Happy 4th of July

Hi all. This will be a rather quirky update - then again, I am a rather quirky person.

Remember those pictures I keep promising you? They exist. But you won't see them for awhile. Sorry. I will post them when I have a good net connection, but as you can probably tell from my multiple grumbles about said subject, it's hard to find. Pictures will also be of a ... different quality. I'm a bit of a clutz you see, and one camera was broken in Barcelona. I got another but... it was broken in Rome. Only the screen though! So... most pictures I will be uploading were taken through me guessing and luckily getting a good shot. On to the good news.

I love Italy. But it's insane. Just like my home state New Jersey, in fact. So I love it more. No one follows traffic rules, and you have to pray when crossing the street. Again, like NJ. People are loud and may curse at you randomly without you having done anything. NJ. On any given time on any given bench in any given city, there will be two men in casual suits talking vibrantly to each other in Italian. Again, guess what this reminds me of.

We're in Naples now, which is the Camden of NJ. They have everything, the highest murder rate in Europe, and a good ol Mafia. So it's quite safe. Apologies to anyone I have offended. I went to Herculaneum today, which was preserved like Pompeii. Unlike Pompeii, which was, effectively, the Las Vegas of Rome, the good old town of Herc was a resort area. Back then, what is now Naples was covered in ocean.  Also, unlike Pompeii (which was covered in ash and lava, I believe - I'll be going there tomorrow, so I can fact check) Herc was covered by mud. Because of this, it was much better preserved. For example, most buildings and their roofs are still intact. In fact, some skeletons were found neatly preserved (some with clothes) from their deaths as they ran to the sea for cover.

Well, there's all the history I'll be giving you this summer. Scary to think it's only 7am back home. Around Turkey, I believe, we'll be going up another hour. I'll refrain from making bad time-travel jokes. Enjoy Independence day, watch 1776, have a Barbecue, and don't use illegal fireworks. Or do, but don't tell me about it.

Edit:

Wondering what Italy is like? Watch this.