That's all folks

...dateline NZ 11:25....NZ 11:25...

Well after 24 hours of non stop flying fun (including stopovers in Rome, Singapore and Auckland).....we're back home again and frankly I'm wasted.
I should be sleeping now, but of course my body is telling me its almost lunch time.
So, highlights from the month of the boot....in no order, just as they come to my mind.
1/ The view from the top of the isle of Capri, it was a stunning day - which helped, but the James Bond setting and the chair lift access was a piece traveling magic. The reason to holiday.
2/ Walking down the Appian way - the principle road into Rome has been around a long time, the act of walking down a road that so many have walked before was a rose-tinted sense of history.
3/ The Pantheon. When you're there, you realise just how old Rome is - and the colors and design are simple and clean - showing that true class lasts forever, none of the overblown design you find elsewhere....(ahem Vatican city)
4/ The ladies of Italy - dark eyed and dangerous, they know how to dress! They have a tendency to dress a bit young as they get older, so you get the effect of an overstuffed couch trimmed with lamé - but otherwise very very chic.
5/ Driving in Malta. The lunatics are running the asylum there - no matter how interesting our destination, the stressful sweaty drive was by far the highlight. I was carefully given the traffic rules by the person we hired the car from but realised by day 2 that at any given time a Maltese will be breaking them. They hate signposts with a passion, and normally position them so you can see that you've taken the wrong turn as you disappear up the wrong road with a despairing wail. They have a wonderful ability to see around blind corners for the purposes of overtaking - and they speed all over the place. Some things make no sense - like all the traffic (including myself) doing the speed limit and overtaking an ambulance with its lights on. Elsewhere, at a major intersection - a truck was just parked in one of the lanes, causing chaos and mayhem (I was a bit annoyed about that - chaos and mayhem on the road is my job). Great stuff - though I had to learn to ignore the screams of the backseat drivers.
6/ Market days - they're everywhere, and no matter how many you see - you can't resist poking through the endless amounts of cheap tat, dubious leather goods, weird clothing and lumps of food to see if you can pick up something for a bargain.
7/ San Gimiango - Great hill town, great service - and an art gallery that introduced me to my new favorite artist - Guiliano Giuggioli.
8/ Venice. For all the fat tourists and pigeons running around - it is what its cracked up to be, an amazing place with a water problem. Check out the naval museum near the Arsenal.
9/ Amalfi coast - don't go there to see cute little towns and switchback roads, go there for the lazy sunny afternoons on the beach staring at the Mediterranean watching the locals color themselves a rich dark chocolate colour.
10/ Pompei - a timely reminder that when everything looks good, something explosive is around the bend...well also that after you've been buried for years under piles of dirt - you can get dug up.

Well that's me. I'll post up some photos as well when I get them sorted.

Bottom line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xRPCiczNM