Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 02:46:43 -0800 (PST)
Subject: buongiorno

Woke up at 2:30 AM one hour before the alarm went off.... then was on the bus
to Athens airport at 4:00 AM. and in Rome at 8:00 AM. and in my hotel at 10:00
AM without any problems whatsoever regarding lost luggage, customs, or anything
else! My hotel room also has a fully-stocked bar, but the price list is
missing. I dont care - I had 2 Fanta's from there anyway. BTW for those of you
who know the city well, my hotel is very nicely located off of Via Nazionale
very close to the gorgeous fountain at Piazza Repubblica, maybe about 1 mile
walk from the trevi fountain.

It's raining very heavily so i came into this internet cafe (without the "cafe"
part) just outside Stazione Termini. ARGHHHHH I HATE THIS KEYBOARD! Sorry...
ok... hmmm... While landing the plane circled the city once and I had a lovely
view of the coliseum, Pantheon, and St Peters Square & the Vatican... all of
them directly under my window within about 10 seconds of each other! Now the
only thing I'm seeing is this computer monitor and hearing the sound of water
falling and the sound of splashes from buses and cars outside.

Just waiting for the rain to end.......... I might go to Villa Borghese and the
museum there today... then tonight is a tour of "Rome by night with dinner".

Tomorrow Pompeii, and Monday Vatican+Ancient Rome tour. Then Tuesday and
Wednesday to myself. Thursday off to Firenze.

Only drizzling now... buona notte....

ciao,
me.

Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 11:17:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Buona sera

Buona sera,

I've been in "Roma" for the last 3 days and 2 nights, and unlike Athens, this
place is amazing! Like Athens, it's also dirty and not very well kept in many
places (just like any other major city), but the monuments all make up for it!

Athens had the Acropolis(+Agora) and a couple of temples and arches around it.
Rome has so much and in so many places around the city I'm getting overwhelmed
by everything! (Just like last October in Paris).

It's been 3 days since I wrote last and a lot has happened since then, so I'll
start at the beginning...

Day 1: (Dec 28)
After I wrote my last email I left here and went to Villa Borghese - it had
stopped raining then but it kept drizzling and raining on and off throughout
the day. The gardens at Villa Borghese are very nice (although a long tiring
walk from Spagna Metro station - especially since I started out walking the
wrong way). I went to the Galleria Borghese - the first private collection of
renaissance art... Bernini, Caravaggio among others. They only allow 120 people
inside the gallery every 2 hours, and I got my reservations for 5 PM. So I had
about 3 hours to kill, in which I went to the Spanish Steps (climbed all 136 of
them for a nice view of the Sistine Chapel)... then walked to Piazza del
Popolo. Both were excellent, although by now my feet were killing me! A lot of
climbing up and down + walking on cobblestone streets.... ugh.

Anyway, I took quite a few pictures at Piazza del Popolo - including one
"secret picture" of some native italians with some VERY INTERESTING hairstyles!
(imagine bright red spikes like on a porcupine and green, purple, gray
hairstyles)

Then walked back to the Galleria Borghese.... in some light and very pleasant
drizzle. The gallery is superb! Unfortunately they don't allow any photographs
inside. In fact they dont allow anything inside -- all bags, umbrellas,
cameras, etc have to be checked in before entering the museum. The museum has
several sculptures and paintings - some of the best works of art I've ever seen
-- including the ones in the Louvre! Correction - some of the best works of art
I had ever seen UNTIL TODAY.

That night was a tour of "Rome by night" with a huge dinner in the end. Most of
it was just a drive-by of the monuments, but there were two stops at the Trevi
fountain and the Piazza Navona. Again, both of them excellent, especially at
night.

The dinner that night was at a 5-star restaurant... a complete 4 course
meal.... including vino (I had 3 glasses and was out for the evening!) Right
now I don't remember how I got back to my hotel. They dropped me off somewhere
and I walked somewhere the rest of the way, that's all.

Anyway, that was Day 1 -- a very eventful day in the eternal city!

Villa Borghese: no photographs were allowed inside

Spanish Steps:

Piazza De Popolo: Also the site of the new years celebrations a few days later...

Trevi Fountain: On the "Rome By Night" tour (Day picture coming later)

Piazza Repubblica: This fountain was about 50 feet away from my hotel, on the Northern end of "Via Nazionale"

Table of Contents
December 29 : Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento