Buongiorno! As it seems, Ms. Nina does in fact have a travel companion. Tracy here, making my first appearance on the blog. Forgive me, I've been on a bit of a technology holiday and it was fab. But I'm back so lets cut to the chase--an adendum or testimonial shall we say to stories previousaly told. 1) Nina is in fact my comic relief. I could probably muster a chuckle from my deathbed were I to picture her flipping the knife off of the table in Santorini. I can see it slow mo. So embarassing. 2)I purposely find high things so that I may watch Nina attempt to climb them and even better, to watch the descent. I couldn't have explained that story better myself. 3)Watching her try to keep her distance from the nasty Greek men trying to gyrate with her was another source of amusement. As for me, I gave in after some shots of ouzo (sort of like sambuca). I ended up dancing on the table as per request of a guy whose name sounded like Kale (the garnish) and dancing some sort of dance that I can best describe as the windmill. I tried to show Kale some classic moves of my own such as the lawnmower and the sprinkler but some things just can't (or won't) cross cultures. 4)The ride home. I don't know what this business was about a taxi that my friend here described because it certainly was not. Some dude who actually went by the name "Dude" (shoulda been a clue there) who came equipped with dreadlocks and a tiny ass yellow 1973 VW buggie,drove us home. Ride of a lifetime I tell ya. 5)Sorrento was in fact, beautiful. We did feel a bit out of place though because no one told us to pack our white linens (think Jude Law in Talented Mr. Ripley yum). Also, some kid threw up on my foot on the bus ride over. Apparently Nina didn't think that was worth enough for her blog :)

And that brings us to Roma. See Nina's entry for that. One thing she didn't mention though...after the Spanish steps we walked to the Piazza del Popolo. Huge space with no cars, lovely at night. Some guy on a bicycle was doing laps around the piazza. He smiled in that I may be a homicidal maniac way. Of course he stopped to talk to us. We got a half hour history of Rome and Italy from this 40+ war veteran. It was interesting until he asked where we were staying and if we had a phone...we left soon thereafter.

Roma, Eternal City...of a thousand steps! Woo boy, our calves and will be rock hard by the time we leave Seville. For the hundreds of churches here there must be a million steps. On Monday we left Sorrento for Rome, stopping at Pompeii on the way. Pompeii (destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79*) was fascinating. The most popular spot at the site was, of course, the ancient red light district with a gambling hall, flop house and brothel. Some how the brothel frescos survived the volcano and you can see a menu of sorts for customers to point to, "I want that". Pretty vanilla stuff, if you ask me ;-)

We arrived via train in Rome at rush hour. That was fun! Figuring out the metro and navigating the streets to find our hostel was a fast introduction to what Rome is like. Crowded, busy, crazy drivers, homicidal scooter drivers and noisy. The first night we crossed the Tiber River and walked to the Spanish steps (more steps!). We were told it was a quick stroll. Oh, not so. Forty-five minutes later we reached to famed steps, which seem to be a popular evening hang out with the tourists and Italian teenagers. It reminded me of the parking lot outside my hometown roller skating rink, circa 1982. Lots of kids, clusters in packs, smoking and drinking way past their bed time. Apparently a very lavish McDonald's is right around the corner. We decided to skip that.

Yesterday, our first full day in Rome, we spent 10 hours seeing some major hotspots. In this order, the Foro Romano (Roman Forum), Colosseum (really is gigantic, but sadly no Russell Crowe in sight), the Palatine Hill, Trevi fountain where I tossed in the obligatory coin and made a wish (that my butt shrinks from all the stair climbing), the Pantheon, and the Borghese (that's, Bor-GAY-zay, FYI) Gallery Villa where we saw a few works by some bloke named Bernini. Popular guy - his stuff is all over Rome. Pretty good too ;-). Seriously, I was awe struck by his Apollo Chasing Daphne. The leaves of Daphne's transformation into a tree look so delicate, despite the stone medium.

Today we are just strolling around from church to church, piazza to piazza. Everywhere you look there is an old something or other to gaze at. We are starting to feel somewhat numb from all the beauty around us. I want to appreciate every thing I cast my eyes upon, but at some point you are just overwhelmed.

We are going to see the Vatican tomorrow before we head out to Florence. Tracy will be adding her voice to this blog, so look out for T-dogs take on our travels. Ciao!