embarrassment of riches

Caio peeps!

I have made it to the land of naked statues, very rich priests, and all the pasta a girl could possibly dream of.

Yup, I have met Leah and D'Arcy in Italy and after three days in Roma and brief sojourn to Pompeii, we are now taking it easy in Firenze! Tough friggin' life, eh?

Rome is beautiful, and although there are millions of F.T.'s (fecking tourists), the city kind of saunters to to its own cobblestreeted pulse. We visited all the traps we could get our greedy little FT hands on:

The old Roman Forum-where Julius Caesar set up the first Senate, where great orators like Cicero expounded on about nothing, and where I got some great Live Long and Prosper photos in front of the Temple of Romulus.

THE Colosseum-where the ghosts of over 2 million dead vie with all the tour guides for attention. It was awe-inspiring just because of its sheer size and the imaginary stench of blood and decay.

The Palatino Hill -where Rome was founded after twins Romulus and Remus washed up and were suckled by the infamous she-wolf, after being sent to their deaths. I learned recently that this she-wolf may actually have been a hooker cuz the word lupin means wolf or whore...personally, I think the wolf seems much more likely!

The Vatican-where all the money put into St. Peter's could easily wipe out poverty three times over! I mean does God really need slabs of purple marble worth $17000US per square inch? The complete lack of actual spirituality aside, though, the Basilica and the Sistine Chapel were absolutely stunning.

Pompeii (the city that was completely buried by ash and volcanic debris when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD) was very interesting. Because the town was covered immediately in ash, it was preserved virtually intact (including the people's bodies). This proved a little overwhelming for me when I came face to face with a cast of a poor lad's body; you could still see the look of anguish on his face.

We are now hanging in Florence, another city that suffers from an embarrassment of cultural riches, and we have managed to see absolutely nothing yet (which might be a record, cuz there really is a museum on every corner!). If we can get our lazy asses away from the gelato for a moment, we might actually go see Michelangelo's David this afternoon. Qapla!

Love you all,

Jen

P.S. Lee says hi (but only to those of you she knows). D'Arcy, on the other hand says hi to everyone!!! :)