thank Italy for all its water fountains and benches thus far, that have kept us hydrated and offered us resting places and lunch spots. The people-watching goes without saying. Verona had a very relaxed and friendly vibe to it, and it was a nice escape from the overflow in Venice.
Hope all is well with everyone and that the summer is treating you as it should! xo

Venice the Menace

Venice is a magical place, it is. It is a beautiful, floating city. Five nights was definitely plenty; I wouldn’t stay any longer what with its overflow of tourists and deadly humidity. Walking around each day was like being in a day-long Bikram yoga class – at least that’s how sweaty I felt.

We arrived Wednesday early afternoon, and right away we were introduced to the fabulous boat/bus (vapretto) system. Crammed tight with other recent arrivals and their luggage, we were instantly captivated by the city on water. En route to our hotel, we were warmly greeted by Heather. It felt like a lot of time had passed since we last saw each other, but at the same time not that long ago. Gosh it was great to see her again! After dropping our stuff, our new trio headed off to meander for the day: Rialto bridge and the bustling shops in the area, as well as taking some time to explore Lido island. Mom and I checked out San Marco Piazza that night, and took the vapretto all the way around. Day two in Venice we island hopped – thank goodness for the vapretto pass! – and saw Murano and all its beautiful glass creations, Burano and its vibrant-coloured houses, and Torcello and its, well, lone church and two restaurants. Day three we started at San Marco Basilica – a truly magnificent church with the most amazing mosaic floors, then wandered some backstreets and neighbourhoods: the Jewish ghetto is the oldest in all of Europe. We were in San Croce and San Polo. It goes without saying that all of our wandering also involved shopping. And Heather and I are too good at navigating to actually get lost. The more challenging part is actually finding yourself on the map! Once you have that solved, then you’re good to go. We went to this amazing gelato place called Alaska. All the flavours are made with fresh, organic produce each day, and the master himself is the one with the scoop. Round one I had banana. Round two – roughly ten minutes later – I had almond. Delicious!

Heather and I were back to our typical antics, objectifying men left, right, and centre, and singing to our hearts content. I would place high bets that we were the sweatiest people in Venice. Heath had an admirer on the vapretto, a handsome boat man. He said we were lost and held up her arm to guide us correctly, as he had noticed her fabulous compass tattoo. That, and inviting her to take her clothes off because it was so darn hot: in a non-creepy kind of way! Haha

I bid Heather farewell, early Saturday morning at the train station. We met for espresso and one last I-love-you-so-much-and-let’s-never-leave-each-other-again session. Then mom and I took a day-trip to Vicenza. What a difference from Venice! We picnicked in the park just outside the old town, and then made our way to the centre. It was a ghost-town comparatively; all the shops closed for an afternoon nap. With mom’s guidebook, we toured around, admiring all the Palladio architecture. It was a really sweet town, with friendly people. It was nice to escape the overflow of Venice. There was a most refreshing water fountain that I walked into for a cool-down. Walking back to the train, late afternoon, the city had changed significantly, and all of its people were out for the evening. It was nice to see the change. It was also a bonus to see, as it’s my cousin Diane’s old stomping ground!

That evening we then went to Verona, as we had opera tickets to see Aida at the amphitheatre. This was quite the event! You can’t imagine the number of people wandering about the main piazza. It’s a people-watching event not to be missed! Because mom and I were staying in Venice though, we knew we’d have to leave the performance early, to catch the last train back. Get this: it started spitting out right before we were due to leave, and immediately the show stopped; the orchestra cleared out (my immediate thought was to save the instruments), the lights came on, the 20 000-some crowd started to murmur, and an announcement blared that the show would be suspended until the weather let up. Even though it was barely sprinkling, the costumes, the set, EVERYTHING must be saved. So much for “the show must go on” mentality. Mom and I just left, to see a lot of the performers outside too, on their cell phones or having a smoke break, and we still don’t know what came of the remainder of the evening. We head to Verona today and we hope to hear what happened! The show itself was stunning. I’m always so impressed with the gusto of opera singers. The costumes were dazzling gold and they matched the set. It was my first opera. I’m not really an opera person; it was more the experience that I enjoyed. It was rather a special one too, with the stadium-like feel of the amphitheatre. People come with picnics and there are vendors walking around selling cold beverages and snacks. And the people with the floor-level seats are dressed to the nines.

