Stretch SC

Today we hit Tivoli successfully, eating breakfast pastries along the way to the metro. We saw the villa which was gorgeous! Beautiful fountains and vegetation all around. Back at the hotel we paid our bill in cash for a 10% discount; ate a pasta and ham sandwich lunch at il Spuntino del Guido where we were approached by a streetside art vendor who for whatever reason made orgasm noises as he flipped through his collection hoping we would make a purchase. Instead we were weirded out but laughed our butts off. After lunch it was off to the Pantheon again (such a cool building!!) and then to do some shopping by the Trevi fountain. We had our last siesta and that night headed into Trastevere again for dinner for our last night in Roma!... read more

Today we woke up and went straight to the Vatican (since it was the last Sunday of the month and the museums were free). While Matt & Chelle waited in line I grabbed breakfast from the gelato spot of last night and we ate in line. In no time we were in; blazing our way through the myriads of grand hallways, paintings, and sculptures to the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was pretty incredible, it was smaller than I had envisioned it in my mind but Michaelangelo's work was nothing short of a masterpiece. Like Chelle said, somehow he managed to make it appear 3 dimensional and alive with the perspective and the coloration. It was slightly bummer to see everyone else there disrespecting the rules though by taking photos and video and talking loudly. After the ... read more

We are in rome! we took a morning train out of naples and arrived, but the stupid lets go book didnt have our hotel on their map despite having it listed in the book. we spent the better part of an hour and a half wandering near the vatican in search of it, finally at the northern poitn of the san agnello castle we asked some elder tourists to see their maps where we were able to locate the street. We settled in and siestad, then went out at 530 to see the pantheon, which was spectacular. it is literally one of the most amazingly beautiful building interiors i have ever seen, its pretty much perfection. we then headed through piazza narona to a lets go restaurant that was closed, so we grabbed pizza and ate ... read more

Chelle decided to sleep in while Matt and I did Pompeii. We ate an early breakfast and headed to Pompeii on the circumvesuviana line. The air was particuarly well suited to the experience as there were major fires going on the coast below amalfi and the sky was overcast. The smell of fire was in the air and it totally lent to the history of the eruption while the silhouette of vesuvius loomed ominously in the distance.. We spent 7 hours straight there just checking out the ruins and walking around the excavated ancient city, it was really incredible. We were so into the 70 spots in the city we didnt even notice that we skipped lunch, we did not expect the site to be as big as it was but it was amazing. To see ... read more

Venezia is one of the most unique cities I have ever seen. Unlike Amsterdam or Bruges, it really is composed of an intricate and labyrinthe assortment of canals. It is beautiful! Everywhere you look there are small arched bridges, and gondolas traversing the narrow waterways. We worked our way from the station to the Rialto, passing countless shops that sell carnivale masks as well as delicious looking pastry shops. We found Cia Ciap and had their yummy, cheap, and filling calzones as it sprinkled light rain. I had two!!! Since we arrived just before 12 and had until midnight, it was a great opportunity to take in the city while feeling relaxed. Across the Rialto after lunch, we went to Piazza San Marco to play with the pigeons. We were very silly and tried all sorts ... read more