Welcome to nasty Naples...but it leads to some very pretty places. PY, AY and I did this one, IY was sick and LY wanted to play on the ship. Ezio didn't even make an appearance for Naples.

You may be thinking why nasty...well it's crowded and dirty and it's practically impossible to take a picture with out power lines in the way.

But it does have it's moments.

Naples was just a pass through for us. Our destination was Pompeii.  Which was an hour long, 6 euro, completely hot and crowded train ride away, but it was worth it.  

Pompeii is HUGE, I really had no idea.  

My traveling buddies 

PY managed to wrestle the camera out of my hands.

Some features were covered in plexi to continue to preserve them.  The problem was that the plexi was dirty on the inside so it actually prevented people from seeing what it was protecting.

I feel like there is a modern mason with a sense of humor behind this.

PY and a stranger had a discussion about these giant stones in the road.

This baby has been very much rebuilt.

A surprisingly good view from the hill the bathroom was on.

Sad Face ruin.

Ruiny ruins

The tree roots fascinated me, I've never seen anything like them.

AY following a local to the less touristy area, she always has the hook up.

Down, down, down into the coliseum.

Stray dog living in the tunnel to the coliseum.  There were signs warning about the dogs.

This was not one of those signs. 

Across the street from the alternate entrance to Pompeii.

And back in we go.

Tombs

The plexi problem I mentioned.

Pics from the cab ride back to Naples.  Our driver stopped to get lunch on the way...maybe that's normal.

Hard to get a picture of anything interesting because of all the junk in the way.

Disrespecting Germany at the port.

The view from our room.

This was our last stop on the cruise.  We had a day at sea before we got back to Barcelona.  I highly recommend a cruise as a way to see way too much stuff in not enough time.  

Goodbye Barcelona

Hello Tarragona!

Ezio knows the way.

The atrium that was outside our hotel,

and inside this hallway.

It wasn't nice enough to swim, there was a storm a brewin'.

What could all these tourists possibly be looking at?

Ah, now I see.  Our first ever waterspout as a family.

There were stray cats all over the place...well fed strays, so maybe just pets that wander far, far from home.

The reach of the Roman Empire was far and wide.  Also it's protected by fences and mean ladies who won't let you take a peek with out paying.

Just a really cool looking tree...that kind of looks like a giant pot tree. Just sayin.

I also wonder how anything ever gets built around here.  Every shovel full of dirt must have, at the very least, a shard of ancient pottery.

This was the home of the lady demanding money.  Where is a good knight in shining armor when I have a dragon that could use a good slaying?

This fella is pretty important in Tarragona.

He's all over the place!

I'm assuming that this square has a great name that you all would know, but I don't...but it has lots of restaurants, Gelato places and at the far end there was a wedding party.

Yes bird, you can go outside, just not OUT outside.

After a rainstorm and a nap we went wandering again.

We found this statue on the way home, she's just lovely.

 It was a whirlwind two weeks with more done than I could ever remember.  It was so warm/HOT in Italy and Spain that we went into shock when we got back to Germany where it was, I'm sure you won't be surprised by this, crappy and rainy.  And yet it was good to be home.