Roma, here we are! There are probably a million interesting things to see in this city but we settled on checking out only those things that thousands of other people wanted to cram in and see at the same time. Last evening was rough. We spent the day at decimated Pompeii walking for hours, tt was spectacular and tragic at the same time. There's a certain irony to the fact that these people's untimely deaths (we saw only a plaster cast of a body each) resulted in the best preserved and most vibrant example of Roman life. I saw much of what I have seen in books, but it was fantastic to see the images in the third dimension. We picked up a travel companion for the duration of our Naples stay, the New Jersey girl Athena. She provided a different dynamic to the sometimes monotones Nikki-Max socio-relationship, at least while viewing the ruins. Plus, she was entertained by jokes that had long tired between the two of us. When the pictures of the tragic city are loaded you all will have to check them out, though, despite Nikki's phenomenal photography, they will surely fail to convey the pain in the a** it is to walk all around the hollowed site. Soon after we hopped on a train to Rome, despite being completely exhausted, and had to track down our hostile well after dark. It was a bit of an adventure all on its own but we finally made it and hit the hay sometime after midnight. Only a day later and we have the Roman public transportation system figured out. Today we scoped downtown Rome, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, tens of piazzas and of course a few ice cream shops as well, as it was a hot day and I was in need of some relief for body and spirit. We have found that you could probably walk into any ol' church in this town (they may all be cathedrals) and find beautiful art and architecture. Probably the most spectacular was the Pantheon. Wiki it if you don't know what I am referring to. Tomorrow is the Vatacin and then we're off to northerly parts of Europe's boot. More later, Max