When in Rome

I arrived in Rome yesterday which is a great change of pace. The last week in the Amalfi Coast and in Cinque Terre has been the most amazing of the trip so far but there is not much nightlife going on in those places. So it was great to go out last night in a real bar. Our roomates are pretty cool so we hung out with them last night and checked out the ancient part of the city today. The Colloseum is unbelievable. It really is amazing how developed the Romans were. It is unfortunate, however, that Jewish slaves built the Colloseum over a ten year period.

Earlier this week, we took a daytrip to Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. Again, you can see how advanced the city was (we are talking 79 A.D here) since it was preserved by the ash of the volcano. Pompeii is actually about 15 km or so from the volcano so it was not lava that destroyed the city but ash and toxic gas. We were then able to climb to the top of Mt Veusivus which is still an active volcano. I will post a picture later of the smoke coming from the volcano. They seem to have an evacuation plan in place in case it does erupt again.

Anyway, I am pretty excited to check out the rest of Rome though not so excited by the prospect of turning 30 on Sunday. It is a big number but at least I will be in Rome. So when in Rome, turn 30. I will post LOTS of pictures tomorrow...