Thoughts about our Vacation to Italy

Okay. For the sake of brevity I'm going to try to condense this down from my normal travel-log style of vacation reporting and just talk about the major things we did and my overall impressions of Italy. We were really blessed to be able to spend so much time there (a week and a half) and to see so much of the country (thanks Emily! best vacation planner EVER). Also, for the sake of brevity, I'm not uploading pictures. If you want to see the pictures please let me know and I'll send you the link to the Picassa album, or easier yet, just check my facebook page. There are four albums on Facebook.
So here's the trip in shorthand.

Location: Rome
What we saw: The Coloseum, The Pantheon (Rafael's tomb, major Roman site), Palatino Hill (Roman ruins), The Spanish Steps, Piaza Nuvona (famous piaza/fountains), The Trevi (famous fountain), The Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica (home of Michelangelo's Pieta' and the Sistine Chapel), The Opera, several pizzarias and gelaterias, everything in between
Thoughts: Rome is a beautiful city. It is very clean and the public transportation is adequate. We stuck with mostly touristy areas but never felt like we needed to be excessively cautious (beyond normal traveler's precautions). The best food we ate in Italy (with the exception of one outstanding B&B) was in Rome. The ruins were spectacular. All in all, it was an outstanding time. Wow. I get why it was the center of the world for so long. P.S. if you are ever going to see an opera, see it in Rome.
Location: Naples/Capri/Pompeii
What we saw: The ruins of Pompeii, The Island of Capri, The Train Station, Marina, and Castelo area of Naples
Thoughts: Pompeii is remarkable. We spent 4-5 hours there and I felt like we barely scratched the surface. The area is serene and beautiful, the ruins were even more amazingly preserved than what I thought they would be, the size of the city far exceeded what I was prepared for. I was struck by the overwhelming sense of tragedy and loss that permeated even the most remote corners of the city. It felt like the residents of Pompeii were still there. I don't doubt that some of them were.
Capri was the most beautiful place I've ever been. I have no words to describe it. We took a private boat tour around the island (a MUST if you ever make it there) which left me speechless. The only regret I have is that the blue grotto was closed due to unfavorable sea conditions. Even so, it was possibly the most perfect and peaceful day of my life.
Naples is a hole. Seriously. It's dirty, loud, crime-ridden, the residents appear to be insane. They are really gorgeous people, though, and the food was excellent. I wouldn't recommend visiting the city as a tourist as it is dirty, crime-ridden, and kind of boring, but as a place to leave our stuff and crash after our long days at Pompeii and Capri it was adequate.

Location: Venice
What we saw: Venice, Murano
Thoughts: Venice is one of the oddest places I've ever been. The entire time I was there I lost track of time. I would find that 15 minutes on the bus felt like an hour and an hour at Rialto market felt like 15 minutes. There is no way to describe it except to say that time has no meaning in Venice. It's as if it doesn't exist at all and you are just living in the moment. It may be the most beautiful city in the world. I don't know. I haven't been to that many cities, but as far as Mexico/US/GB/France/Italy go, it's tops. The residents are kind of snobby, though. The food was amazing. In fact, in retrospect, take back my comments about the food in Rome and apply them to Venice. Or don't. It's kind of hard to rank. Let's just say I ate well the entire trip.
Murano was so quaint and the glasswork an odd combination of awe-inspiring artisanship and kitsch, much like the rest of the city. Our only regrets were that St. Marks was under renovation and the entire facade was covered with scaffolding. If you ever go, plan to spend most of a day at Rialto Market. You won't be disappointed.

Location: Firenze a.k.a Florence
What we did: Saw "The David", went to church, visited the Uffizi, visited Ponte Vecchio, visited the Piaza Michelangelo (I think that's what it's called)
Thoughts: Florence was one of the lowest key places we visited, partially because we had planned to climb the dome at the expense of racing through the Northern Italian countryside to get there by 5 pm closing time. We arrived at 4:50. They wouldn't let us in. Please note that in Italy closing times appear to always be 15-30 minutes before the listed hour. It was okay, though, because it allowed us to see "The David" without having to wake up at the crack of dawn or wait in line for hours. If you ever go to Firenze, don't miss "The David." We stared at it for nearly an hour, I think. I could have stayed a little longer. It is amazing. The Uffizi also did not disappoint. So many world masterpieces crammed into one building it was hard to take it all in. The stand-out for me, though, was Boticelli's "Birth of Venus." The food wasn't the best we had, but it was adequate for our needs, and the B&B was very nice. We went to church at a branch in Florence. It was mostly Spanish and/or English speakers, or so it seemed. Ironic. Final thoughts: Driving in Florence is a nightmare. If you go, rent a bike or moped.

Location: Pisa
What we did: Went to the tower, ate dinner
Thoughts: Pisa is a little tiny town with absolutely NOTHING except for the extra-famous tower and tourism-related businesses. That was okay with me, because that was enough. The tower was cool, and super kitchy in an awesome way. We took tons of dorky photos and stared at it for over an hour. Then we ate dinner. I had the pesto Gnochi. It was okay. On our way back to the car we saw some sort of super-Catholic processional through the town square. No one could tell us what the giant parade was for since most everyone we saw were also confused tourists. It was cool, though. I'm glad we had an excuse to pass through, despite the lack of readily available public bathrooms.

Location: Tuscany
What we did: enjoyed scenic vistas, visited the ancient medieval town of San Gimigiagno, ate the "2009 World Gelato Championship's Winning Gelateria"
Thoughts: Tuscany is SO overplayed thanks to that idiotic book/movie "Under the Tuscan Sun." When I told people what I would be doing in Italy they all seemed mildly impressed (Sistine Chapel, Venice, etc.) until I got to the Tuscany part, at which point they started speaking in voices only dogs could hear and foaming at the mouth. I mean c'mon. It's beautiful, but compared to the Sistine Chapel? Really? You'd rather get hit on by a 20 year old Italian and eat scones than sit at the feet of some of the World's greatest masterpieces?
These were my thoughts going in to Tuscany. Of course we still went because we couldn't NOT visit it. You don't go to Italy for a week and not at least pass through Tuscany. This may be, after all, the only time I ever will make it to Italy, but still, my expectations were low.
I was wrong, though. It is stunningly beautiful, almost embarassingly serene. We stayed at an AMAZING B&B which was really more of a quaint Italian Villa. Our breakfast was cooked for us by a fat Italian grandmother, as little tan Italian boys ran around playing soccer. I understand what the fuss is about, now.
Still, the Sistine Chapel rocked my world and I hate Diane Lane.

Location: Bamarzo
What we did: Monster's Park
Thoughts: Monster's Park is this weirdo hole-in-the-wall attraction I read about on some travel blog and thought "Hey! That looks cool! We should go!"
It proved to be a pain in the butt to get there and admission was WAY overpriced, in my opinion. Overall, I would have felt kind of P-O'd except that as we were wrapping up our tour of the place we were caught in a sudden cloud burst and had to seek refuge for about 45 minutes inside the mouth of a giant ogre's head carved into the side of the mountain which, luckily for us, had hilarious accoustics. The results were epic, and possibly the most fun/funniest thing we did in Italy. I seriously recommend getting an acoustical granite ogre's head for your next home improvement project.

After Bamarzo we dropped Emily and Brent of at the airport and spent one more night in the outskirts of Rome. It was frustrating dealing with the driving situation in Rome and the jerks at FCO will forever be on my list of worst airport experiences ever, but we made it back in one piece with only one delay and will forever be grateful for our experiences in the country of Italy.