Corsica to Sardinia to Rome

Buona sera, everybody!

I'm writing from our room at the Hotel President, in the heart of Rome.  I'm sorry for the long delay between posts, but we've spent most of our time in the somewhat wilder, less settled environments of Corsica and Sardinia.

I think everyone on the trip enjoyed Corsica more than we bargained for.  We were disappointed that we didn't get to tour the home where Napoleon I was supposedly born, because it was closed on Sunday--but in exchange, we got a relaxing free afternoon at our hotel.  The beach was only a short walk down a set of stairs, and many of us spent some of our free time there, relaxing and enjoying the Mediterranean waters.  In fact, I can't think of anything we didn't like about Corsica, from the hotel to the restaurant to the boat ride we took on Monday morning.  We traveled into a large cave that had been carved from the limestone rock over the centuries--our pilot had to time his entrance just right so we could enter the cave while the surf wasn't too high.

Since I wrote last, we've spent lots of time on boats and buses.  We've taken a short (one hour) ferry ride from Corsica to Sardinia, and a long (16.5 hours) ferry ride from Sardinia to the Italian mainland.  We've toured the island of Sardinia from north to south by bus, and today we rode from Civitavecchia to Rome, with stops at the prehistoric sites at Tarquinia and the medieval city of Viterbo. 

In Tarquinia, we saw some ancient Etruscan tombs.  Several of them were "open," in the sense that we could walk down sets of stairs and view them.  It wasn't nearly as creepy as it sounds.  For several decades during the 13th century, Viterbo was the home of the papacy, and we toured the papal palace there.  Most of us also ate gelato, which has been a recurring theme throughout the last few days.  In fact, I think I'll probably blog about gelato, and nothing but gelato, before I'm through here.

This evening, we got our first sight of Rome, as our newest (and new favorite) driver Andrea piloted our bus into the city.  We ate (and ate, and ate, and ate) at a pizzeria near our hotel.  Not that we have a lot of experience (yet), but Roman pizza seems lighter and less saucy than American pizza.  I ate five slices, and I'm not nearly as stuffed as I would be if I ate that much of the American stuff.

One thing I've noticed over the last day or so:  lots of us who have pets at home are beginning to miss them very much.  We've missed our human family since we left, but now, when we see a dog or a cat, many of us say something like "I miss our dog!"  or "I miss our kitty!"  We're enjoying our trip immensely, but we are missing all of you--human, canine, feline, etc.--very much, too.

I'll probably post again tonight (it's 9:30 Rome time), and if I do, I'll include a few more pictures.  Thanks again to all of you who are following and commenting.

Chris