Back from the Mediterranean

Ciao tutti!  So Adam and I got back into Rome last night around six after a weekend in the Mediterranean.  The first place we went to was Baia, where we visited the ancient baths.  My favorite thing there was the echo chamber, a big dome where people took baths and everything you said echoed at least four times.  My second favorite thing there was the pizzeria where we ate lunch.  I got a Ulysse pizza, which had tuna, onions and tomato and was delicious.  That pretty much set the tone for eating awesome pizza the rest of the weekend.  That night we arrived in Paestum and the hotel served us a seafood dinner and then we hung out on the beach.  Friday morning we saw the ruins at Paestum, three of the oldest Greek temples and what remains of the original city.

After Paestum we went to Pompeii, one of two cities that was simply erased by Mt. Vesuvius.  Pompeii was the first site we went to that still felt like a city.  The city was so well preserved under the explosion that some of the frescoes are still on the walls.  That night we spent in Naples, well-known to be the birthplace of pizza.  What is less well-known about Napoli, is that it is also the birth-place of "The Bomba," a 4 euro burger that has egg, olives, tomatoes, a hot dog, prosciutto, cheese and comes with French fries.  The Bomba can be found at Napoli's famous "Black Out Pub."

Ok, so that brings us to Friday, which was entirely spent wandering up and down Capri.  That was also the day when the weather turned from cloudy and windy to bright and sunny, which was nice.  After that Adam and I went to Sorrento, where "off-season" means "no one else in town and all the scooter rental places are closed."  Still it was a beautiful town and we took the bus down to the Amalfi coast and wandered around those towns, which were also beautiful.  Then Sunday we left to come back to Rome, and on the way took a taxi up Mt. Vesuvius.  So that's our weekend in the Mediterranean!  Oh, I almost forgot, while we were site-seeing, we kept seeing this strange horse image.  It showed up under rocks, in gardens, and along walkways.  Not sure what it means, but it made the trip a little more interesting.

 What a find!

Fun fact, the 8th dwarf in this garden, is a horse!