Sunday mom and I did some more wandering. We went back to Alaska yet again, this time for the big cone. The gelato man remembered us, and we passed a couple more times that day and he greeted us with a friendly “ciao” while serving his other customers. This time I had three flavours: mint, chocolate, and orange and rucola. So fresh – pieces of mint leaf and orange and rucola! Mmm. We went to the Accademia Gallery to take in some Italian art, though it was more religious than I care for, it’s still something to see. That night there was a huge thunderstorm while we were out for dinner. It made a significant difference in the temperature. This morning we actually arrived at the train station without breaking a sweat! Now we're in fair Verona for a couple days!

I should mention that our hotel was right on a canal. We had a little balcony that hung over the water. Friday evening before heading back out we stopped at the room, and I could have stayed for hours, watching all the gondola rides go by. Heath and I may have witnessed a pre- or post-proposal ride, as the gondolier was singing, and the couple had champagne glasses. We thought it best not to shout out our congrats, in case that wasn’t what happened. There was one gondolier that was particularly handsome, and he saw me at the balcony and motioned for me to jump in the boat. He had his one arm stretched out to me and the other over his heart, and blew a kiss as he rounded the corner. Definition of cheesy? Hahaha The next morning, mom and I saw him again! His face lit up when he saw me, and he said he was heading to the Rialto Bridge. Well, that was our destination too! We had to catch the vapretto though, but our timing worked out because we were able to wave once again from the boat as his gondola arrived. It was quite the scene, as the boat crowd witnessed his “return to me” gestures. Haha I’ll take it. He was so handsome!

A little taste of Heaven or Love Boat

Here are some highlights from the ten-hour train ride from Naples to Palermo (we had to go to Naples from Sorrento on Saturday morning):
-mom's water bottle rolling off the table and down the train aisle
-first class seats
-our picnic lunch spread when the train broke down (temporarily)
-us generally taking over our area with all our stuff
-the nice man who showed us some pictures of Sardinia (I think he was crushing on mom)
-mom and I being SO over-tired and laughing about everything and nothing - I snorted quite loudly at one point, and the nice man with the pictures pointed at my water bottle and said, "rum?"
-part of the ride involved a twenty-minute ferry ride...the train actually went on the ferry!

A little story about the ferry ride: Mom and I went up to the top deck to stretch our legs and take in the view. Then I spent the next ten minutes looking for a washroom. No such luck. Mom and I just planned to meet back on the train. So I went to the back of the ferry to the middle deck. I was taking out my camera to take a photo. The man - whose name I later learnt was Rocco - offered to take my picture. We chatted for the remaining ten minutes of the journey...in French! That was our common language, as he lived in Switzerland for five years. Anyways, it was really nice to chat. It was light and fun - we covered a lot of territory in that short time. He wanted my phone number but I am travelling sans phone. À la prochaine. Mom was wondering where I got off to and assumed that I was off steering the ferry or something.

We stayed in Palermo that night, after the long journey, really just to put our heads down. We went to sleep, and got up to catch two buses to the airport in Trapani. We jigged around our luggage to meet Ryanair's ridiculous weight standards, and amused ourselves watching everyone else (much less successfully) do the same. Our flight landed in Cagliari on time, and we were greeted by the father and daughter of the B&B. Right away we had a good feeling about them.

Because it was Sunday when we arrived, we were invited to join the family for their mid-day meal. What a delicious feast it was. We started with spaghetti with clams and garlic. Then there were two types of grilled fish - one being sardines - and stuffed mussels. Neither mom nor me (that looks foreign?) had ever enjoyed clams and mussels before. These were heavenly. Then there was salad, followed by fruit for dessert. I might add that the capers in the salad, the lemon for the fish, and the peaches for dessert were fresh from the garden. Then the father made espresso and I may have died a little, from happiness. The family is beyond welcoming and hospitable. After the meal, the mother (Gianna) and her sister took us to the marina and the four of us walked around. Then we came back and picked figs from the garden (at dinner the mother was explaining that the black ones are shaped like this - long - and the white ones are shorter haha). Last night half the house was in our room because a little lizard/gecko thing got in. It was quite the episode. Then we asked Gianna about the bidet in our washroom...if you could see her antics acting out its use. She is a most hilarious and animated woman, so lively and wonderful.

To top this all off, our common language is, once again, French. So all of this goes on in French! I am so grateful that Heather and I dabbled in some French conversation while living in Radom so that I've at least used it somewhat recently! I understand 90% of what is being said, and I can communicate back decently. It's definitely fun, to say the least!

Our room here is lovely and spacious. The breakfast is plenty. We've spent the last two days at the beach nearby, soaking up the sun and swimming in the Mediterranean. Resting up for our jaunt to Venice tomorrow! And Venice means a reunion with Heather!! It feels like we've done so much yet there is so much more to come...! Ciao for now! xo

Sorrento Girls

Sorrento is a bit of a love-at-first-sight kind of place. The people treat you like family (like our sandwich man at the grocery store, and the family who owns the restaurant we ate at the first night), it’s welcoming and full of character. Mom and I were greeted with open arms, right from the get-go. After dropping our stuff at our “hostel” – luxurious resort-style hotel is more like what it actually was – we went to a little pizzeria and sat at a table on the narrow cobble-stoned street, watching the Italy versus New Zealand football match (tie game), eating marinara pizza – which I highly recommend – and drinking that tasty Italian beer. Two Italian gents watching the game cheers-ed us, and ended up sending another beer each to our table. We were flattered. We ran into them again as we continued to explore the narrow streets, and they invited us to join them for another drink. Hello, Sorrento! It was a very fun and silly evening, indeed. After they left, we continued our night by sampling lemoncello at all the local shops. Delicious! The next morning was raining and grey, so we decided to stay in town and see what more there was. We started the day at a little place that all the locals seemed to come into – cappuccino for mom and espresso (best ever?) for me – checked out the two marinas, and went in and out of the little shops. At Marina Grande, I went into the water just up to my ankles. While letting my feet and shoes dry, I wrote some postcards and walked them to the postbox. A cute old man stopped me and patted the empty space on the bench beside him for me to join. So we chatted – he knew a bit of English and my French knowledge is quite useful with the Italian language – and played a bit of charades. Mom turned at one point to see where I had gone off to, as she could hear me talking away.

The next day we climbed Mount Vesuvius and went to Pompei. We were only at Pompei for about four hours…I could have easily spent four days there, seeing every little piece. It is so fascinating. I was expecting it to be much less preserved than it is…a real treat. Our bus ride from the base of the volcano back to town was open-air…it was so exhilarating and the smells from all the flowers and trees were lovely.

The island of Capri and Anacapri was our next day trip. We took a fast ferry there. (There was a tour group with an especially obnoxious guide, who kept instructing to, “close ranks!” and, “get your elbows up!”, while also requesting, “does anyone have an winterfresh gum?” I have peppermint. What are you going to do about that?) Back to the island: Wow. Wow. SO beautiful. The town is built such that you must walk up from the harbour to get to the centre. The view even from the main square is stunning. The island is full of great walking trails and lookout points; the turquoise waters below look so inviting. We hiked up about a million stairs to a grotto (many laughs along the way), and then to a natural rock archway. We took a bus to Anacapri, and from there we took a chairlift to the highest point of the island. The chairlift was a good 15 or 20 minutes up! Definitely a honeymoon-worthy destination. There was a family of four that walked by us at one point, and the mother was saying that she had never been to Hong Kong. “I have”, says her three-year old son, perfectly serious.

That evening, back in Sorrento, it was raining lightly. To go out to dinner, mom and I were each wearing our rain jackets. My hood was up. At one point I felt a particularly heavy drop of water hit the side of my hood, but I thought nothing of it. We continued to walk around and found a very busy restaurant on a quiet little side street. It wasn’t until the end of the evening, when I was putting my coat back on that I noticed that the heavy rain drop was actually bird poop. I had been walking around with bird poop on me – quite close to my face, might I add – around the town, into the restaurant. No wonder so many people were smiling at me!
Thursday we spent the best seven Euros each – it buys you a 24 hour bus pass to use along the Amalfi Coast. This goes on the top of my list for best bus ride/coast line I’ve ever seen (a close second is the coast of Croatia). We lucked out with getting window seats each time, on the “good” side of the bus too. We spent time in Amalfi, Ravello, and Positano, all cute little towns along the coast.

Yesterday was soooooooooooo relaxing. We saw the coast yet again, but from a boat. We stopped at Capri near one of the grottos, and I stayed in the water until they made me get out. So refreshing. So blue. The captain pulled me in to take a picture of my driving the ship, and then in fact he had my steer for a bit. At one point he said, “you’re the captain now” and he went below the deck and left me in charge. There were two British couples we befriended and they were complaining about my steering – can you make the boat stop rocking so much? – all in good fun. They applauded me when the real captain took over again. Later on, one of the crew members came up behind me and presented me with two little pastries. I smiled and thanked him, and thought he was giving them out to everyone. Nope. Turns out the captain sent them just to me and everyone on my side of the boat witnessed this. The couples had a good laugh, and were teasing that the captain fancied me. Unfortunately he wasn’t really my type; I don’t usually go for men 35 years my senior. That was about as amusing as one of the restaurant hosts telling me that I was the most beautiful girl he’d seen in seven days. Haha.

