Buongiorno da Italia!

Well, we made it! We arrived in Siena on Thursday afternoon and were dropped off at our villa. Todd and Dannielle were already here, but sound asleep. We started unpacking a little and then decided to plan a weekend trip!

Friday around lunch we rented a car (we don't have our cars yet) and drove to Napoli (Naples, and for future reference, I will use the Italian spelling as we have no idea why the english renamed their cities). It is about a 4 hour drive. We ate at an Auto Grill along the way (roadside gas and food joint), which was decent. While the GPS helps tremendously, it has a hard time keeping up due to quick road changes and roads very close to one another; it gets confused if you took a turn or not. After a few u-turns on my part, Todd successfully navigated us to our hotel in downtown Napoli. We had booked two rooms for two nights at Hotel San Giorgio via Expedia. Considering the trash hole that is Napoli, this hotel was decent. We walked a bit for some food and also walked around the docks a little before turning in. Pictures from Napoli are here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Napoli/)

Saturday we woke up, ate some breakfast at the hotel and drove to Pompeii. Pompeii was quite an experience. Todd had been before so he was able to direct us off the beaten path somewhat. Pictures are coming soon. After about 4,5 hours in Pompeii, we ventured toward Vesuvius in hopes to do the hike, but we were unable to get there in time before it closed. To that end we drove back to Napoli to walk the nicer beach/park area and eat along the sea. We ate at Gusto&Gusto‎; while the house wine was poor, the food was decent again. Pictures from Pompeii are here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Pompeii/)

Sunday we decided to attempt the Vesuvius hike again as no one had done it before. Sure enough, we were able to get in! The hike, while not too long, is a bit strenuous. I hiked Nolan up on my back. We also have many pictures of this that I will post soon. The views were beautiful and Vesuvius was steaming just a little bit. At this point, we drove home in hopes to buy some groceries. Pictures from Vesuvius are here (http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/Italy-2010/Mt-Vesuvius/)

But alas, everything is closed on Sunday afternoons. With no food or car, we were forced to order delivery pizza. It is not the greatest, but in a pinch we will definitely do it again.

Pompeii was high on my list of things to see in Italy, so the trip was great for me. My bottom hurts more from driving than my legs from hiking, but it was worth the trip!