We tried to get to Greece today but ended up in Naples. Naples is a very unique city: it was built on a steep hill on the Southern Italian coast, home both to pizza and organized crime. Aparently Pompeii is close but we won't get a chance to see it!

We are back in Roma and today we have watched two catholic ceremonies, one at the Vatican and the other at the Pantheon. We haven't decided yet where we are going tomorrow but it will either be Tuscany or the French Riviera. This has been quite the summer so far. The best part about backpacking has been the people we have met. In Budapest we travelled with two dental students at U of T, in Verona we met some people from Portland, Oregon, and in Venice a law ...

Venice is everything you would expect it to be: winding little canals, colourful terraced apartments and gondalas golore. There are hoards of tourists here to check it out. My favourite part of Venice is the fact that you can hop on a boat at any time to get anywhere. Anyway, we are now heading back to Rome for a day to see more.

Hello from Verona, where we have ended up tonight. We tried to make it to Innsbruck in the Australian Alps, but needed showers so we hopped off the train and here we are in Verona, where Romeo and Juliet was written. It is absolutely lovely in this ancient hostel. We have met some funny Americans and it is turning out to be a beautiful evening.

I am in Rome..what can I say? The architecture is as incredible as you would imagine it to be. The city is hot and now under a bomb threat, but we are having a fabulous time!