Hole up in Roma

Well, my trip has come to an abrupt standstill. I have acquired a lovely Neapolitan upper respiratory infection and I am holed up in Roma, licking my wounds. Everything was going according to plan. I arrived on the island of Ischia (pronounced EE-SKI-A) 2 days ago where I was to lay in the sun and do nothing. The island was MUCH larger than I had anticipated and MUCH more crowded. Mostly with Italians, some Germans and a spattering of English. It took me an hour on the a PACKED bus to get from the Port of Ischia to the town I was staying near, Forio. The beaches were also packed but I settled under my umbrella between 2 older Italian couples on my left and an extended Italian family of 40 on my right. It was a good day. I swam and walked and bronzed myself. I thought I had licked the sore throat\cold but I woke up in the middle of the night with glands the size of golf balls, so I succumbed to the Antibiotic God, Cipro. The next morning I woke up, feeling a little shakey but ready to hit the road to Rome. Well, after a bus to the port, a hydrofoil to Naples, a bus to the Naples train station, a train to Rome, the subway and a fairly lengthy walk, I was completely done in. I had a fever and could barely drag my bags up the last 4 stairs to my room. It was a rough night but I am feeling like I might survive. I am paying a little more than my budget would like for my own room, but it is a nice place and I probably need some real rest.

To backtrack a bit...I arrived in Naples on the 24th and went directly to the Archeological Museum. It was very cool. The mosaics (which the have ripped off the floors and walls at Pompeii) were INCREDIBLE. Most of them were made with stones the size of a sunflower seed and required millions of tiles. The colors were also fantastic. Unfortunately, the Pinoteca (room with paintings) was closed, but I guess I am not going to be able to see it ALL, am I?

That evening I met a lovely Belgian girl named Fatma (her family is Turkish!) and an English girl named Anna. We decided to climb Mt. Vesuvius and go to Pompeii (my second trip) the next day. I was not planning on climbing Vesuvius but I am very glad I did. No spewing lava or whirling ash, which I suppose is NOT what you want to see as you are peering down the crater of a active volcano, but the view...ah the view! It was gorgeous. I have many pictures, but I have been having a hard time finding a place to download them on the Kodak Gallery website. I promise to do this soon and send them to everyone. There is some way to get them on this website but I am taking baby steps.

My second trip to Pompeii allowed me to hit all the big sights that I had missed before. There is still A LOT that I did not get to see but perhaps another time.

Well, I think I shall sign off for now and try to take a midday nap. I shall write more later when I make it out of bed and actually DO something! Take care all! Hugs and kisses.

Scarlet