Last night was a bit stressful, as our ferry plan to Sardinia backfired – all sold out. But here we sit on a train to Palermo, with a cheap flight to Sardinia tomorrow in the early afternoon, so it all worked out. Beach and resting, here we come! After we got it all sorted, we had a nice dinner at the Marina Grande, sitting right on the water. A perfect last meal in Sorrento. I love lemon too much not to return there someday.

Rome-ing

Ciao readers! I apologise for not writing sooner but mom and I have literally been on the go everyday! Boy do our heads hit the pillow hard each night. I haven’t slept this well in a very long time; I haven’t slept in a proper bed since leaving Canada. I suppose you can count hostel beds as beds, because that’s what they are, but sleeping on the saddest excuse of a futon in Radom for the past nine months hasn’t exactly made for the sweetest of dreams. Enough about beds…

I had a smooth getaway from Radom, very early in the morning. The original plan was for me to leave my keys in the mailbox for my boss to pick up. That changed and she decided to come at 6:30 in the morning, when I wanted to leave. Oh well. Slept on the train to Warsaw, had one last stop at Coffee Heaven, then made my way to the airport. I kept just the right amount of cash on hand, and it bought me a nail polish at the duty free, and an iced tea. I slept on the flight too. Then came the reunion! My flight got in about 15 minutes before mom’s. I went to her terminal and there we were, together in Rome! We caught a shuttle into the centre, and found our way to our accommodations. We spent the evening getting our bearings.

First full day in Rome, check this out: the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, the Spanish steps (and another set of steps that we mistook for the Spanish steps…it was in fact the Spanish embassy), Trevi fountain, and gelato. We threw coins over our shoulders, though we didn’t know which shoulder to throw it over (like a continental soldier) so hopefully there isn’t a wrong way and we won’t be cursed with seven years bad luck. The Coliseum is monstrous. You really don’t believe it until you see it. I saw an amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia last summer, and thought it was huge. It has nothing on Rome’s. It was fun to sit on the Spanish steps and people watch. There are lots of men who sell single roses, among other (useless) things, and they put them in people’s hands and then expect money in return. It’s quite amusing to watch. Mom and I started thinking up really annoying questions to ask them about the products they peddle, so they see how it feels to have someone in their faces so much.

Day two was no less full: the Campo de Fiori market in the morning, the Vatican museum, and Piazza de Popolo, and back to the Coliseum for a night-time view. It sounds like less, but it really wasn’t. On our long walk back to our place, we found a great little pizza bar and had a really amazing slice of pizza with some Italian beer. It was just what we needed. The market was wonderful and full of aromatic spices, produce, breads, cheeses, meats, and nuts. Later in the day I had some sort of coconut drink – which I thought was granite – but it was fluffy and creamy and smooth and delicious. I still don’t know what it was. Josy? Thoughts?
Day three was my favourite: we first went to the Callisto Catacombs, then walked through a big flea market, spent some time in the Trastevere neighbourhood (my favourite) and had a pasta lunch there, and then went to the Piazza Novanno. In this area I had read about vintage shopping…I found a wonderful vintage dress. The owner was a delightful mid-thirties man who I would love to just take with me in my pocket. He was so sweet. I was humming and hawing over the dress, but then he insisted he wanted to see it on me. “Be my model!” Then he brought me another that he thought would suit – I ended up with the first choice – and he let me pick out a scarf just for fun. He grabbed my hand and was showing me around the shop. A memorable experience indeed. After that mom and I bought a glass of wine each (to take away; goodness I love Europe for that), and sat in the Piazza with it. Then we made our way back. In the catacombs we were 11 metres underground, the oldest and largest where everyone used to be buried. Because it’s so large and there are many pathways, you must enter with a guide. How I wish we were given 20 minutes of free time to wander and get lost in the labyrinth.
The next morning we headed out to the train – Naples bound en route to Sorrento! In a nutshell, we walked everywhere and saw most (if not all) of the main highlights in Rome!

PS. I totally navigated us around Rome. I am a map-reading all-star.