Today was the earliest start we've had since our first day started the day before the day itself. If that makes any sense at all. We had a pre-6:00 start in order to get on the coach for 6:45, which ended up arriving at the hotel shortly after 7:00, to take us in a round-about way to a part of Rome we could have walked to quicker. Disappointed that we would miss our breakfast (Which they begin serving at 7:00) we planned to ask for a quick sit down before the doors officially opened. However, upon our arrival in reception, we were presented with a more than adequate breakfast to go, which was far less than we would have eaten had we stayed in the hotel, but far more than we were expecting. So today got off to a pretty good start. The coach left Rome at 7:30, for a three hour journey with a break in Cassino about half way. Fancying something a bit more substantial than the little bits the hotel had packed for us, we had a Cheese and Salad Sandwich, which evidently in Italy is more than just a Cheese and Salad Sandwich. Then we set off for Naples. Given a choice, we would have opted to go straight to Pompeii, being a place that Aimee and I were both eager to visit and had been for many years. After the grandeur of Rome, Naples was fairly disappointing. Our first glimpse was of streets littered with...litter and poorly maintained bulidings. The tour was brief and took in some of the historically important parts of Naples, including the Royal Palace and a couple of Castles, one Spanish and the other French, if memory serves correctly. There was also a building which was now a small shopping arcade, which was quite pretty, but again, for us Naples wasn't really the point of the trip. Soon enough we got back on the coach and headed for Pompeii, however by now it was time for lunch. So upon arrival in Pompeii (or Pompers as my Wiltshire bride has now dubbed it) the touring party were directed on foot to a local restaurant which clearly deal exclusively in large parties. The food was very nice, very quickly served, considering the amount of people for whom they had to cater, and we were all serenaded by a guitar-rendition of 'Funiculì, Funiculà'. Lunch consisted of a starter of Spaghetti Pomodoro, then rather oddly a Caprese salad. At least dessert was in the right place, which was a delicious, light and moist lemon cake. Finally, I had a Caffe Americano. The whole lunching process took more than two hours, which was time we would rather have spent viewing the site of Pompeii itself. However, we did get chatting with an Australian couple (Michael and Connie), who were quite pleasant and have themselves been married for forty years. That seems a long way off right now! I later observed that it was a very grown up married people thing to do, getting talking to another couple on holiday!

After leaving we had a quick tour of a cameo factory, which was quite interesting, but again, not the point of the visit for us. We just wanted to see ruins! So, all that was left was to go to the ruins of Pompeii. Finally! The tour guide was clearly very knowledgeable and the headsets we were issued with allowed us to hear what she was saying regardless of how close or how far we we were from her. The constant interference from mobile phones was a bit of a nuisance, but overall the system worked well, allowing us to wander away from the crowd on occasion. Pompeii is another of those things that has to be seen to be believed. The ruins of Palatine Hill were all very interesting in their own right, but Pompeii really is something else. An entire city, still laid out as it was before mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Buildings, artefacts, even bodies were preserved to varying degrees. The ash fell over the city, perfectly preserving many of the buildings and even some of the artwork that adorned the walls. The colours of the paint still remain. Where the ash fell on people and animals, it allowed archaeologists later to create casts of their entire bodies. The detail was amazing, one body even still clearly wearing a sandal. Aimee and I both distinctly remember studying Pompeii at school and in particular the cast of a dog that perished beneath the ash. We were a little disappointed not to have seen it, but this was just a small thing, the whole experience of Pompeii was far too amazing to have been ruined by such a small thing, however much we were looking forward to it. I never thought that I would be anywhere near this close to the very city I had studied almost twenty years ago, let alone that I would be visiting with my new wife.

The photos we took of Pompeii really speak for themselves, they'll be slowly appearing here, along with many others from our trip. As we exited the archaeological site and descended on the stalls of the streets below, we decided to do a little shopping. We paid a quick visit to a Limoncello (Lemon Liquer) factory, Lemons being an important local produce. A couple of tasters later, we came out with some Limoncello and some Crema di Limone, which is a lot smoother and, well, creamier. Finally, we took a quick walk round the stalls which all sold the same things as each other and mostly the same useless knick knacks that every shop in Rome sells. The only things that did take any amount of consideration were the genuine Pompeii Lava (Cooled and set of course), which we weren't entirely convinced was as genuine as they made out, and the various phallic fertility symbols that were available. Keyrings, ornaments, etc, seriously, there were some massive willies for sale! These were inspired by symbols found in and around the Pompeiian brothels.

And that was that. A thoroughly enjoyable visit and even though it transpired that we'd covered only a fraction of the restored areas, we came away satisfied with what we had seen. So, it was back the way we came, picking up some Chilli Chocolate at Cassino and a novelty pen, simply because we needed a pen. We decided to go back to the hotel and pack our bags, because one way or another we'd be leaving the hotel in the morning, so we thought we'd get ready and then go out for one last dinner in Rome.

So we went out looking for Risotto, as it was the last thing on my list that I hadn't tried. We looked at several menus for Risotto, checking five or six of the restaurants that we hadn't yet eaten at. Eventually, we found one that had not just one, but three different Risotto dishes. I opted for Risotto Verde, which was basically rice with spinach and mozarella. Unfortunately this restaurant didn't have mixed Bruschetta, so I broke my three day long tradition by having simply tomato bruschetta. It was still nice though, so it wasn't all bad. Aimee had the same to start, then she had mushroom risotto, which she was a little disappointed with, but she ate as much as she could manage. So, mixed feelings about our last dinner, also the man sitting on the next table but one smoking a big fat cigar did interfere somewhat with our enjoyment. Still, we paid up and went for a walk down to the Tiber River, which was one of the aims of tonight. This was further than we'd walked this week, so we did feel quite adventurous. The purpose of walking to the river really was purely to take a few photos, so we did that and then walked back to the hotel. Having packed the majority of our belongings before we went to dinner, all that really remained was to sleep, ready for another early morning tomorrow.