Pompei & Sorrento, Italia

Today we visited Pompei -- the ancient Roman city that was partially destroyed in a first century volcanic eruption -- and the beautiful coastal city of Sorrento.

Pompei was much bigger and much more impressive than what either of us had in mind. The highlight of our visit there was viewing the plaster moulds of the victims of the first century disaster. Many of them -- including one dog -- are posed in various positions suggestive of incredible and overwhelming pain. It was a moving sight.

After Pompei we headed towards Sorrento. The trains connecting Napoli, Pompei, and Sorrento are frequent, quick, and cheap, so getting around is no problem. Sorrento is known for its limoncello; a lemon flavored liquor that is just about the best tasting drink currently in existence. We hiked and treked around the city, sat by the bay for some limoncello, and ate dinner (Gnocchi alla Sorrentina). We also bought a fatty bottle of limoncello to bring back with us, so party on our roof this summer!!!

Domani: Capri.

S&B

Napoli, Italia

Today we walked around the oldest sections of Napoli, paying a visit to the exquisite Veiled Christ and numerous street food vendors. We also had the pleasure of watching a man take a shower with a bottle of water in his underwear on his balcony. We avoided falling water for the rest of the day. Tomorrow: Pompei and Sorrento. Call an ambulance; Brian is gettin' drunk!!!

TTYS.

S&B

Trieste, Italia

Today was -- and still is -- a day of relaxation and little-to-no agenda. We visited a medieval church up on the hillside and walked along the city's massive concrete pier. But, other than those things, we really didn't do much of anything. We had lunch, beers, gelato, and just strolled around. It was really nice. We are resting for a little while right now. And after we get around to doing some laundry we will head out for our last night on the town. Tomorrow: an eight hour train to Napoli! ... That leaves at 7:00am. In boca al lupo a noi!

Ciao.

S&B

Trieste, Italia

Trieste is beyond beautiful! We spent the day walking along the city's expansive coastline, visiting an Austro-Hungarian-era castle, various watering holes, and the occasional topless beach. We are spending the evening exploring the city center (in centro), eating, and visiting various cafes (James Joyce and F.T. Marinetti both lived and worked here during the early twentieth century).

Tomorrow: MAYBE (forse) Croatia?!

S&B

(We are here!)

Trieste, Italia (Primo Giorno)

Today is our first of two days in Trieste, Italia. We are on our hotel's complimentary computer right now checking out the various sites/sights and attractions, researching the various bus lines to Slovenia and Croatia (which may happen!), and ... updating our blog. Stephanie has mosquito bites on her left eyelid ... and she just drank some orange juice from a self-serve machine that tasted like it had some sort of a cleaning product in it! ... And Brian has an enormous and somewhat infected pimple on his mouth area. Yes!!! To the road we go ...

Ciao!

S&B

Why Our Blog Posts Have Been Few and Far Between

This is what typing out text on Brian's phone looks like if you don't correct it:

"The quick vritwn fox jumps over the lazy doth. The quick brewing third .rumors order the lazy shotgun. Thru quick Brian dos jumps over the last dog. The quick britttwn force jumps otcwr tge lfaznu shift."

Plus, since the phone is more-or-less broken, the backspace button inserts C's over and over, the shift button inserts the occasional J, and so on. It took over 15 mins. to type this blog entry. So, if the text portion of our blog updates are bare and uninformative, this is why.

FYI.

S&B

Our First Dinner in Trieste, Italia

We went out for a light dinner tonight and settled into the first pizzeria we came across. It wasn't until after we placed our order that we began to notice the vast amount of bugs swirling around the restaurant's outside lights. Before long, our second plague of insects in Italy fell upon us (stay tuned for an explanation of the first plague) and we found ourselves surrounded by a swarm of flying ant-like creatures. We politely requested to move inside (something we have not done up until now ... but it was cool because the inside was totally empty). Once inside the madness only continued. The queen flying ant-like creature landed next to Steph's pizza and a handful of others next to Brian's pizza. While all of this insanity was unfolding at our table, the same was going down at the other patrons' tables. However, the only difference was that Brian was screaming like a little girl and everyone else was carrying on as though everything was completely normal. We politely asked for our check, a to-go box (una scatola piccola), and got the hell out of there!!! We felt so bad for bailing out so early, but that shit was totally out of control!!! Brian felt like he had just pissed on an Italian flag, but ... it was time to go.

Anyway, we just wanted to share. Travelling isn't always roses, but it's always interesting.

Buon appetito.

S&B