when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's.....

April 12 and 13^th

Napoli, Italy

Amore! It was great to be back in Italy once again. And so close to where I was before I could actually see Sicily from my boat! The day started out with Eli, Jess and I wandering about town. Wow, the shopping here was just phenomenal. But surprisingly, I only spent 20 euro on a pair of black boots J haaha that’s practical right? The day was just gorgeous. We walked around town and took pictures. We traveled up tiny alleys with Italian women hanging up their laundry to dry, and we stopped to have lunch in a tiny café. The architecture was awesome. I mean, old buildings, but new interiors. I also appreciated after being harassed to buy things in every other country I have been to, the Italians don’t hassle you. It was nice to just peruse. I loved all the colors of the fresh fruit and vegetable markets we passed by. We walked by a homemade wine shop where it was so cheap and delicious. I had to get some J. In the café we stopped at, our waiters were OBSESSED with Jessica. She even got to make her own oven wood pizza. I think it was an excuse for the guy to touch her haha. It was so funny. The guys were cool though, they said we had to come back at night and they would show us where to go.

We then got back to the ship to take our tour to Pompeii, the lost city that was once buried under ash from the volcano Mt. Vesuvius. Apparently, it can erupt at any time and it is really dangerous, but our tour guide said, not today, cause we have a tour planned haha. This place was beautiful. Trees  and vines were growing abundantly  around the uncovered town. It was incredible to see. They had theaters uncovered, whorehouses and entire houses. The whole city was too big to see the whole thing in two hours, so we just got to see a tiny bit of it. I wish I could upload pictures right now so you could visually see what I am talking about. I swear when I get to the states, I will have all of my pictures uploaded and you can look back at my blog and get a better idea haha.  By far, the coolest thing about Pompeii was the bodies they found covered in ash. There were several bodies still preserved, (a dog, a pregnant woman, a gladiator). The natives all watched the explosion for 4 hours, but then the wind changed and they died from inhaling the ash. So sad right?

At night, I had my own kind of fun. It was so funny. Jess, Eli, my friend Nate the pianist and I all went out to find some food. Error of judgment in wearing my heels on a cobble stone street. A night when I thought we would be able to find some live music and wine, turned into a constant on foot adventure. I told them, if I drink some more wine, maybe this won’t hurt so bad haha. We even went back to those guys at the café that told us to see them, and we went to go find the place ourselves. We took a taxi there, expecting to find some clubs or bars, but there was nothing! It was so crazy! We spent ten euro on a taxi just to walk back to our original destination. We sat down, traded shoes with the boys and cracked up! It was really funny! The boys were barefoot, and we were wearing size 13 walking shoes and a dress. Such a night. We ended up just going back and hanging out. Apparently, if we would have walked just a little further, we would have found the bars, but it wasn’t meant to be haha.

The next day, I was going to have an alone day where I observed everything and sat at a café. I walked around town, even though it was really rainy and windy. I attempted to follow a group of school children into an opera house (as a chaperone perhaps) because I thought there was a show playing. Turns out, the guard let me in, but the show was for “babies’” haha as he said. The opera house was phenomenal though…..wouldn’t that have been incredible to see a show there? Cosi Fan Tutte was the show playing the day after….ahh. Anywho, after that, I sat down and reflected at a café until some friends stopped by and we wandered some more. It was really pleasant. Such a good time in Napoli…too bad I can’t get off the boat today in Rome L oh well; you win some you lose some! But, in good news, Wayne Newton is going to be coming on our ship today. We will have a show with him coming up to finish up the Grand Voyage. We get to be the backup singers! How cool is that????? Looking forward to that J for now Ciao mi amore!