Italy

ROME

THE VATICAN

TIVOLI

POMPEII

We went to Rome, Naples and Pompeii. Rome was everything we expected it to be-huge, impressive, and expensive. We had the most tasty pasta ever, and fell in love with gelati (Italian ice cream). The coliseum was bigger than we could have imagined. A lot of sites from the Roman empire, but nothing gives you the feeling of grandeur as does the coliseum. We saw an innumerable amount of fountains, each with their special history and design. One of them had a very tall engraved Egyptian pillar next to it that had been brought to Rome by Julius Cesar. Naples was Edgard's favorite because it was chaotic, smelly and it reminded him of Lima. Pompeii was a highlight for all of us. We had heard about the buried city, and we had even seen pictures of it, but to be there sent us to another time where we could see the city was very well developed and organized. It was not just foundations-it was a city where the people were not present. Pompeii is huge-it would take a week to cover well. It seemed to be the size of Bisbee.

An unexpected treasure we found was just outside of Rome, in Tivoli. The small town is perched on the top of a mountain, with narrow, winding streets and cobblestone roads. The town goes back to Roman times. Brutus and Horacio had palaces there. There is a beautiful park at the edge of the cliff, which, in Renaissance time was called Jupiter's Grotten, which also houses the temple of Jupiter and another temple. There are cascading waterfalls and a road carved by the Romans along the stone cliffs that include catacombs. The Renaissance thinkers did some good writing at the base of the inspiring cascade.

We almost forgot about the Vatican. It was immense! Kind of a commercial venture, but worth the view. We could not help being impressed by the Sistine Chapel.