Pompeii was as dramatic and spectacular as we expected. Our guide Luglio was absolutely amazing and engaged with our children (especially Federico) so well. One of the more stunning things we learned from him was that, as archaeologists learned how to slow down and use brushes instead of shovels and pick axes, they could discern a hollow sound in the ash they were removing.

This meant something organic had disintegrated but left a space in the hardened ash into which they could inject plaster to make a sort of mold. The technique led not only to the discovery of what much wooden furniture looked like; this is also how they've discovered Pompeii's victims.

To get to Pompeii, we took an early train from Rome to Naples. We thought traffic in Florence and Rome were a site to see, then we took a ride through Naples and saw what real Italian driving is like!

Being in Naples was also kind of emotional for BC. This was the port from which his great-grandparents sailed in the late 19th century on their way to the United States seeking a better life. Our son Fred's namesake, Federico Carideo, was Napolitano and immigrated to Mount Vernon, New York in the 1890s.