Super Mega Happy Photo Hour

I (finally) figured out how to upload more than five photos at a time.... although I'm not sure if that's a good thing! Apologies in advance for all the wasted bandwidth.

We have free internet again at our new hotel in St. Agnello, near Sorrento. We are staying in a converted monastery right near the sea, which makes a pleasant change from the madness of Rome. But, on to the photos...

First up, a photo from our last night in Carcassonne. The big bright ball of light on the left was actually the moon rising over the old city. We caught it by fluke after I got us lost leaving the city and took us through a dark, treacherous route to get to the bridge. It's a miracle we didn't twist or break our ankles as we climbed and jumped down the overgrown slopes in total darkness.


Next up is Pisa. We arrived early enough to book a trip up the tower wnd still have enough time for lunch (pesto on foccacia!). It certainly wasn't the highest tower we have climbed but it was certainly one of the most bizarre. When you are in the enclosed stairwell it seems like the walls should be straight up and down, but your balance is all off and it seems like you keep bumping into the walls. Definitely an experience even if the view from the top is a bit underwhelming.


This photo was taken from the Ponte Vecchio in Florence as the sun was setting. The bridge is full of shops selling jewellry.... Michelle was in heaven! I wandered off to take this photo and managed to lose Michelle briefly - on a bridge! It was packed with people and street hawkers. The police would turn up now and then and the hawkers would all disappear, but it seemed that there were always new ones setting up behind the cops as they walked by.


The view from the top of the Duomo in Florence is worth the 420-odd steps it takes to get there. We arrived late so we could see the sun set from the top and the view was magical.


From Florence we headed to Rome, and wandered around at night checking out the sights. The Pantheon was pretty awesome both in the day and night, but unfortunately we didn't get to go inside. The day we had put down to visit was a Sunday, but it is still used as a church (which is why it wasn't knocked down like other roman buildings) and so it was only open for services on Sunday. Curses!


The day that we should have gone to the Pantheon we went to the Collosseum instead! This was the 43rd day of our trip, as Michelle was only too eager to point out. The Collosseum was pretty much just as we expected. We had both seen and read so much about it that when we finally got inside it was a case of "yeah, and...?". After the awesome Pont du Gard and the well preserved amphitheater in Arles it seems that the best Roman ruins aren't in Rome!


But that's not to say that Rome isn't amazing in it's own right. This photo is from the Roman Forum, right next door to the Collosseum, and yes that is me standing in front of the arch. There are three of these arches still standing and they used to have a matching set opposite them and a huge arched roof... the scale of everything is so mind boggling!


Next up is a super sneaky photo from the Sistine Chapel. Don't tell anyone I took this because photos aren't allowed! I guess it was a little disrespectful, but unlike most of the other tourists in there I didn't use a flash! The ceiling and walls would be a bit overwhelming if our awesome guide hadn't broken it down for us beforehand. We had guided tours of both the Vatican Museum and the Vatican Scavi, which is a number of catacombs and excavations carried out underneath St. Peter's Basilica which uncovered St. Peter's original tomb.


Speaking of St. Peter's Basilica, we popped back in after our scavi tour and managed to catch the sun shining down on the altar (which we had just been scrambling underneath). The tour guide for the scavi was brilliant, giving some pretty impassioned speeches about the mausoleums and the mystery surrounding St. Peter's grave. I would recommend it to anyone, religious or not!


This one is a quick snap by Michelle of the typical Rome skyline as seen from pretty much any hill around town. There were actually two other domes that are just out of the frame!


We saved the best of Rome till last - the gelatti! We found an excellent place called Giolitti that serves the tastiest and best priced gelatti in town. It was one of the few places anywhere that we went back to twice. That night we had Rice (tasted like rice pudding) and Pistachio (tasted fresh, not like regular pistachio) on the left and Kiwifruit and Mixed Berry on the right. Bellissimo!


These last two pics come from Pompei, which we visited today on our way to St. Angello. The first shows the ruins of the Pompei Forum with Vesuvius inthe background. The mountain dominates the skyline from pretty much everywhere around the town. Imagine it with a pointed peak to get an idea of how much stuff was thrown out when it erupted for 18 hours straight.


Lastly, one of the many stray dogs in Pompei, but easily the cutest. Don't pat him though, he might have rabies!


Tomorrow we are deciding between visiting Capri island or checking out the Greek ruins at Paestum, but it will probably depend on the weather. With any luck we'll have some more photos to show off!