Italy

Hello from Rome.. the #1 tourist destination it seems. This is the first place we've had to wait in any lines, which sucks. But oh well.. I was IN the Colosseum as well as the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Pantheon. The spellings may be off on all of those, just like the spellings were probably off in the last post.. I blame the keyboards.

So we have made it to that metaphorical light at the end of our tunnel. Rome.. the last stop, and now just 3 days left till we're back "home".. I put it like that since we all know Positano/Innsbruck will take that "home" title soon enough.

Getting to Rome was quite the hassle though.. and I assume the train worker strike that we encountered was a sign to stay in Positano another day (or indefinitley).. but we took off by bus instead to Amalfi where we caught another bus to Salerno to then jump a train on a line not on strike by the workers union to head to Rome... by the time we made it to Rome, it was like 3ish in the afternoon I believe.. having left around 9am that morning. What I'm trying to illustrate here, and in other posts, is the amount of time spent travelling. In fact, I think train trips alone have been over 40hours for these past 3 weeks. That doesnt include metros and buses either.. so basically I now consider myself a PhD in Mass Transit/Public Transportation.. so if you are ever doing city planning, feel free to use my expertise (for a fee of course--somethings gotta fund those Positano trips in the future).

And speaking of, yes those Positano photos I posted are real.. straight from my camera! I've been amazed too by the GREAT luck we've been having this entire trip (knock on wood). At first I thought it was just my good looks getting us by (since its not my foreign dialects), but now I think we must have Zeus or one of the Roman Gods looking after our trip. Whatever it is, we're thankful for it and hope to get home safely in 3 days and can call it an unbelievably successful trip.

Wait.. I cant say the trip.. or Positano was flawless... while climbing Mt. Vesuvious or going through Pompeii the other day, the worst thing happened... I stepped in gum somewhere.. awful I know.

Alright well I think this will be the last post while I'm here. I will however get home and post again with lots of photos and maybe a write-up or two of some of the places I ran out of time to talk about (the Palio in particular because I have a feeling my use of CAPSLOCK didnt convey just how awesome that day was).. so look forward to that.

We made it to Venice yesterday after having a long, but enjoyable train ride from Munich. Grand total time=7hrs. The route took us through the most scenic views I have ever seen. Im about 99% sure Ill live south of Innsbruck, Austria before I die. We counted over 10 castles on the way to Venice. PLUS.. we met a really nice couple from Baltimore who sat by us. We shared stories (they were completing a hiking/biking trip) and when they left they sent us away with money for dinner. We tried to decline but they insisted so we splurged on a nice dinner last night.

Today was our 1 day to see Venice, so we left our amazing hotel at 8am. I should tell you why this place is so amazing, so let me list all the luxuries:
1) we have A/C! (I havent had this since the States!)
2) we have TV in our room! (havent had since Switzerland)

I could keep listing, but something tells me you arent as impressed with this list as I am.

Now on to Venice.. is it too late to head back north to the cold?.. one day in Italy and Im already sunburned and spent most of the day wiping sweat from my brow. Oh well.. it was still a good day.

Just to reassure yall.. we arent anywheres near the UK (and I wouldnt head back there anyway!)