Our 88th blog entry is a mix of three unique and titillating (sorry, running low on adjectives) places; Tivoli, Napoli and Pompeii.
The town of Tivoli is over three thousand years old. We were there to visit two villas, starting with that of Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Hadrian's Villa is huge, covering an area of over 1 square kilometre, with over 30 buildings. The ruins were so impressive, that this busy little turtle took some time to take a look.
Nearby, the Villa d'Este was built in the 16th century for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este.
While the villa's many rooms, loggias, frescoes, staircases, statues and balconies are modestly suitable for a cardinal, the Italian Renaissance Garden is a bit much.
Naples, is a chaotic, energetic and exciting city.
The drive through the city on Sunday evening was one of the greatest adrenaline rushes of the trip. Somehow we survived the experience. Here are a few that didn't.
Known for Neapolitan Ice Cream and the song Funiculì, Funiculà, Naples is also the home of pizza. It was unbelievably good. One place, sold only two types of pizza, but had a one hour wait for a table.
The market place near central station. Josh was politely asked by these "official" merchants not to take another photo.
A trip to Naples is not complete without a quick prayer at the Chapel of Maradona. The footballing legend played 188 games for Napoli, scoring 81 goals.
Pompeii was a busy, cosmopolitan port city which flourished under the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, it was also flourishing under Mt. Vesuvius.
In 79 AD, the volcano erupted leaving the city, and its 20,000 inhabitants buried under ash for nearly 1700 years.
It is a city frozen in time. The paintings on some houses are still in mint condition.
The forum.
The aptly decorated brothel.
A plaster cast of a Pompous victim. The cast was made from human-spaced gaps in the hardened ash where the body had since decomposed.
We can't say too much, but this photo may have been taken in the Villa of the Mysteries.
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